Rick O'Shay

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The first Sunday strip of Rick O'Shay from April 27, 1958. Art by Stan Lynde

Rick O'Shay is a Western comic strip created by Stan Lynde in 1958. It was published world-wide through the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, until publication ended in 1981.

1 Synopsis
2 Publication history
3 Style
4 Sources
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Rick O'Shay depicts the goings-on in the Western town of Conniption, notably the adventures of Rick, who is a deputy sheriff (the town being too small to have a full sheriff) and his best friend, gunslinger Hipshot Percussion. Other characters include the gambler, Deuces Wylde, the owner of the dancehall, Gaye Abandon, the doctor, Basil Metabolism, and a kid named Quyat Burp. The neighboring Indian tribe includes Chief Horse's Neck, his ugly but sweet daughter Moonglow, and her persistent suitor Crazy Quilt.

[edit] Publication history

Rick O'Shay started as a Sunday strip on April 27, 1958, and the daily strip began on May 19 the same year.^[1]

Lynde created the strip until 1977 when he left the syndicate, and was unable to work on the strip for several years.^[2] As the syndicate owned the rights to the strip, Rick O'Shay was continued by others: Marian Dern (writer), Alfredo Alcala and Mel Keefer (artists). The strip was discontinued in 1981.

Stan Lynde and his wife formed a publishing company, Cottonwood Publishing, which later acquired the rights to Rick O'Shay.^[1] The company has published reprints, posters, collectables, and a new two-part comic book story (The Price of Fame 1992, featuring Rick and Hipshot). They reprinted all of the dailies from the beginning up through 1964, except for one week in December 1963. Parts of the original artwork was destroyed in a fire. Comics Revue magazine has reprinted the strips from the missing week, and also dailies from September 30, 1968. The Menomonee Falls Gazette reprinted dailies from September 24, 1973 to March 13, 1976.

[edit] Style

The backgrounds were realistically drawn, the characters were originally cartoons (Rick's nose was pure cartooning), but became more realistic over the years. There are surreal themes mixed in (such as the pun-laden names). The strip was originally a humor strip set in the present day West, but in 1969 the setting was changed to the year 1869, and strong elements of adventure, philosophy, morality and even tragedy (such as Hipshot tetering on the brink of death following a gunfight) were added to the story line.

Breathtaking scenery is often shown in single panels in the Sunday strip, with an unusual slant. Hipshot is frequently referred to as an "outlaw," and in fact in one strip he decided to regain his losses at poker by holding up the local bank. But sometimes in the Sunday strip he is shown alone, on horseback, in the Western background, speaking to his Maker, whom he addresses as "Boss." He does not attend church and prefers to recognize his God in a privately styled fashion.