Winnie Winkle

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Winnie Winkle was one of the longest running American comic strips, appearing over a 76-year span from 1920 to 1996. Created by Martin Branner, it was one of the first influential comic strips about working women.

Contents

[edit] History

The comic strip Winnie Winkle was created in 1920 for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate and debuted on September 20, 1920. It was called Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner until 1943 [1]. The idea for the comic was conceived by Joseph Medill Patterson,[2] but the stories and artwork were all done by Martin Branner, who had made two unsuccessful comic strips earlier. Winnie Winkle was a young, unmarried woman who had to support her parents and (from 1922 on) her adopted brother Perry, making Winnie Winkle the first popular comic strip about working women.[3] It was a reflection of the new role of women in society, as could also be seen in comics like Tillie the Toiler from 1921.[4] [5]

During its first years, the daily Winnie Winkle comic strip evolved from a gagstrip into a soap opera. An addition to the family was Perry, whom the Winkles adopted in 1922. A child from the backstreets, Perry was forced into fashionable clothes and coat but this did not stop him from hanging out with his gang, the Rinkydinks, much to the disapproval of Winnie who regarded them as "loafers".

Major issues were the marriage of Winnie with engineer Will Wright in 1937, and the disappearance of Will during World War II, leaving a pregnant Winnie behind. Even this realistic and unfortunate situation was still too risque for some newspapers: The Baltimore Sun dropped Winnie Winkle early in 1941 because of her pregnancy.[6] After the war, she worked in the fashion industry, seemingly as a widow, until her husband returned after a few decades. She took on various other jobs and endeavours over the years, including a stint in the Peace Corps.[7]

[edit] Artists

Branner used a number of assistants on the comics, including between 1934 and 1946 the young French author Robert Velter, who would return to Europe to create the famous series Spirou et Fantasio,[8] and from 1941 until 1958 John A. Berrill, who later created Gil Thorp.[9] After Branner suffered a stroke in 1962, his assistant Max Van Bibber continued the series until 1980, later followed by students from the Joe Kubert school of cartooning and finally by veteran artist Frank Bolle.[10][11] It finally ended on July 28, 1996 after 76 years, one of the longest runs in the history of American comic strips.

[edit] Spin-offs and translations

In 1923, Winnie's adopted younger brother Perry and his friends the Rinkydinks became the focus of the Sunday pages. In Europe, the Sunday pages were translated, but the weekly strips ignored. The Dutch translated it as as Sjors van de Rebellenclub and became very popular in the Netherlands, where it was the predecessor of the long-running series Sjors en Sjimmie by Frans Piët [12][13]. In France, it was known as Bicot and was published by Hachette in 14 albums between 1926 and 1939 [14]. In both countries, local artists made new comics about Perry when the weekly pages by Branner were no longer sufficient [15].

[edit] The impact

Winnie Winkle was never one of the most popular comic strips though and only had a few Dell comics produced, and little other merchandising and book versions. In the late 1920s, six Winnie Winkle movies were produced, written by Martin Branner and starring Ethelyn Gibson as Winnie.[16] In 1958, Martin Branner received the National Cartoonists Society Award in the Humor Comic Strip Division for Winnie Winkle.[17] Still, due to its originality and its longevity, it became a household name and a minor icon of the American comic strip, inspiring even the Pop Art artist Roy Lichtenstein.[18] It ran in more than 140 newspapers in 1939,[19] and by 1970, it still ran in more than 150 newspapers.[20] In retrospect, it has been seen as one of the comics that were an indication of the new, more independent role women in the United States got after World War I.[21]

[edit] Notes

Everything not directly referenced in the text can be sourced to the Toonopedia entry for Winnie Winkle.

  1. ^ Ian Gordon (1998). Comic Strips of the 1920s. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. “Until 1943 it carried the subtitle "The Breadwinner.”
  2. ^ Time (1939-07-03). 1,848,320 of Them. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. “[Joe Patterson] thought up The Gumps (his mother coined the word), Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner, Dick Tracy”
  3. ^ Ian Gordon (1998). Comic Strips of the 1920s. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. “"Winnie Winkle" was the first of a genre of "working girl" comic strips.”
  4. ^ Library of Congress (1995-06-25). Featuring the Funnies. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. “Women entering the workplace inspired such strips as "Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner," "Tillie the Toiler" and "Somebody's Stenog," albeit in subservient roles.”
  5. ^ The Seattle Times (1993-08-15). Comic Strips Bring Readers A Century Of Humor, Adventure And Controversy. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. “After women got the vote and joined the work force, family-centered comics were joined by working-girl strips like Winnie Winkle, Tillie the Toiler, Dixie Dugan, Somebody's Stenog and Brenda Starr[...]”
  6. ^ Time (1941-02-24). Racketeers of Childhood. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. “[...] few newspapers carry innocence in funnies so far as did the Baltimore Sun last week: It dropped Winnie Winkle because she is going to have a baby.”
  7. ^ Time (1965-04-09). Good Grief. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  8. ^ Bédétheque. Rob-Vel (French). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  9. ^ New York Times (1996-03-16). John A. Berrill, Cartoonist, 72. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  10. ^ Kees Kousemaker. Max Van Bibber. Comiclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  11. ^ Kees Kousemaker. Joe Kubert. Comiclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
  12. ^ Kees Kousemaker. Martin Branner. Comiclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  13. ^ Kees Kousemaker. Sjors van de Rebellenclub (Dutch). Comiclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  14. ^ Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; Mellot, Philippe [2002]. Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 2003-2004 (in French). Paris: Les éditions de l'amateur, 97-98. ISBN 2-85917-357-9. 
  15. ^ Glénat BD: Bicot (French). Glénat. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  16. ^ IMDb. Martin Branner. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  17. ^ Reubens.org. NCS Awards. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  18. ^ New York Times (1993-10-08). On Top With Pop: A Virtuoso Of Irony. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
  19. ^ Time (1939-02-20). Winnie on a Bus. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  20. ^ Time (1970-06-01). Martin Branner obituary. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  21. ^ The Seattle Times (1996-04-07). New Women Stride In. Retrieved on 2007-02-23. “By mid-decade, "Betty" and "Winnie Winkle, The Breadwinner" joined these old stand-bys, celebrating the fun and independence of single young women.”

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