I suppose I need to play Leonard Maltin at first and apologize for the insensitive portrayals of minorities in pop culture during the early part of the 20th Century. That said, this example of Quality's long-running RUSTY RYAN strip is loaded down with some really nice art and a really funny tie-in to Spike Jones music! The astonishingly zoot-suited sidekick character takes a back seat when modern readers notice that Rusty and his other pals are wearing Captain America's uniform! Why no lawsuit there? The strip ran for more than 100 issues! Was Quality beneath Timely's notice? Who knows? But place the stereotypes in their proper historical perspective and enjoy this one.
At least you didn't pick an entry when the Arab stereotype joined the gang...
ReplyDeleteI've always been strangely fond of RUSTY RILEY; I keep waiting for someone to post the issues where (a) he and The Boyville Brigadiers left Boyville and (b) the creator decided to stop kidding themselves and sent the nameless (at least I never knew their names) Brigadiers home so they could focus more on the comic stereotypes.
Gustavson was a brilliant artist.
ReplyDeleteThis comic has such a modern, clean feel to it.
Much more sophisticated in its execution of panel and page layouts, as well as its figure composition, than many other comics of the same era.
Really great stuff!