July 9th, 2014

Bizzy Buzz Buzz

by John Rose

Longtime readers of the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strip will notice the reappearance of a seldom seen character this week, the cute little moppet named Bizzy Buzz Buzz. She hasn’t been in the strip since 1964, so I thought she was long overdue to make an appearance!

Several years ago a fellow cartoonist mentioned Bizzy Buzz Buzz to me and asked if I had ever thought of having her visit the strip again.  So I made note of that and let the idea sit in my sketchbook.  Time passed and then in March of this year, the Comics Kingdom Archivist wrote a wonderful piece about the Smith Family in his blog and mentioned Bizzy Buzz Buzz.  Several readers commented on this article and I thought now was a good time to return to my sketchbook notes and bring her back for a visit.  You can read all about Bizzy in The Archivist’s great blog post here:

http://comicskingdom.com/blog/2014/03/27/ask-the-archivist-the-smith-family

Bizzy Buzz Buzz in “Settin’ and a Frettin'” (1964).

Years ago, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith appeared as a TV cartoon (you can find many of these on YouTube. In the 1963-64 season Bizzy Buzz Buzz was in four episodes.  Her mother was Loweezy’s sister, Martha, making her Snuffy and Loweezy’s niece.  In the animated cartoons, she is a busy, busy little girl!  She is always shown cleaning, cooking, sewing and working around the house.  She only appeared in the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strip for three Sunday strips in 1964.

She was licensed and made into a cute little doll.  I found this image on the internet and have no idea how popular the doll was.  But she sure is cute!

The Bizzy Buzz Doll.

I hope you will enjoy this week of daily comic strips featuring a seldom seen Smith family relative!