July 29th, 2016

Vagabond Ranch – The Daily Strips

by Brian Walker, Greg Walker and Chance Browne

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 6, 2007.

The Flagstons took a summer vacation to a western dude ranch in 2007. The sequence consisted of two Sunday pages and seven dailies. We featured the first daily and Sunday page in the previous post.  Above and below are the next six daily strips from the series.

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 7, 2007.

The family is shown participating in the various activities offered at the ranch – horseback riding, going on a cattle drive, panning for gold, visiting a ghost town, hiking in the desert.

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 8, 2007.

The story gave Chance Browne an opportunity to illustrate some different scenery. I sent him photos of the real Vagabond Ranch in Colorado that I attended in my youth to use for reference.

HI and Lois daily strip, August 9, 2007.

He put snow-capped peaks in the backgrounds. He took on the challenge of rendering horses and cows. He dressed the family in cowboy outfits. He invented a one-shot character, “Old Gus.” It was a welcome departure from the Flagstons’ everyday suburban setting.

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 10, 2007.

The daily sequence ended with Lois up in cactus after being frightened by the sound of Trixie’s rattle.

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 11, 2007.

In the next post we will feature the final Sunday page in the series, so stay tooned.

– Brian Walker