December 29th, 2016

Ask the Archivist: AULD LANG SYNE

by The King

Mr. Jack and friend in 1906 bid the year adieu. (This card was addressed to my great- grandfather.)

Hello dear readers,

As we welcome in a new year, we must unfortunately take leave of not just 2016, but also of this blog. I’ve been proud and delighted to be your correspondent from the musty archives of comics past, but I must reluctantly depart.  I hope you have enjoyed these weekly peeks into the exciting history of King Features Syndicate. 

My idea of comics history has always been something like being an archaeologist, bringing items of interest to light from the debris of long-forgotten eras for the instruction of the present. We covered many famous and well-loved strips, as well as obscure ones. But I lament we only scratched the surface. There were a lot of major titles like Brick Bradford or Mary Worth I never got to, and neither did I touch the long-lost  Goofer Dust, Elmer Squee or The Geevum Girls. 

Perhaps another KFS history-themed blog will appear in the future, which really is a deep, rich source of material. So as I close the creaky doors of the cavernous archive vault for the last time, I bid you all a fond farewell. Thanks to all of you for your interest.

Yours truly,

The (ex) King Features Archivist,

Mark Johnson.