Evening star., 1949-07-03
lust Between
Ourselves .
-Ry PhiIin n. Love-

I-By Philip n. Love-
When your father was . boy,
sus of the most popular OF all
comic strips was Mutt and Je1. ;"
ond today. that is still true.
Ia the Al years that H. c. Bud)
Fisher has been drawing Mutt
and Jeff," countless other comics
have been successful for a while,
and then, for one reason or an
other, have lost their popularity
and disappeared. But Bud Fishers
creation seems likely to 60 on
forever.
Mutt and JEFF" is the second
most widely read Of all The Stars
daily strips, according to a reader
ship survey, and it still appears In
more than $50 newspapers in all
parts Of the world.
MIR. Fisher created the first
daily comic strip in 1905. 1t took
him two years, however, to per-
suade the editor Of the San Fran
cisco Chronicle that his idea OF
running q comic across the page,
instead of up and down, was
worth trying.
For a year. the strip had only
one major character. Augustus
Mutt. Then, while on visit to
a sanitarium, Mutt met little Jef1,
and the two have shared the spot
light, so to speak, ever since.
Recently, the National Cartoon
lists Society, presented Mr.. Fisher
a T-square as a token OF its
esteem for the benefits he was
instrumental in gaining for comic
artists. More than any other
cartoonist, he helped to make
comic art the most lucrative OF
all professions. Thanks largely to
his spunk in demanding a fair
share of the profits from the sale
of his work, creators OF successful
comics today are paid hundreds OF
thousands of dollars year.
Bud Fisher was born in
suburb of Chicago in 1884. He at
tended Hyde Park High School
and the University OF Chicago,
then, needing Horace Greeley's
famous advice to go west. young
man." set out for San Francisco
and q job on the art stan OF
the Chronicle.
Still active in the production
of six daily strips and a Sunday
color comic every week. Mr..
Fisher says:
Some days, an idea comes
hard. and for many hours I fight
it out. But it's fun, for all O. that,
and I look forward to many more
years of pleasant association with
my two pals, Mutt and JEFF"
The most widely read of The
Stars daily gag cartoons-more
popular even than any OF its
comic strips-iS From Nine to
Five" also the work of a man
named Fischer, but. please note,
spelled with &C."
10 Fischer's first comic art job
was on the old Chicago Post. as
an assistant to the late Billy De
Beck, creator of Barney Goo
GLE" He also worked under such
famous cartoonists as Chester
Gould, creator of Dick Tracy;
the late E. c. Segar, creator of
"Popeye";; Dick Calkins. Buck
Rogers" and Carl Ed. Harold
Teen" 1t was while helping
Jimmy Hatlo to produce They'll
Do It Every Time" that Mr..
Fischer dreamed up the enter
tanning characters that appear in
From Nine to Five"-Hysteria,
Deleria. Frantic. Mrs. McMop and
Mr.. Wump, the Boss.
Mr.. Fischer's fan mail is volu-
minous. but he still tries to an
swer 1t personally. Many readers
want an autographed original
drawing to frame; others send in
ideas they would like to see in
From Nine to Five"
But, most of all. they want to
know If Mr.. Fischer's cartoons are
available in book form. So the
cartoonist has gathered some of
his favorites into a pocket-siZe
booklet which disappears as fast
as it can be printed. If you want
copy. write to me. inclosing
stamped, self addressed envelope,
and I'll see what I can do.