Hi All,

Since Mary Worth talk has been dominating the 10 favorite cartoon characters thread of late, there is agreement that we should start one or more separate threads. Since the current story-line is a broad discussion of modes of contemporary masculinity - which is has largely been the ongoing project of OOT - I feel that it is an excellent point of entry into Worth-land.

Take Saturdays strip for example:




Which puts us in the center of conflict between Wilbur (Mary Worth mainstay and proverbial Heminigway type) and Zak (the newly emerged millennial metro-sexual).

Of course, if Mary Worth was in the picture (for those of you who are not familiar with the strip, Mary can be thought of as the "El Diablo" figure of the Charterstone universe) she would point out that much like a splash of spring water would appropriately tame a glass of single-malt, so would a more congenial meeting of minds bear fruit in this encounter. Lacking her guidance, however, the situation is threatening to spiral out of control.

wow, I'm def glad I haven't read that thread then

My home town broadsheet carried Mary Worth when I was growing up but it was a little "mature" for my tastes so I used to skip over it to get right to Andy Capp and Family Circus. I am excited to have this opportunity to see what I was missing all those years.

Wow, Gregorio that is an amazing coincidence. When I was young may parents wouldn't let me read the Family Circus and I have never felt like I had the context for the strip as an adult. If you wanted to start a Circus thread I might be a participant.

I hadn't planned to give to much background itt, but if it is helpful I could write a bit every day or so to give some history of the strip.

In case you don't know Mary Worth has been around since the depression era, many reference sources state that it was a continuation of Publishers Syndicate's strip "Apple Mary", created by Martha Orr in 1932, centering on an old woman who sold apples on the street and offered humble common sense. Apple Mary ran through 1938, at which point, It's generally thought that under a new writer (Allen Saunders, whose credits include Kerry Drake and Steve Roper) and artist (Dale Connor, formerly Orr's assistant), it gradually metamorphosed into Mary Worth. As late as February 1940, the strip appeared as Apple Mary, subtitled Mary Worth's Family.

I get it. Before that it could be a little NSFW.

I find the background helpful as I could never really understand Mary Worth. At the time I never thought of her as an El Diablo analog, but that really puts things in perspective.

damn, it really was a little racy

JFC that IS racy!

My parents wouldn’t even let me read Family Circus until I was like 16.

Thanks for the Family Circus stuff, very interesting and not at all what I expected. I just remember the Sunday strips that were schematics of the kids running around. Very inscrutable to me.

Have done a little more digging into Mary Worth history and found some contrarian iunformation to what I posted yesterday.

Apparently, King Features, which began syndicating Mary Worth in 1987,gives the debut year of Mary Worth as 1938, and denies any connection between the strips. From the King website: "Contrary to popular belief, Mary Worth is not a continuation of the Depression-era favorite Apple Mary. The strip was created as a replacement feature offered to newspapers when Martha Orr, who created the dowdy apple peddler, retired. The only thing the new title character had in common with her predecessor was a first name."

Very Interesting imo.

The Mary Worth Wikipedia page is wild:

Dowdy apple peddler porn is out there, but you have to do some looking to find it.

This thread has got me thinking about another great comic from my youth that reminds me a lot of Mary Worth (in that I never read it either), Rex Morgan, M.D.. Hoping OP will start a thread on Rex so I can finally find out what I was missing.

Who throws shade at Captain Kangaroo? In 2006? There’s a backstory to that drama.

Unfortunately, I don't read Rex Morgan, M.D. as I am more of an Apartment 3-G man. Regardless, leading a new thread might be a bit much for me as I have my hands full with a few writing projects atm. Will revisit a bit down the road.

Still digging deep into Mary Worth origins I have dug up yet more information that the strip shares an unbroken narrative with Apple Mary featuring identical characters. Besides the character of Mary Worth herself, Mary's grandson Dennie is featured in both comic strips, regularly appearing from 1934 to 1944, and reappearing as an adult in stories published from 1955-1957, 1959, 1961, and 1963. Mary's son, "Slim" Worth, is featured in stories appearing in 1936–37, 1940–41, 1961–62, and 1963. Also, Mary's friend, Bill Biff, is featured in stories appearing between 1935 and 1944.

Also writer Allan Saunders himself recalled that "soon after our team took over, we changed the name of the strip to Mary Worth's Family. Later, it took on its present title, Mary Worth. In her new role, the old street merchant obviously was not usable. So Ken Ernst gave her a beauty treatment, some weight loss and a more appropriate wardrobe. ... We put her applecart in storage, where it will remain, even in the event of another economic slump."

I didn't intend on so much background itt. But a lot of this came up in the process of research for a book I am writing. I hope to move forward a bit into the later history, background and characters and maybe talk a bit about various parodies of the script while we catch up with the current storylines.

Man, I don't remember the Family Circus being that racy. And I can't believe Mary Worth is still being published. It was hopelessly old-fashioned when I was a kid. In 1970.

No to jump to far ahead in the background story, but it's not your childhood Mary Worth. A few years ago they retooled the strip and the Writer is now an Asian hipster from Brooklyn. A lot of the new storylines are pretty edgy and po-mo. There is a lot of metafictional elements as well. Dominic you in particular may be interested to know that there is a lot of cinematic and literary references. The current storyline invokes The Matrix along with a lot of breaking the fourth wall type elements. Plus, as mentioned above, Mary no longer sells apples on the street.

I haven't read that comic since I was in high school, about a hundred years ago.

A lot of you have been writing me to ask more about the aforementioned writer, Allan Saunders. To give a little more background on him, he was Born John Allen Saunders on April 24, 1899 in Lebanon, Indiana, U.S. years before dieing on January 28, 1986 at St. Luke's Hospital, in Maumee, Ohio. He was a Writer and Editor, most notably for works such as Big Chief Wahoo, Mary Worth (natch), and Kerry Drake. He won the prestigious Inkpot Award in 1981 to the delight of his wife lois and children John Allen, David, Penny, and Lois Ann.

Here is an interesting tidbit: in 1957, Saunders wrote the line, "Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans," usually attributed to John Lennon. It appeared in a 1957 issue of the Reader's Digest.

I keep hoping for a Mary Worth / Rex Morgan / Apt 3-G crossover special, but trying to get licensing agreements between all these big-name properties is just impossible.

Been falling a little behind on the latest panels (of course any of you a re free to join in your selves), but today's strip is another good one for Mary newbs:



Which combines a couple reoccurring MW motifs; animals - especially the suggestion that Mary can observe others through the eyes of her neighbors pets, and the influence of contemporary Asian horror films.

I have limited posting time these days and thought I would poll the crowd about what you would like to see more of this week - more Saunders biography or strip analysis?

Looking forward to OP’s dissection of Andy Capp.