OPEN POST: A Summer Tea Party
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| A Summer Tea Party, approx. 1910 Louis Wain |
OPEN POST: Sunday Comics With "Hi and Lois!"
Remember "Hi and Lois?" I only have faint memories of it, but I'm sure I'm alone in that since it achieved blockbuster status and critical acclaim as a daily strip in nationwide newspapers and comic books for nearly 40 years. That's quite a run! It premiered in 1954, or a good six years before the similar "Family Circle," both of which relied heavily on innocent childhood shenanigans and family comedy. Yet as I soon realized when I first discovered "Hi and Lois," while "Family Circus" is told strictly from a child's point-of-view, "Hi and Lois" is very much told from an adult perspective, exploring the stresses of suburban life - a new way to live in the postwar 1950s - and how raising teenagers alongside toddlers could create conflict. The strip is very light on its feet, but just beneath the surface, there's a surprising degree of anxiety, which was new to the comics' depiction of family life. Jointly created...
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