Hi and Lois | |
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![]() Hi and Lois | |
Author(s) | Mort Walker and drawn by Dik Browne Brian and Greg Walker and drawn by Robert "Chance" Browne and Eric Reaves |
Current status/schedule | Running |
Launch date | October 18, 1954 |
Syndicate(s) | King Features Syndicate |
Genre(s) | Humor, Gag-a-day |
Hi and Lois is an American comic strip about a suburban family. Created by Mort Walker and illustrated by Dik Browne, both of whose children currently work on the strip, it debuted on October 18, 1954, distributed by King Features Syndicate. [1]
The Flagstons first appeared in Walker's Beetle Bailey . They spun off into their own strip, written by Walker and drawn by Browne. Lois Flagston (née Bailey) is Beetle Bailey's sister and the two strips make occasional crossovers. One of these occurred on the strip's 40th anniversary in 1994, when Beetle visited his sister Lois and her family. Chip resembles his Uncle Beetle in attitude and appearance, especially the eyes.
The strip made efforts to keep up with the times, such as housewife Lois Flagston taking a career in real estate in 1980. In previous decades, the strip was acclaimed; in 1962, it earned Browne a Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society.
The strip faced some controversy given the changes in content restrictions since its debut in the 1950s. Once, editors insisted that belly buttons could not appear; in protest, Browne included a box of dimpled navel oranges.
Now produced by the sons of the original creative team, the strip is written by Brian and Greg Walker and drawn by Robert "Chance" Browne (until his death in 2024) and Eric Reaves. [2] [3] [4]
As of 2016, Hi and Lois appears in 1,000 newspapers around the world. [5]
The Flagston family was also featured in a series of Charlton comic books. Eleven issues were produced from November 1969 to July 1971. The cover price was fifteen cents. [6]
Hi and Lois were featured prominently in the animated television film Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter , which debuted on ABC on October 7, 1972, as part of the network's anthology series The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie .
Ron Goulart praised Dik Browne's artwork for the strip, stating "Browne made Hi and Lois one of the most visually interesting strips on the comics page." [1] In an article for Entertainment Weekly reviewing then-current comic strips, Ken Tucker gave Hi and Lois a B+ rating, and added that it had the "gentlest humor" of all the Mort Walker comic strips. [8]
(All titles by Mort Walker and Dik Browne unless otherwise noted) [9]
The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops. They enjoyed each other's company and decided to meet on a regular basis.
Addison Morton Walker was an American comic strip writer, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954. He signed Addison to some of his strips.
Beetle Bailey is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018, it was among the oldest comic strips still being produced by its original creator. Over the years, Mort Walker had been assisted by Jerry Dumas, Bob Gustafson, Frank Johnson and Walker's sons, Neal, Brian and Greg Walker, who are continuing the strip after his death.
Hägar the Horrible is the title and main character of an American comic strip created by cartoonist Dik Browne and syndicated by King Features Syndicate. It first appeared on February 4, 1973 and the next day in daily newspapers, and was an immediate success. Following Browne's retirement in 1988, his son Chris Browne continued the strip until his own death, with artwork by Gary Hallgren. As of 2010, Hägar is distributed to 1,900 newspapers in 56 countries and translated into 12 languages. The strip is a caricature commenting on modern-day life in the United States through a loose interpretation of Viking Age Scandinavian life.
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles, and games to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. King Features Syndicate also produces intellectual properties, develops new content and franchises, like The Cuphead Show!, which it produced with Netflix, and licenses its classic characters and properties.
Richard Arthur Allan Browne was an American cartoonist, best known for writing and drawing Hägar the Horrible and Hi and Lois.
The comic strip switcheroo was conducted on April 1, 1997, in which several cartoonists, without the foreknowledge of their editors, worked on the other's comic strip for that date, in commemoration of April Fools' Day.
Robert David "Chance" Browne was an American comic strip artist and cartoonist, painter, and musician. He was born in New York City.
Sam's Strip was a humorous comic strip created and produced by Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas. It was distributed by King Features Syndicate from October 2, 1961 to June 1, 1963. The series depended heavily on metahumor and appearances by famous comic-strip characters.
Robert Dana Gustafson was an American cartoonist whose work includes eight years on Tillie the Toiler and a 27-year run on the Beetle Bailey comic books.
Christopher Kelly Browne was an American comic strip artist and cartoonist. He was the son of cartoonist Dik Browne and brother of cartoonist Chance Browne. From 1989 to 2023, Browne wrote and drew the comic strip Hägar the Horrible, which is distributed by King Features Syndicate.
Nemo, the Classic Comics Library was a magazine devoted to the history and creators of vintage comic strips. Created by comics historian Rick Marschall, it was published between 1983 and 1990 by Fantagraphics.
Sam and Silo is an American comic strip created by Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas, which began on April 18, 1977. The series is a "continuation" or a spin-off of Sam's Strip (1961-1963), as it uses the same characters. Dumas was solely responsible for the strip from 1995 and drew it until his death in 2016.
The National Cartoon Museum was an American museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of cartoons, comic strips and animation. It was the brainchild of Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey. The museum opened in 1974, and went through several name changes, relocations, and temporary closures, before finally closing for good in 2002.
Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter, also known as The Man Who Hated Laughter, is a 1972 American animated one-hour television special that was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. This film united characters from almost every newspaper comic strip then owned by King Features Syndicate in one story. The show aired on October 7, 1972, and was repeated in February 1974.
Morning Funnies is a fruit-flavored breakfast cereal produced by Ralston Cereals in 1988 and 1989. The name of the cereal was based on the assortment of newspaper comic strips featured on the box. Innovative packaging allowed the back flap of the box to be opened revealing additional comic strips, different on each edition of the cereal box. Poor sales and negative consumer reaction led to the cereal being discontinued in 1989.
The Silver Reuben Award is an award for cartoonists organized by the National Cartoonists Society. Until 2015, the awards was known as the National Cartoonists Society Division Awards.
A zombie strip is a comic strip whose creator has died or retired, but which continues to exist with new installments in syndication done by a succeeding writer or artist, most often relatives of the original creator. Zombie comic strips are often criticized as lacking the "spark" that had originally made the strip successful.
DailyINK was an online service created by King Features Syndicate to email many classic and current comic strips directly to subscribers for an annual fee of $19.99. King Features described it as "the all-inclusive subscription service for the true comics fan." On a web site and via email, the DailyINK service made available more than 90 vintage and current comic strips, panels, games, puzzles and editorial cartoons.
Sylvan S. Byck was an American editor and cartoonist, who was the comic strip editor for King Features Syndicate for over 30 years, in which position he evaluated "up to 2000 comics submissions a year."