Hi and Lois
Hi and Lois
Author(s)Mort Walker and drawn by Dik Browne
Brian and Greg Walker and drawn by Robert "Chance" Browne (d. 2024) and Eric Reaves
Current status/scheduleRunning
Launch dateOctober 18, 1954; 69 years ago (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]

Publication history

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 Best of Hi and Lois (1986) was reprinted in 2005.

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 (to 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]

Comic books

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]

TV animation

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.

Characters

Reception

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]

Collections and reprints

(All titles by Mort Walker and Dik Browne unless otherwise noted)[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Ron Goulart. The Funnies: 100 years of American comic strips. Holbrook, Mass. : Adams Pub., 1995. ISBN 1-55850-539-3 (p. 110)
  2. ^ "Hi and Lois". www.comicskingdom.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  3. ^ Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 189–190. ISBN 9780472117567.
  4. ^ "Reaves Studio". Reaves Studio.
  5. ^ Dwyer, Ed. "CULTURE: The Funny Papers: Newspapers may be in trouble, but the comic strip is alive and well — and flourishing online," Saturday Evening Post (November 7, 2016).
  6. ^ "Hi and Lois (Volume)". Comicvine.com. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  7. ^ a b "Comics Kingdom -". www.comicskingdom.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  8. ^ Ken Tucker, "Ken Tucker Rates the Daily Comic Strips" Entertainment Weekly, October 05, 1990 . Retrieved February 05, 2018.
  9. ^ Walker, Brian. "Trixie". Hi & Lois. Retrieved 2015-06-20.

External links

King Features Syndicate comics
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