Some of the stuff which Dick Huemer did during his career in cartooning is better-known than Scrappy. Fantasia, for instance, and Dumbo. Buck O’Rue, however, is even more obscure.
The western-themed comic strip, which ran in 1951 and 1952, was written by Huemer and drawn by Paul Murry, best known for the scads of Mickey Mouse comics he drew. It wasn’t successful in terms of sales to newspapers, which explains its short life. And its short life helps explain why it’s not well-remembered.
Dick Huemer’s son, Richard Huemer, has been working with Gerhard Von Wowern for years to collect the Buck strips. Their hard work has finally paid in the form of a beautiful new book from Classic Comics Press. It collects the strips–a few, alas, are missing–and contains nicely-done biographical information on its creators, along with a bunch of interesting pieces of Huemer art. (He didn’t draw Buck O’Rue, but he was a pretty darn talented penman himself.)
The strip is in a Li’l Abner mode of humor; it’s funny and beautifully drawn, and suspenseful, even. It’s a shame it didn’t take off–and wonderful to have it back after 60 years.
Highly recommended. Yes, Scrappy is mentioned–along with Scrappyland.
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