When I was a youngster growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I would always read the comics in The Cleveland Press and The Cleveland Plain Dealer. At that time, I didn’t much appreciate what I called the “soap opera” strips such as Mary Worth, Rex Morgan, M.D., or Judge Parker. I’d look at them because I admired some of the art, but the stories never grabbed me. The one exception was Dondi. I liked the rough, fluid drawing style and the stories were focused on the plight of a young boy, which was something I could relate to.

Dondi was created in 1955 by Gus Edson (artist/writer of The Gumps after Sidney Smith’s death) and Irwin Hasen (artist of the golden age Green Lantern and Wildcat). The strip inspired a really mediocre film version in 1961 starring David Janssen. The comic strip was initially successful with 100-200 newspapers carrying it, but its popularity faded as it moved farther away from its original concept. It was only in 35 newspapers when it was retired in 1986.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me at themythfits@gmail.com.