When Drabble by Kevin Fagan first appeared in 1979, a number of critics complained that it was poorly drawn and primitive. Well, it’s now been running for over forty years in over a hundred newspapers, so, obviously, some critics were seriously out of touch with what makes a good comic strip. Comic art can be simplistic, but it’s the ideas behind it that make it work. There have been some beautifully illustrated strips that have failed because they lack that special synchronicity between the idea and the art.

At this point, I can’t imagine Drabble in a different style.

Kevin Fagan was only twenty-two when Drabble premiered.  Except for a brief period when he was ill and the strip went into repeats, Fagan has single-handedly produced all the Drabble dailies and Sundays.

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And speaking of styles of comic art…

Usually when a cartoonist hires an assistant or the strip passes to a new artist there is an attempt to maintain a consistent look. Blondie has basically looked the same throughout its run even though it’s been handled by a number of different artists. Popeye has had many cartoonists, too, but Popeye still looks like Popeye despite some stylistic variations. Prince Valiant has gone from Hal Foster to John Cullen Murphy to Gary Gianni to Thomas Yeates and still retains essentially the same style elements that Foster introduced. Mary Worth, Judge Parker, Rex Morgan M.D., Sally Forth, Barney Google, etc., etc., etc. have all gone through subtle changes, but remain the same.

The most jarring transition I’ve seen is Mark Tatulli’s Heart of the City. Tatulli’s style is loose and sketchy, whereas his successor, Christina “Steenz” Stewart, has a very tight and controlled rendering. Both cartoonists are excellent at what they do, but as a fan of Tatulli’s work I felt as if the new Heart of the City was part of the multiverse; same characters, different universe.

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