Joe Martin was a short-lived newspaper comic strip drawn by Forest McGinn[1] to further market Universal Pictures' celebrity orangutan Joe Martin. The Joe Martin strips were free "six-column mat form" comics issued by Universal to any newspaper that requested them.[2] The Joe Martin comic strip was introduced on or before March 1920[3] and continued until at least 1921.[1] The strip, sometimes called The Life, Loves and Adventures of Joe Martin was published in newspapers in the United States,[4] Canada,[5] and Sweden.[1]
Contemporary audiences would find the subject matter highly offensive. The comics are period-typical in that "Blacks were the principal comic figures [although] many of the images of 'Blacks' in the first half-century of the comics were not of Blacks at all. Instead they were caricatures derived from [minstrel shows]."[6]
References edit
- ^ a b c Schuddeboom, Bas; Kousemaker, Kees (2016-07-14). "Forest A. McGinn". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Amsterdam: Lambiek Comic Shop. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
- ^ "Comic Strip Boosts Monk: Universal Issues Cartoons to Exploit Joe Martin, Monkey-Actor". Motion Picture News. Vol. XXI, no. XV. 1920-04-03. p. 3096. Retrieved 2022-11-25 – via Media History Digital Library.
- ^ McGinn, Forest (1920-03-19). "Joe Martin - He Wants His Price or Nothing". Troy Call. Vol. 25, no. 16. Troy, Illinois. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-11-29 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "New Comic for This Paper". Madera Mercury. Vol. XXXIV, no. 180. Madera, California. 1920-05-10. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2022-10-19. Retrieved 2022-10-17 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ McGinn, Forest (1921-03-09). "Joe Martin - They Say Clothes Make the Man Therefore Joe Is a Man Now". Wainwright Star. Vol. XIII, no. 15. Wainwright, Alberta. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-11-29 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ Jones, Steven Loring (2019). "From "Under Cork" to Overcoming: Black Images in the Comics". Jim Crow Museum Scholarly Essays. Big Rapids, Michigan: Ferris State University. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22 – via Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia.