The Little King

Last Sunday one of my favorite comic strips, Patrick McDonnell's MUTTS, warmed my heart when it paid tribute to another comic strip creator Otto Soglow (1990-1975) in this strip:



The above strip is referencing Soglow's own strip, THE LITTLE KING, which Soglow created in 1931 and continued drawing until his death in 1975:



THE LITTLE KING is one of the first comic strips I remember reading since it usually had no words; all you had to do was follow the drawings. At the height of his fame the tiny king was a big man. There were LITTLE KING comic books, LITTLE KING toys, and LITTLE KING puzzles. He shilled for Pepsi-cola, Standard Oil, Tops Gum and even had his own brand cigarettes:



As you can see the line between adult comic strips and children comic strips was blurry for awhile there. I remember Fred and Barney of The Flintstones doing commercials for Winston cigarettes. Not only did THE LITTLE KING do advertising, he became a movie star when Van Beuren Studios released 12 animated cartoons staring the little guy. He even made one with Betty Boop:



I haven't thought about THE LITTLE KING in years and writing this post has reminded me of just how much comic pleasure the little man gave me as a small child. Many thanks, Mr. Soglow.