Evening star. [volume], March 09, 1958, Page 9, Image 201

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
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Top: A pond 'from the USIA's pictorial history of
the U. S., in Urdu, which is spoken in Pakistan. Also
shown on this page are panels from "Mutt and Jeff"
in Portuguese and Spanish; "Juliet Jones," "Mopsy,"
"Life's Like That" and "Cicero's Cat" in Spanish;
"David Crane" in Swedish, and "Buck Rogers" in
Afrikaans, language of the Dutch in South Africa.
Star comics produced by these agencies, besides
those already mentioned, are Buck Rogers, Buz
Sawyer, Mrs. Fitz’s Flats, Fritzi Rttz, Funland, Hi
and Lois, Jackson Twins, Louie, Marmaduke, On
Stage, Pogo, Sad Sack, Scamp and Tales From the
Classics.
American comics are doing quite well in Britain,
France, Japan, Latin America, the Netherlands,
Sweden and Switzerland, and have begun to catch
on in Lebanon and Portugal. They are especially
popular in Australia, and, conversely, one of that
country’s favorites, The Potts, is attracting a con
siderable following in the United States.
Even Communists seem to find the funnies
hard to resist. In Yugoslavia, when the govern
ment abolished them, newspaper circulations
dropped. After futile attempts to attract readers
by other means, the comics were restored with
such enthusiasm that even the party organ, Borba,
went along. Now Yugoslav editors are so certain
of the power of the funnies to win readers that
they usually insist on a two or three years’ supply
of a strip purchased abroad. Walt Disney’s features
and Mutt and Jeff are high on the popularity list.
In France, although the Communist press
ignores the comics. Red readers seem to like them.
Nearly 30 per cent of France-Soir’s readers are said
to have voted Communist, yet Juliet Jones is one
of their favorite strips.
But the best evidence that comics have winning
ways is the fact that even the Russians, who are
not noted for their humor, show signs of suc
cumbing to them. A Moscow paper has started a
comic of its own.
I jy
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SUNDAY. THE STAR MAGAZINE. WASHINGTON. D. C.. MARCH 9. 1968
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