"A Will Eisner Publication" it announces on the one and only issue of Kewpies published in 1949. It looks downright charming, painfully so. It was Will Eisner's attempt to take what he did in the military and try to find a marketplace in post-war America. There were just two comics published by Will Eisner's fledgling company (I'll get to the other one tomorrow). Kewpies has a host of different features in it, as it was typical for the time.
In addition to the story about Kewpies in which some trouble-causing bees play havoc with "Kewpieville" we a get a range of other features. A highlight is "Clifford" by Jules Feiffer. "Pito" is a story about a boy in the Amazon by Andre LeBlanc. Each issue was supposed to offer up fiction as well and this one gives the reader a few pages from "Miss Hickory". Clearly Eisner was building a comic for young readers and one which could withstand the stark glare of critics of comics.
(Rose O'Neill)
The Kewpies were first imagined as comic strip characters well over a century ago. The painfully cute critters proved popular and creator Rose O'Neill began to fashion paper doll versions. Eventually bisque dolls were made and when that was successful other materials. The success of the Kewpies made her wealthy and she used that wealth to help the cause of women's suffrage, a cause which is under fire in modern America, if it can be believed. The phrase "Kewpie Dolls" was not uncommon in my boyhood, though I have no recollection of when or if I ever saw one.
To read more about Rose O'Neil's Kewpies go here.
To enjoy Will Eisner's Kewpies comic book for yourself check out this link.
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Some of these old cute type illos are pretty endearing and there seems to be a similar thing happening in superhero type toys and some comics with Marvel Babies ( Scotty Young etc). In the UK an artist called Mabel Lucie Atwell (1879 -1964) drew very cute kids and is very collectable
ReplyDeletePeople love babies for some reason. I'm not a fan particularly, but eventually they do grow up to become interesting.
DeleteI've never come across anything where Eisner explained his interest in reviving the turn of the century "Kewpie" phenomenon. He definitely had, and was aware that he had, some facility to portray "cuteness," and maybe that led him to think he could build whole comics around that artistic penchant. But even if he'd been another Sheldon Mayer in that department, the Kewpies just have this fusty look to them, and that's the last thing I associate with Eisner, who made his bones doing urban adventure and melodrama. Parenthetically, on DCM I stumbled across a run of some 1940s comic by the Chesler studio, most of which looked like repackaged one-page comic strips from the twenties or something, so I can't say Eisner was alone in trying to bring back the sort of comics he grew up with as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThe Kewpies do look a bit mannered. It's the only word that comes to mind.
DeleteA big Eisner fan, but don't recall these at all. Wouldn't mind taking a trip to Kewpieville! Thanks for posting these obscurities.
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