So Long, Bil

Bil Keane. The Family Circus:
Daily and Sunday Comics, 1960-61 (2009), p. 224

News arrived today of the death of cartoonist Bil Keane. His single panel comic strip The Family Circus first appeared in newspapers around the country in the early 1960s.  The only reason I read the Philadelphia Bulletin was for the comics of course, and The Family Circus was a favorite. [Keane started there as a staff artist.] The shenanigans of Billy, Dolly, Jeffy (baby P.J. came later) and their witless canine companion Barfy, were all part of the Sunday ritual.

I still love the comics, and continue to read The Family Circus, mainly for the sweet nostalgia of a bygone time. This is the Bil Keane effect: he reminds us of the old days when we were young and still innocent. For a trip down memory lane, check out the daily and Sunday strips for 1960-1961 and 1962-1963 at the library.

Bill Keane. The Family Circus:
Daily and Sunday Comics, 1960-61 (2009), p. 60

For those of us who don't quite get The Family Circus or who live in a parallel universe, we offer The Dysfunctional Family Circus, a series of wildly inappropriate and funny comic zines available in the library's Little Maga/Zine Collection.