Hank Ketcham: COMWOLFPAC Staff

Before he created the comic panel and strip Dennis the Menace, cartoonist Hank Ketcham served in the US Navy during the Second World War. His work in support of the war effort apparently included creating a color print poking fun at the lascivious staff of the Navy Pacific Command, here jokingly referred to as "COMWOLFPAC." The widely-accepted sexism of the wartime era may make us uncomfortable today, but it should not distract us from what else is going on. The other, and perhaps bigger, story here is Ketcham's freedom to mock the military leadership. Can you imagine a Japanese cartoonist depicting his own top brass as leering wolves? Of course not, it would have been perceived as unpatriotic. And that, my friends, is why we won the war: we had the more daring cartoonists.

Hank Ketcham
AbeBooks Listing Accessed May 26, 2020

https://www.abebooks.com/COMWOLFPAC-STAFF-original-color-print-cartoonist/30644915266/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Note:  Sorry, this print is no longer available from the seller. 

I'm unfamiliar with much of Hank Ketcham's pre-Dennis work. Submissions of rare examples would be welcome.

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Hank Ketcham: Lincoln's Birthday

How does one honor Abraham Lincoln on his birthday? In 1946, five years before he began the comic strip "Dennis the Menace," Hank Ketcham published a cartoon in Collier's that offers at least a suggestion of how one should celebrate. The gag is cute in its way, but the caption just doesn't deliver the Gettysburg address.

"This is nothing. You should see the fuss he makes over Washington's Birthday[.]"
Hank Ketcham
Collier's, February 12, 1946, page 35

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  My thanks go once again to Dick Buchanan for contributing the scan of Honest Abe for today's post. This is his forty-second contribution to the blog, but who's counting? Dick maintains the renowned Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files from which he also contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: More Vintage Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1962." Go take a look. Trust me.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Hank Ketcham

Dick Buchanan

Abraham Lincoln

Collier's

Presidents' Day

Attempted Bloggery's Log Cabin Index

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Hank Ketcham: Those Great Patriots

A color cartoon by Hank Ketcham that appeared in Collier's in the summer of 1949 takes us to Coney Island for a reflection on the meaning of Independence Day. Big, boxy portable radios are the hot new technology; the compact transistor radio is not yet on the scene. Another postwar innovation shown here is the bikini. Ketcham now is within two years of creating his iconic comic strip Dennis the Menace.

Hank Ketcham

"Today, we in America are paying tribute

to those great patriots, John Hancock,

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin..."

Collier's, July 9, 1949, page 46

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  Today, we in America send our thanks to Dick Buchanan for providing Attempted Bloggery with a beautiful scan from the legendary Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. This is his 29th contribution here. For two years and change Dick has contributed regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a seasonal post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: Summer Gag Cartoons 1949 - 1954."

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Independence Day

The Beach

The Radio

Dick Buchanan

Attempted Bloggery's Star-Spangled Index

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