“New” Forbell
by Dan Nadel
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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A nice discovery over at Stripper’s Guide: A rare set of daily comic strips by Charles Forbell (1884-1946), whose ingenious (and until now, I thought his sole) comic strip “Naughty Pete” (1913) is featured in Art Out of Time. Turns out in 1929 he briefly turned out a strip called “Cuddles: A Flapper in King Arthur’s Court”, which, well, you can pretty much figure it out. It boasts the same fine line work seen in “Naughty Pete”, though, judging from the four samples online, not the formal play. Forbell clearly loved “olden days” stuff, as he ran cartoons in Judge and Life throughout the early part of the 20th century under titles including “In Ye Goode Old Days” “In Ancient Times” and “Ancient Sources of Modern Inventions.” I would have liked to have seen his choice in home decor. Could’ve been lively.
