Running the strip, a generous gift to Wolfeans worldwide, has posed a new mystery. I had always assumed that the novella in Triple Jeopardy, "The Squirt and the Monkey", which mostly takes place at the house of the creator of a newspaper comic strip (Dazzle Dan), with an insider look at how daily/Sunday strips are created, was inspired by Stout's involvement with this comic strip. But not so. "Squirt" appeared in The American Magazine in August 1951, five years before this strip debuted. Maybe he was pitched the idea of a Wolfe strip in 50-51, and it took 5 years or so to get it going. Or he was friends with a big-time strip creator, somebody like Al Capp or Milt Caniff, and visited his studio. McAleer's Stout biography offers no info on the background to the story.
Running the strip, a generous gift to Wolfeans worldwide, has posed a new mystery. I had always assumed that the novella in Triple Jeopardy, "The Squirt and the Monkey", which mostly takes place at the house of the creator of a newspaper comic strip (Dazzle Dan), with an insider look at how daily/Sunday strips are created, was inspired by Stout's involvement with this comic strip. But not so. "Squirt" appeared in The American Magazine in August 1951, five years before this strip debuted. Maybe he was pitched the idea of a Wolfe strip in 50-51, and it took 5 years or so to get it going. Or he was friends with a big-time strip creator, somebody like Al Capp or Milt Caniff, and visited his studio. McAleer's Stout biography offers no info on the background to the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure this never ran in The Los Angeles Times.
ReplyDelete