The Saturday Comics: Hejji by Dr. Seuss

28 Jan

January 28 2012

I wish this wasn’t so short-lived. A weekly Dr. Seuss comic strip. There isn’t much known about it so I’ll quote from wikipedia, which can’t be that far off:

Hejji was a short-lived 1935 comic strip, an early work and the only comic strip by prominent children’s author Dr. Seuss (pseudonym of Theodor Geisel). Hejji was produced by Geisel during the Great Depression, two years before the publication of his first book.

Distributed by William Randolph Hearst’s King Features Syndicate, Hejji began publication on April 7, 1935, as a Sunday strip. A comic strip with an unusually brief publication period, it was cancelled before the year’s end

The title character was a traveler who, in the first strip, entered the strange land of Baako, which had whales swimming in water-filled volcano craters, a flower broadcasting music and twin goats sharing a single beard. Hejji inadvertently plucks the sacred Trumpet Flower and is promptly arrested. He is taken to the palace of the Mighty One, who has Hejji thrown to the Seven Deadly Wombats. After Hejji escapes, the Mighty One apologizes and gives him a guided tour of Baako. They encounter various creatures and eventually arrive at the mysterious castle of the Evil One.

Characters and situations from Hejji reappeared in later Dr. Seuss work. For example, the two goats with the single beard reappeared in the musical fantasy film The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, scripted by Geisel.

8 Responses to “The Saturday Comics: Hejji by Dr. Seuss”

  1. Mac of BIOnighT January 28, 2012 at 12:24 am #

    I can’t judge from just a few pages, but it looks to me like a poor imitation of the totally brilliant Little Nemo by Winsor McCay (pure genius)

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    • bmj2k January 28, 2012 at 2:22 pm #

      In all fairness, what wouldn’t look like a poor imitation when compared to Little Nemo? That’s one of the pinnacles of sequential art.

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      • Mac of BIOnighT January 28, 2012 at 7:24 pm #

        Very true. However, this one seems to be a little too closely inspired by it, but it might just be a coincidence.

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        • bmj2k January 28, 2012 at 7:36 pm #

          Maybe or maybe not, but most elements are very Seussian.

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  2. Mac of BIOnighT January 28, 2012 at 12:26 am #

    In the unlikely case somebody never heard of him: http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/mccay.htm

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  3. The Hook January 28, 2012 at 8:10 am #

    I’ve never seen this before. Great share!

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    • Jimbo January 28, 2012 at 8:47 pm #

      I was thinking you might crank out some audio…

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      • bmj2k January 28, 2012 at 9:03 pm #

        Planned for next week. You should hear from me tonight.

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