Hi and Lois
| Hi and Lois | |
|---|---|
 Hi and Lois |
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| Author(s) | Mort Walker and drawn by Dik Browne Brian and Greg Walker and drawn by Robert "Chance" Browne |
| Current status / schedule | Running |
| Launch date | October 18, 1954 |
| Syndicate(s) | King Features Syndicate |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
Hi and Lois is a comic strip about a suburban family. Created by Mort Walker and illustrated by Dik Browne, it debuted on October 18, 1954, distributed by King Features Syndicate.
Contents |
Publication history [edit]
The Flagstons first appeared in Walker's Beetle Bailey. They spun off into their own strip, written by Walker and drawn by Browne. Lois Flagston (née Bailey) is Beetle Bailey's sister, and the two strips make occasional crossovers. One of these occurred on the strip's 40th anniversary in 1994, when Beetle visited his sister Lois and her family. Chip resembles his Uncle Beetle in attitude and appearance, especially the eyes.
The strip made efforts to keep up with the times, such as housewife Lois Flagston taking a career in real estate in 1980. In previous decades the strip was acclaimed; in 1962 it earned Browne a Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society.
The strip faced some controversy given the changes in content restrictions since its debut in the 1950s. Once, editors insisted that belly buttons could not appear; in protest, Browne included a box of dimpled navel oranges.
Now produced by the sons of the original creative team, the strip is written by Brian and Greg Walker and drawn by Robert "Chance" Browne.
Comic books [edit]
The Flagston family was also featured in a series of Charlton comic books. Eleven issues were produced from November 1969 to July 1971. Cover price was fifteen cents.[1]
Characters [edit]
- Hi and Lois Flagston: Hi (short for Hiram) and Lois are typical middle-class American suburbanites. Lois is a realtor. They have four children.
- Chip: A stereotypically slovenly teenaged boy (eight years old at the time the strip started).
- Dot and Ditto: Rambunctious twins Dot (sister) & Ditto (brother), who were four years old when the strip began, are now grade school-aged.
- Trixie: The Flagstons' freckled, blonde baby girl, who loves "talking" (through thought balloons) to Sunbeam, a ray of sunlight.
- Dawg: The Flagstons' large, shaggy sheepdog.
- Thirsty Thurston: The Flagstons' fat, lazy and eternally tipsy next-door neighbor.
- Irma Thurston: Thirsty's thin, weary and long-suffering wife.
- Abercrombie and Fitch: The neighborhood garbage collectors.
Collections and reprints [edit]
(All titles by Mort Walker and Dik Browne unless otherwise noted)
- Trixie (1960) Avon
- Hi and Lois (1970) Tempo Books
- Hi and Lois in Darkest Suburbia (1971) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Beware! Children at Play (1972) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: On the Grill (1973) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Family Album (1973) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Family Ties (1979) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Mama's Home (1982) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Suburban Cowboys (1982) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Father Figure (1982) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: American Gothic (1983) Tempo
- Hi and Lois: Dishwasher, Lawnmower or Snowplow? (1983) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Home Sweat Home (1983) Tor
- Hi and Lois: "Is Dinner Ready?" (1983) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Saturday Night Fever (1983) Tor
- Hi and Lois: "Hi Honey, I'm Home!" (1984) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Mom, Where's My Homework? (1984) Tor
- Hi and Lois: The Bright Stuff (1984) Charter
- Hi and Lois: "How Do You Spell Dad?" (1985) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Trixie à la Mode (1986) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Good Housekeeping (1986) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Dawg Day Afternoon! (1986) Tor
- The Best of Hi and Lois (1986, 2005) Comicananiosolaaamasionto
- Hi and Lois: Sleep-Can (1987) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Say "Cheese" (1987) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Sleepbusters! (1987) Tor
- Hi and Lois: House Calls (1988) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Modern Chaos! (1989) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Croquet for a Day (1989) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Couch Potatoes! (1990) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Wheels of Fortune (1990) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Happy Campers (1990) Tor
- Here Comes the Sun: A Hi and Lois Collection (1990) Avon
- Hi and Lois: Mister Popularity (1991) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Play Ball! (1991) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Up Two Late (1991) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Baby Talk (1991) Tor
- Hi and Lois: Sunday Best by Brian and Greg Walker and Chance Browne (2005) ECW Press
Footnotes [edit]
External links [edit]
- Official Facebook page
- Official Hi and Lois Daily Comic page
- King Features: Hi and Lois
- Hi and Lois at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012.
- Mort Walker Collection at University of Missouri (primary source material)
