Redeye (comics)

"Redeye" is a comic strip created by cartoonist Gordon Bess that first appeared on September 11 1967 and ended on July 13 2008. Gordon Bess authored the strip from 1967 until 1988, when he was forced by illness to pass it on to Bill Yates (writing) and Mel Casson (artwork). Mel Casson took over both roles in 1999 when Bill Yates became too ill to write, and continued the comic strip alone from 1999 until his own death in May 2008. Casson was not replaced, and publication ended as submitted material ran out. The comic was syndicated by King Features Syndicate to more than 100 newspapers, and has been republished in paperback format.

"Redeye" was especially popular in Europe, where it appeared in "Tintin magazine" between 1969 and 1990 [ [http://www.bdoubliees.com/journaltintin/auteurs1/bess.htm fr BDOubliées list of Redeye in TIntin] ] and received the 1976 Best Foreign Comic Book Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.

"Redeye" is a comic about a tribe of Native Americans during the 19th century, portraying the Indians in a similar way as what "Hägar the Horrible" did with the Vikings. It has also been compared to "Tumbleweeds".

Main characters

* Redeye is the overweight chief of the Chickiepan tribe
* Tanglefoot, a cowardly and stupid warrior who is in love with Redeye's daughter
* Mawsquaw, a bossy, very overweight wife who is a terrible cook
* Tawnee, Redeye's beautiful daughter
* Pokey, Redeye's younger son, a practical joker
* a medicine man who is only interested in playing golf and seducing the nurse
* Jerkymiah, an extremely dirty bearded trapper
* and some talking animals, including Loco, Redeye's steed

Publications

From 1968 on, "Redeye" paperback collections were published by Saalfield Publishing.

Translations

*Danish: "Rødøje", some comic books by Carlsen Verlag [ [http://www.basserne.kolner.dk/redey.htm Danish fan page] ]
*Dutch: "Roodvoet het Indiaantje" in the Flemish newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws" in 1968, [http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/rri/rrri/red_s.htm Michigan State University Libraries Comic Art Collection] ] and "Roodoog" in "Kuifje", the Dutch translation of "Tintin", and in 9 comic books between 1972 and 1985 [ [http://www.zilverendolfijn.nl/zd/zd.pl?a=fc&c=1&kt=NL&s=c&k=BESSGORD&f=sa Bibliography at Zilveren Dolfijn] ]
*Finnish: "Punasulka", few comic books starting from 1976 [ [http://www.kaapeli.fi/~sarjaks/alan/kirj/albm2.html Finnish comics] ]
*French: "La tribu terrible", in "Tintin" magazine from 1969 until 1990
*German,: "Feuerauge", 2 comic books in 1973, and "Häuptling Feuerauge", in "Zack" magazine between 1974 and 1980: [ [http://www.comicguide.de/php/detail.php?id=15339&file=h&display=long German comic guide] ] also the subject of a radio drama in 1977 [ [http://www.hoerspielwelten.de/gen.php?bestellnr=6.23232+AF Hörspielwelten] ]
*Italian: "La tribù terribile", in the magazine "Corriere dei Ragazzi" in 1974 [ [http://www.lfb.it/fff/fumetto/test/c/cdr.htm Ragazzi overview page] ]
*Norwegian: "Rødøye", secondary recurring strip in "Billy" ("Beetle Bailey" magazine), from 1976 [ [http://www.tegneserier.no/default.asp?omtale=11&ID=39267 Rødøye entry] ]
*Portuguese: "Olho Vermelho" in a comic book in 1971, and "Touro Sentado", in "Gibi" magazine in 1974 in Brazil [ [http://www.universohq.com/quadrinhos/museu_gibi.cfm Gibi museum website] ] [ [http://www.graphiqbrasil.com/tirasclassicas/redeye.html Graphiq Brasil] ]
*Spanish: "Ojo Rojo" in the magazine "El Cuco" [ [http://tebeosfera.blogspot.com/2005/03/joaqun-luqui-y-el-cuco-de-pueblo.html Tebeosblog] ]
*Swedish: "Rödöga", 1 comic book in 1979 with Semic Press [http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/rri/rrri/red_s.htm Michigan State University Libraries Comic Art Collection] ] , 4 comic books in 1990 by Carlsen [ [http://www.seriecentrum.com/albumlistor/Album-r.html Swedish comics] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.toonopedia.com/redeye.htm Toonopedia entry]
* [http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/redeye/aboutMain.htm King Features Redeye homepage]