Winnie Winkle

"Winnie Winkle" was an American comic strip with an unusually long run, appearing over a 76-year span from 1920 to 1996. Created by Martin Branner, it was one of the first influential comic strips about working women.

History

The comic strip "Winnie Winkle" was created in 1920 for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate and debuted on September 20, 1920. It was called "Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner" until 1943. [cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG00/lambert/gordon.html |title=Comic Strips of the 1920s |accessdate=2007-02-23 |author=Ian Gordon |year=1998 |quote=Until 1943 it carried the subtitle "The Breadwinner.] The idea for the comic was conceived by Joseph Medill Patterson, [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761597-2,00.html |title=1,848,320 of Them |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Time |authorlink=Time (magazine) |date=1939-07-03 |quote= [Joe Patterson] thought up The Gumps (his mother coined the word), Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner, Dick Tracy] but the stories and artwork were all done by Branner, who had made two unsuccessful comic strips earlier. Winnie Winkle was a young, unmarried woman who had to support her parents and (from 1922 on) her adopted brother Perry, making "Winnie Winkle" the first popular comic strip about working women. [cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG00/lambert/gordon.html |title=Comic Strips of the 1920s |accessdate=2007-02-23 |author=Ian Gordon |year=1998 |quote="Winnie Winkle" was the first of a genre of "working girl" comic strips.] It was a reflection of the new role of women in society, as could also be seen in comics like "Tillie the Toiler" from 1921. [cite web |url= http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9513/funnies.html|title=Featuring the Funnies |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Library of Congress |authorlink=Library of Congress |date=1995-06-25 |quote=Women entering the workplace inspired such strips as "Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner," "Tillie the Toiler" and "Somebody's Stenog," albeit in subservient roles.] [cite web |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=1716044&date=19930815&query=winnie+winkle |title=Comic Strips Bring Readers A Century Of Humor, Adventure And Controversy |accessdate=2007-02-23 |author=The Seattle Times |authorlink=The Seattle Times |date=1993-08-15 |quote=After women got the vote and joined the work force, family-centered comics were joined by working-girl strips like Winnie Winkle, Tillie the Toiler, Dixie Dugan, Somebody's Stenog and Brenda Starr [...] ]

During its first years, the daily "Winnie Winkle" comic strip evolved from a gagstrip into a soap opera. An addition to the family was Perry, whom the Winkles adopted in 1922. A child from the backstreets, Perry was forced into fashionable clothes and a duffle coat, but this did not stop him from hanging out with his gang, the Rinkydinks, much to the disapproval of Winnie who regarded them as "loafers."

Major issues were the marriage of Winnie with engineer Will Wright in 1937, and the disappearance of Will during World War II, leaving a pregnant Winnie behind. Even this realistic and unfortunate situation was still too risque for some newspapers: "The Baltimore Sun" dropped "Winnie Winkle" early in 1941 because of her pregnancy. [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,789965,00.html |title=Racketeers of Childhood |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Time |authorlink=Time (magazine) |date=1941-02-24 |quote= [...] few newspapers carry innocence in funnies so far as did the Baltimore Sun last week: It dropped Winnie Winkle because she is going to have a baby.] After the war, she worked in the fashion industry, seemingly as a widow, until her husband returned after a few decades. She took on various other jobs and endeavors over the years, including a stint in the Peace Corps. [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898627-2,00.html |title=Good Grief |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Time |authorlink=Time (magazine) |date=1965-04-09]

Artists

Branner employed a number of assistants, including the young French author Robert Velter, who would return to Europe to create the famous series "Spirou et Fantasio". [cite web |url=http://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-4187-BD-Rob-Vel.html |title=Rob-Vel |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Bédétheque |language=French] From 1941 until 1958, his assistant was John A. Berrill, who later created "Gil Thorp". [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DEFDB1639F935A25750C0A960958260 |title=John A. Berrill, Cartoonist, 72 |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=New York Times |authorlink=New York Times |date=1996-03-16] After Branner suffered a stroke in 1962, his assistant Max Van Bibber continued the series until 1980, later followed by students from the Joe Kubert school of cartooning and finally by veteran artist Frank Bolle. [cite web |url=http://lambiek.net/artists/v/van-bibber_max.htm |title=Max Van Bibber |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Kees Kousemaker |publisher=Comiclopedia] [cite web |url=http://lambiek.net/artists/k/kubert.htm |title=Joe Kubert |accessdate=2007-02-23 |author=Kees Kousemaker |publisher=Comiclopedia] It finally ended on July 28, 1996 after 76 years, one of the longest runs in the history of American comic strips.

pin-offs and translations

In 1923, Winnie's adopted younger brother Perry and his friends the Rinkydinks became the focus of the Sunday pages. In Europe, the Sunday pages were translated, but the weekly strips ignored. The Dutch translated it as as "Sjors van de Rebellenclub" and became very popular in the Netherlands, where it was the predecessor of the long-running series "Sjors en Sjimmie" by Frans Piët. [cite web |url=http://lambiek.net/artists/b/branner.htm |title=Martin Branner |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Kees Kousemaker |publisher=Comiclopedia] [cite web |url=http://lambiek.net/aanvang/1950sjors.htm |title=Sjors van de Rebellenclub |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Kees Kousemaker |publisher=Comiclopedia |language=Dutch] In France, it was known as "Bicot" and was published by Hachette in 14 albums between 1926 and 1939. [cite book |last=Béra |first=Michel |coauthors=Denni, Michel; Mellot, Philippe |title=Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 2003-2004 |origyear= 2002 |accessdate=2007-02-22 |publisher=Les éditions de l'amateur |location=Paris |language=French |isbn=2-85917-357-9 |pages=97-98] In both countries, local artists made new comics about Perry when the weekly pages by Branner were no longer sufficient. [cite web |url=http://www.glenatbd.com/default.asp?Id=http%3A//www.glenatbd.com/bicot-9782723424295.htm |title=Glénat BD: Bicot |accessdate=2007-02-22 |publisher=Glénat |language=French]

"Winnie Winkle" was reprinted in Dell Comics, and during the late 1920s, ten "Winnie Winkle" movies were produced, written by Branner and starring Ethelyn Gibson as Winnie. [cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2531289/ |title=Martin Branner |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=IMDb |authorlink=Internet Movie Database] In 1958, Branner received the National Cartoonists Society Award in the Humor Comic Strip Division for "Winnie Winkle". [cite web |url=http://www.reuben.org/ncs/archive/divisions/strips.asp |title=NCS Awards |author=Reubens.org |authorlink=National Cartoonists Society |accessdate=2007-02-22]

Due to its originality and its longevity, "Winnie Winkle" became a household name and an icon, inspiring even the Pop Art artist Roy Lichtenstein. [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DC1231F93BA35753C1A965958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fL%2fLichtenstein%2c%20Roy |title=On Top With Pop: A Virtuoso Of Irony |accessdate=2007-02-23 |author=New York Times |authorlink=New York Times |date=1993-10-08] It ran in more than 140 newspapers in 1939, [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760785,00.html |title=Winnie on a Bus |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Time |authorlink=Time (magazine) |date=1939-02-20] and by 1970, it still ran in more than 150 newspapers. [cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878315,00.html |title=Martin Branner obituary |accessdate=2007-02-22 |author=Time |authorlink=Time (magazine) |date=1970-06-01] In retrospect, it has been seen as one of the comic strips heralding the new, more independent role for American women after World War I. [cite web |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/centennial/april/women.html |title=New Women Stride In |accessdate=2007-02-23 |author=The Seattle Times |authorlink=The Seattle Times |date=1996-04-07 |quote=By mid-decade, "Betty" and "Winnie Winkle, The Breadwinner" joined these old stand-bys, celebrating the fun and independence of single young women.]

Notes

Everything not directly referenced in the text can be sourced to the [http://www.toonopedia.com/winnie.htm Toonopedia entry] for "Winnie Winkle".

References

External links

* [http://www.toonopedia.com/winnie.htm Toonopedia: "Winnie Winkle (The Breadwinner)"]
* [http://www.frankbollestudio.com/cs_winnie_winkle.htm Frank Bolle on "Winnie Winkle"]