I’ve written in a previous post about how I’ve been reading the New York News Sunday comics from the year 1947. A dealer had picked up that year’s worth of comics from a yard sale, and I, in turn, picked them up at last year’s Akron Comicon. I read one comics section a week and I’ve come to look forward each Sunday to my visit with the past. I’ve especially come to look forward to certain strips each week. There are, of course, the obvious ones like Dick Tracy and Terry and the Pirates with George Wunder’s gorgeous art, I also look forward to couple of strips I’ve never encountered before. The one I look forward to the most is a hidden gem called The Ripples. It’s by George Clark who is better known for a panel he did called Side Glances. It’s a gentle whimsical strip about an art gallery owner Dr. Dibbs and his interactions with patrons and artists. The art is simply elegant and beautifully compliments the understated but knowing writing. I don’t know if there was a concomitant daily feature or not because when I went to my encyclopedia of American comics, it was nowhere to be found. Ditto for Wikipedia. It’s hard to believe that such a wonderful strip could exist so far off the radar, unknown and unheralded. If the comic strip biz was a meritocracy, this beautiful work would doubtless hold an esteemed place of honor.
