Issue 181 of Sad Sack dates back to September of 1966. It may look like a second rate rip off of Beetle Bailey, but Sad Sack debuted as a comic strip in 1942, while Beetle Bailey started in 1950. It has a 40’s aesthetic though. You know it’s bad if the props have to be labeled, as in the case with the skateboard. It says “loved by Millions” on the cover of this Harvey Comics publication, but the contents are pretty horrible inside. At least Beetle Bailey was sometimes actually funny. Full cover after the jump, and no skateboarding in the contents. I bought this on Ebay from a real skateboard historian, Scott Starr. I didn’t realize he was the seller until after I bought it.
6 comments
conahan
I picked up a great Sad Sack collection in a Colorado thrift store while on a skate trip. The book dated from just after WWII, no skateboarding. It might have been a more relevant to a World War II era culture. I liked the drawings better than this one.
Bevilacqua
another great pick !
Starting a publication ?
Sb thru the ages … a personal perception.
kilwag
No, not starting a publication or writing a book, just suffering from poor impulse control and an Ebay hangover.
talentlessquitter
What happened to that skatecomics website anyway?
Tatter Demalion
I have a Sad Sack comic, too. No skating. I remember it had a strip about war and after they had nuked the planet and only one guy survived on each side they crawled out of their bunkers and fought each other with sticks or rocks. Maybe it was just supposed to be funny but it was a pretty apt commentary on the futility of all out war.
spurr
What? No war! Thems fightin words .