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Al Capp - Original Comic Strip Art for Li'l Abn

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Comics Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
Al Capp - Original Comic Strip Art for Li'l Abn
Al Capp - Original Comic Strip Art for Li'l Abner Daily dated 9-22-48 (United Features Syndicate, 1948). What started as a simple storyline in a daily comic strip, became a marketing and licensing juggernaut the likes of which the world had seldom seen. When Al Capp introduced the Shmoos in his Li'l Abner strip in August 1948, little did he know what he was unleashing on a waiting world. The Shmoos were discovered by Li'l Abner when he ventured into the Valley of the Shmoon, after being warned of the danger by Ol' Man Mose. "Shmoos," he said, "is the greatest menace to hoomanity th' world has evah known." Nonplussed, Abner responded, "Thass because they is so bad, huh?," to which Mose countered, "No, stupid, it's because they're so good." And good they were. A Shmoo's greatest pleasure in life came in giving pleasure to others. Whatever you wanted or needed, a Shmoo was happy to provide it. Hungry? The Shmoo laid eggs, gave milk, and absolutely loved to be eaten by humans (it also tasted like your favorite food, whatever that was). Need clothes or a home? Shmoo skin, sliced fine, was excellent leather, sliced thick, it was the very best lumber. In short, a Shmoo was everything to everyone. The menace, of course, was that once people discovered the Shmoo, they lost the will to work, and society eventually broke down. The Shmoos were hunted to extinction, for the good of the world, but one or two always escaped back to the Valley of the Shmoon to start things all over again. A huge hit, the Shmoos were soon everywhere -- from toys, to ashtrays, to games, to puzzles, to wallpaper, to jewelry, to records, or even earmuffs as "Shmoo fever" gripped the nation! For comic collectors, the upshot of all of this is that the Shmoo strips, particularly those from the original 1948 storyline, are particularly desirable and collectible. The example offered here is especially nice in that, although it doesn't feature any of the denizens of Dogpatch, it does have Shmoos in three out of four panels, and shows the effect the Shmoos had on American society (along with a corny parody of Gabriel Heatter's famous phrase). With an image area of approximately 22" x 6", and in excellent condition, this is a killer piece for any strip art collector. Signed by the artist in the second panel. Important notice: Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 20% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid.