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Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers
Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers
	Daily comic from E.C. Segar's tenure on the series.
Author(s)	Stuart Wallace Carothers, Warren & Ramsey, Elzie Crisler Segar
Current status/schedule	Canceled daily strip
Launch date	29 March 1915; 109 years ago (daily); 12 March 1916 (Sunday)
End date	July 15, 1916 (daily); September 16, 1917; 107 years ago (Sunday)
Syndicate(s)	Keeley-Handy Syndicate
Publisher(s)	Chicago Herald, M.A. Donohue & Co.
Genre(s)	Gag-a-day, Humor Slapstick

Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers was an American gag-a-day celebrity comics comic strip by Stuart Carothers^[1] and later Elzie C. Segar starring Charlie Chaplin. It ran in syndication from March 29, 1915, until September 16, 1917.^[2] It was one of the earliest comic strips inspired by the popularity of a celebrity.

Background

Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers was published in the Chicago Herald.^[3] The comic strip cashed in on the tremendous popularity of the comedian at the time. It was created by Stewart W. Carothers in March 1915,^[2] who drew and wrote the stories until his tragic early death from defenestration.^[1] Two cartoonists credited as Warren and Ramsey took over the series until they were replaced by Elzie C. Segar, at that time still an amateur.^[4] On February 29, 1916, Segar published his first Chaplin strip. The daily version ran until July 15, 1916. His Sunday version ran longer, from March 12, 1916, until September 16, 1917.^[5]^[6] It was his first professional cartooning job. Contrary to his predecessors, who mostly borrowed ideas from Chaplin's films, Segar thought up his own jokes. He gave Chaplin a tiny sidekick named "Luke the Gook" to act as a straight man to his gags.

Collections

In 1917, five books were published by M.A. Donohue & Co., in 'Best of' style collections. Four of them being painting/coloring books.^[7] These books are considered to be from the Platinum Age.^[8]

Published collections;

Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers, Series 1, No 315
Charlie Chaplin in the Movies, No 316
Charlie Chaplin Up in the Air, No 317
Charlie Chaplin in the Army, No 318
Charlie Chaplin's Funny Stunts, in Full Color, No. 380

Reception

Despite Chaplin's popularity, the comic strip wasn't a huge success in the United States, mostly due to the fact that all artists involved were basically amateurs.

References

^ ^a ^b Carothers entry, Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780472117567.
^ "The Early Works of E.C. Segar". Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
^ "ASK THE ARCHIVIST : CHARLIE CHAPLIN’S COMIC CAPERS," Comics Kingdom (September 24, 2015).
^ Segar entry, Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
^ "Popeye's Pop EC Segar". Archived from the original on 2015-09-21. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
^ Charley Chaplin's Comic Capers, A Collection, Series: Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers, ID: CharleyChaplinsComicCapersACollection. Internet Archive.
^ Overstreet, Robert M. (March 2000). The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. 30th Edition. Gemstone Publishing. p. 236. ISBN 0060957344.