BILLY JOEL’S FAMILY CIRCUS. A “Family Circus” comic strip. Mommy is chastising 8-year old Billy Joel and his young bandmates (one of them holds a saxophone). A fire burns in the background. The flames are labeled “Marilyn Monroe,” “Children of Thalidomide,” and “JFK Blown Away.” Mommy asks Billy Joel: “Who started the fire?” A little “Not Me” ghost, labeled “Not We,” is cheekily slipping away.
I fear my younger and non-American readers might not be conversant with “The Family Circus.” Just bear with me, guys.
Ruben Bolling had a great “Not Me” joke a few weeks ago but I can’t find it now. But all his cartoons are brilliant.
Speaking of things that will mystify my foreign readers — in honor of the College World Series opening today, here’s another look at Captain Marvel’s visit to Omaha:
I first saw this comic when I went on a tour of Boys Town with my grandfather. They had it on display in the little museum. I think it was still there when I took my own kids there several years ago.
Boys Town is the famous orphanage founded by Father Flanagan — though I don’t think it’s very famous anymore. There was a big-deal movie about it, starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, a long time ago. The best thing about Boys Town is the statue of a boy carrying his crippled brother on his back, saying: “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother.”
It used to be way out in the sticks, but as Omaha has grown it’s become weirdly central.
Captain Marvel regularly visited different cities, and you always saw the Mayor, the radio host, the head of the school board, and other local celebrities depicted. They’re kind of cool snapshots of idealized 40’s America.
In my ideal America, you are drawing my comics, so do it. Come back next week and I will try to, too. Tutu.