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Exhibition Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages

Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages

Generations of Characters

Frank King (1883–1969). Gasoline Alley. “Walt, I’m Going Up to the Canyon,” 1921. Published in the Chicago Tribune, September 4, 1921. Ink and watercolor over graphite underdrawing with paste-on. Gift, 2003. Art Wood Collection of Caricature and Cartoon, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (005.00.00) LC-DIG-ppmsca-10592
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Frank King (1883–1969). Gasoline Alley. “Gee Old Gobbler,” 1921. Ink and watercolor over graphite. Purchase, Jerry Robinson, 2006. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. (005.01.00) LC-DIG-ppmsca-15910
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Generations of Characters

Not long after Gasoline Alley debuted in 1918, creator Frank King brought baby Skeezix into the life of Walt Wallet in 1921. From then on, King portrayed his characters aging in real time, an innovative development in comics. Walt displays paternal spirit as he takes his adopted son on a hike, encounters a bear, and escapes. Today, Skeezix is an elderly man with a large extended family in what is now the longest running comic strip in the United States.

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