Li'l Abner was a comic strip in United States newspapers, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the town of Dogpatch. Written and drawn by Al Capp, it ran from 1934 through 1977. This image is a postage stamp produced by the United States Postal Service after 1978. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Dogpatch was the fictional setting of most of Al Capps Lil Abner comic strip, and the name of a now abandoned theme park in Arkansas. ... Al Capp (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979) was an American cartoonist best known for the satiric comic strip, Lil Abner. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ...

The comic strip starred Li'l Abner Yokum, the dumb but good-natured hillbilly whose main goal was evading the marital goals of Daisy Mae Scraggs, his well-endowed girlfriend. Capp finally gave in to reader pressure and allowed the couple to marry. This was such big news, the happy couple made the cover of Life magazine. A cover of Life Magazine from 1911 Life has been the name of two notable magazines published in the United States. ...

Abner's home town of Dogpatch was peopled with an assortment of memorable characters, including Marryin' Sam, Wolf Gal, Lena the Hyena, Indian Lonesome Polecat (creator of "Kickapoo Joy Juice", presumably based on the real patent medicine "Kickapoo Indian Sagwa", a product of the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company of Connecticut completely unrelated to the real Kickapoo Indian tribe of Oklahoma), and a host of others, including the statuesque beauties Moonbeam McSwine, Stupefyin' Jones and Appassionata von Climax. Patent medicine is the term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were for the most part actually trademarked medicines, not patented. ... The Kickapoo are Native American tribes. ... Oklahoma is a South Central state of the United States (with strong midwestern and western influences) and its U.S. postal abbreviation is OK; others abbreviate the states name Okla. ...

Perhaps Capp's most popular creations were the Shmoo, creatures whose incredible usefulness and generous nature made them a threat to civilization as we know it. Another famous character was Joe Btfsplk, who wanted to be a loving friend but was "the world's worst jinx", and always had a small dark cloud over his head. A shmoo is a cartoon creature, created and first drawn by the cartoonist Al Capp in his newspaper comic strip Lil Abner. ... Joe Btfsplk is a character in the comic strip Lil Abner. ...

Senator Jack S. Phogbound was another memorable character. A blustering Southern politician ("There's no Jack S like our Jack S!") who wore a coonskin cap and carried a rifle to impress his constituents, Phogbound is Capp's parody of the Southern Democrats who opposed the New Deal, of which Capp was a supporter. At one instance in the strip, Phogbound was unable to campaign in Dogpatch, so he sent his aides with a large balloon filled with hot air -- and nobody really noticed the difference. Senator Jack S. Phogbound is a character from the comic strip Lil Abner. ... The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelts legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. ...

Li'l Abner also featured a comic-strip within the comic-strip, titled Fearless Fosdick (a parody of Dick Tracy). The razor-jawed title character ("Li'l Abner's Ideel") might take a bullet in the chest and declare it a mere "flesh wound". Fearless Fosdick was a policeman who was the hero of the Lil Abner character in Al Capps Lil Abner comic strip which appeared from 1934 to 1977. ... Dick Tracy USPS stamp Dick Tracy is a popular character in American pop culture. ...

Situations often took the characters to other parts of the globe, including New York City, tropical islands, and a miserable frozen land of Capp's invention, "Lower Slobbovia." Conceptually based on Siberia, or Russia in general, the worthless land was ruled by "King Stubbornovsky the Last". Their monetary unit was the "Razzbucknik", of which one was worth nothing, and a large quantity was worth a lot less, due to the trouble of carrying them around.

At its peak, Li'l Abner was read daily by 70 million Americans (when the US population was only 180 million). Many communities staged "Sadie Hawkins Day" events, after an annual race in the strip in which the unmarried women were allowed to keep any man they could catch. The unstatuesque and plain Sadie Hawkins inspired the race. Sadie Hawkins was a character in Al Capps comic strip Lil Abner. ...

With John Hodiak in the title role, the Li'l Abner radio serial ran weekdays on NBC from November 20, 1939 to December 6, 1940. A musical comedy adaptation of the strip, also entitled Li'l Abner, opened on Broadway in 1956 and was made into a 1959 movie musical with Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Julie Newmar, Stella Stevens and Donna Douglas. Lil Abner is a musical theatre production based on the comic strip Lil Abner by Al Capp. ... Leslie Parrish (born March 18, 1935) is an American actress who starred under her birth name, Marjorie Helen, until she changed it in 1959. ... Julie Newmar as Catwoman Julie Newmar (born August 16, 1933) as Julia Chalan Newmeyer, a statuesque actress, dancer and singer. ... Donna Douglas (born September 26, 1933) is an American actress. ...

In 1968 a theme park named "Dogpatch USA" featuring Capp's characters opened in northwest Arkansas and remained a popular attraction until it closed in 1993. Several attempts have been made to reopen the park but at the present time it lies abandoned. 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Dogpatch USA billboard Dogpatch USA is a defunct theme park located on Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper in the state of Arkansas, USA, an area known today as Marble Falls. ... State nickname: The Natural State Other U.S. States Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Governor Mike Huckabee (R) Official languages English Area 137,732 km² (29th)  - Land 134,856 km²  - Water 2,876 km² (2. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Capp had a platoon of assistants in later years but always drew the faces and hands himself. Lena the Hyena was designed by MAD artist Basil Wolverton. Frank Frazetta, later famous as a fantasy artist, drew the beautiful full-bodied women in the strip's later years. Li'l Abner lasted until November 13, 1977, and Capp died two years later. MAD Magazine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Basil Wolverton (1909-1978) lived in Vancouver, Washington. ... Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928) is one of the worlds most influential fantasy and science fiction artists. ... Washington residents Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, and Gerald Brom are world leaders in the fantasy art industry. ...

A planned 1990 revival of the strip in the capable hands of cartoonist Steve Stiles was approved by Capp's widow and brother, Elliott Caplin, and all parties involved were ready to sign with a syndicate when Al Capp's daughter, Julie Capp, objected at the last minute and permission was withdrawn.

In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps. Li'l Abner is also the name of a famous steak house in Tucson, Arizona. Named after the comic strip character, its only options are one and two-pound steaks. The Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps was issued by the US Postal Service in 1995 to honor the centennial of the newspaper comic strip. ... This 1974 stamp from Japan depicts a Class 8620 steam locomotive. ... A steakhouse (or steak house) is a restaurant that specializes in the cooking of beef steaks. ... Congress Street, the main thoroughfare in downtown Tucson, Arizona. ...

External links

• Official web site
• Reprints at Comics.com
• Toonopedia
• Category at ODP