Walter Hoban

Jerry On The Job July 25, 1924  - original art

Walter C. Hoban (1890 - November 22, 1939) was an early pioneer and innovator in screwball comics. His beautifully drawn, long-running comic, Jerry On The Job (1913-32) was an exercise in disguised anarchy. Hoban was very likely the first major cartoonist to perfect the flip-take, a character's extreme reaction to a corny joke. Hoban also probably started the multi-track comic, where there are background gags in funny signs, goofy objects, and surreal visual gags. He laid the groundwork for screwball comics that followed. His comics are all worth seeking out and reading. His Sunday comics from the 1930's -- Rainbow Duffy, Needlenose Noonan, and Discontinued Stories-- are all lost screwball classics.

For more on Hoban, see the Wiki article.

WALTER HOBAN ARTICLES & COMICS ON THIS BLOG

The Goofy Trees of Walter Hoban's Jerry On The Job - A Month of Dailies (1924)

Needlenose Noonan and Discontinued Stories - Lost Screwball Classics (1934)

An Amazing 1919 Jerry on the Job Sunday

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A Walter Hoban Gallery of Rare Articles and Art

This cartoonist jam page features a Hoban self caricature and shows
us who he hung out with. Source unknown.

Another jam page, this one given to Harry Houdini.

Walter hob-knobbed with the greats. His cartoon is on the bottom,
just under Houdini's name. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

May 19, 1928. This panel was usually drawn by Billy Debeck
(who signed it Barney Google) but many of the
King Features cartoonists drew episodes.
This cartoon shows Hoban's background as a sports cartoonist

Original art - Hoban sports cartoon  (courtesy Heritage Auctions)

Original art - Jerry On The Job Nov 14 1922  (courtesy Heritage Auctions)

 

Perhaps the most bizarre screwball comic of all time.
Walter Hoban's Discontinued Stories ran as a topper to Needlenose Noonan (1933-36).