Momma!
May 27, 2016 1:04 PM   Subscribe

RIP cartoonist Mell Lazarus, who wrote Miss Peach and Momma. NY Times obit. He also wrote two books, including The Boss is Crazy, Too.

Growing up with firsthand knowledge of Jewish mothers like Momma, yours truly often thought the cartoons were hilarious. My mother was a control freak in the kitchen, and so my father put up on the wall the cartoon where Momma's daughter-in-law puts a sign in her kitchen that says "Occupancy by more than 1 person is dangerous and unlawful." It was there for my entire childhood.
posted by Melismata (12 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by drezdn at 1:05 PM on May 27, 2016


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posted by Smart Dalek at 1:09 PM on May 27, 2016


Oh man, I always enjoyed Momma.

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posted by languagehat at 2:16 PM on May 27, 2016


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posted by Thorzdad at 2:34 PM on May 27, 2016


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He and his spouse at the time were neighbors growing up. He helped put together a cartoon auction/sale to support my grade school. Mell reached out to his network for donations.My mom wound up with an original Hirschfeld ink drawing of Harpo Marx. I'm looking at it right now.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:09 PM on May 27, 2016 [13 favorites]


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I much preferred his earlier comic, "Miss Peach", the school-centered strip with the tiny bodied, 'flounder faced' (both eyes on the same side of their head) children, and a wider collection of personalities than the family in "Momma".
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:33 PM on May 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


The Comics Curmudgeon, who goofed on 'Momma' all the time, posted a nice obit with this story:
"Anyway, this is as good a place as any to repeat my very favorite anecdote about Momma, which is that the strip’s title character was very obviously based on Lazarus’s mother, but she somehow convinced herself that it was based on her sister."
posted by palindromic at 4:36 PM on May 27, 2016 [7 favorites]


RIP
posted by ijoanee at 6:37 PM on May 27, 2016


Thanks for the giggles.

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posted by easily confused at 5:50 AM on May 28, 2016


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A strip from 30 years ago had a diy flipbook. My brother cut it out before I could look at it....turned out that they were all Sonya with a disapproving look on her face.
posted by brujita at 9:21 AM on May 28, 2016


I haven't visited the Comics Curmudgeon in years! RIP.
posted by thelonius at 10:36 AM on May 28, 2016


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I liked Momma, but I used to love Miss Peach.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:16 PM on May 29, 2016


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