The Mystery of the Mysterious Funny Pages

February 17, 2024 5:11 AM

The Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective comic strip only lasted a couple of years, from December 1978 to September 1980, though people saved individual strips, and two collections were later released. Can You Solve The Mystery? came along a few years later, which was an adaptation of the Hawkeye Collins and Amy Adams books. Cliff Hanger showed up around the same time, featuring mysteries in 1930s jungles and that sort of thing, coincident with the popularity of another 1930s-era kinda thing, though it's not "CLIFF-HANGER".

The future comes at you fast, so of course there is a related AI what-the-Hell-even-is-this crap AI thing that can be purchased for a low, low price. This is not an endorsement of the thing linked, more of a "wow, ain't that something."

posted by cupcakeninja (6 comments total)

Inspiration for Tom Tomorrow's Conservative Jones? I believe his most recent appearance was in October.
posted by Rash at 8:15 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]

Wow, Encyclopedia Brown did not translate well into a daily three-panel strip. How did anyone follow what was going on? (But then, I always think the same thing about Rex Morgan MD..."well, there's my 3-4 seconds of disconnected drama for the morning, on to the Jumble.")
posted by mittens at 8:26 AM on February 17 [4 favorites]

The thought that a young pushy pedant could be treated with respect, while balm for my youthful heart, puts Encyclopedia Brown firmly n the camp of “utterly unrealistic fantasy.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:18 AM on February 17 [3 favorites]

I guess I was seven years old when the Encyclopedia Brown strip started. I was already a big fan of the books, and I was excited for the comic.

But it didn't hold my attention very well. I can see why, now. Instead of simplifying the story, they've pared down its presentation. I'd think even an adult might have trouble following along in daily three-panel bursts.

Somehow they wrote a comic strip for grown-ups, based on kids' books.
posted by Western Infidels at 2:36 PM on February 17 [1 favorite]

I collect original comic book and comic strip art. I’d love to get an Encyclopedia Brown Sunday or even a daily. You hardly ever see them for sale.
posted by marxchivist at 9:38 PM on February 17

I never saw the strip, but like a lot of wannabe smart kids I read the books and always felt that I wasn't as smart as I'd like to be because I never could figure out the mysteries.
posted by sotonohito at 12:17 PM on February 18