Short(est) Lived Comic Series #24 - Gil Thorp (Dell Comics)

Growing up, I remember seeing the Gil Thorp comic strip in the funny pages of The Courier Journal and Louisville Times (don't really remember which it was in - the Journal was our morning paper, the Times was our afternoon paper).  I never paid it much attention, since it was about sports, and as anyone who knows me knows, sports is the absolute LAST thing in the world I care about or would ever want to read about!  When we moved to Florida, I never gave that strip another thought - until over this past summer, while at a local comic convention, I came across a rather inexpensive copy of a Dell Comic that was in unbelievably great condition of ... yup, you guessed it ... Gil Thorp!

Gil Thorp is a newspaper strip that was created and originally written and drawn by Jack Berrill.  Online sources reveal that Berrill worked on the strip from the date of its creation back in 1958 until he died in 1996 (nearly 40 years - I'd say that's a pretty good chunk of time for a writer/artist to work on a daily strip!).  After Berrill died, Jerry Jenkins took over the writing, which surprised me, as I recognize his name from the Left Behind series of books.  Apparently, Jenkins only stayed with the strip until 2004, when Detroit News columnist Neal Rubin took over the writing chores.  Rubin stuck around for 18 years on the strip, and this year, graphic novel writer Henry Barajas became the new writer on the strip.  From what I can find online, it appears there were a number of artists who drew the strip once Berrill was no longer able - William Sattler, Frank Bolle, Ray Burns, Frank McLaughlin, and the current artist, Rod Whigham.  Having never read the strip, I can't say whether the writing and art remained consistent through the changes over the years, but considering the fact the strip is still being published, I guess it must have something going for it.

So, when I came across this comic at the convention, I did a quick online search and discovered that Dell only published one issue of the Gil Thorp comic, even though the indicia on the inside first page indicates it is "No. 1" and states the comic is "Published quarterly..."  Don't know if any other issues were planned, or if it was always intended to be just a one-off. Since it was only a one-issue comic, and it was not at all expensive, I thought to myself, "Why not?"  The cover is a beautifully painted scene of Gil Thorp watching two high school baseball players as one sldes into the plate, and the other tries to catch the ball.  The tagline on the cover reads "With the new baseball season, a serious problem arises for Coach Thorp!"  Obviously, Thorp is going to face some king of drama/dilemma in coaching the baseball team, which creates the conflict for the story.

Sadly, back in those days, the comic companies (particularly smaller companies like Dell, Gold Key, etc.) did not give credit to any of the creators within the comic.  As such, I have no way of knowing for sure who wrote the story and who provided the pencils, inks, colors, lettering, etc.  I will say, though, the art is very clean-cut, and the artist manages to give distinct appearances to each of the characters so they are easily discernible from one another.  The  backgrounds are not very detailed, except on a few occasions when we see some books on a bookshelf (p. 8) or stone details on a sidewalk and the side of a house (p. 12).  Otherwise, the backgrounds are kept simple, which actually works, as it keeps the focus of the story on the characters, while at the same time giving the feel of a comic strip (which, more often than not, are not very detailed).  One website I found (Gil Thorp) lists the artist as Eddie Robbins, with the caveat that Robbins was trying to imitate the style of Thorp creator, Jack Berrill.  Whether this is true or not, I have no idea.

The story itself has Thorp being asked to take over as coach for Milford High's baseball team after the previous coach suddenly resigns.  Thorp finds himself faced with resentment from the high school boys, all of whom loved their prior coach, and he especially finds trouble when it comes to one particular boy, Bob Burwell, who is determined to play short stop and his father will do anything to ensure that happens - even if that means trying to get Thorp fired!  The story focuses on Thorp trying to get the boys to work together as a team, rather than trying to impress scouts with their individual talents, and Burwell causes many a problem along the way.  Of course, a small level of romance is thrown into the mix, as Burwell's sister finds herself attracted to Coach Thorp, and she is placed in the middle between her brother and father wanting Thorp out of the picture and Thorp trying to teach Bob Burwell the importance of teamwork and taking responsibility for one's own actions.

I can't deny that the story was not exactly thrilling - unlike superhero or crime comics, there are no big fights, no dangerous shoot-outs, and no unexpected surprises.  About the closest thing you get is when two thugs try to convince Burwell to throw a game so that they can win some big money - but he does not hesitate to tell his father and Thorp, who set up a trap to catch the men.  The comic is basically alla about Thorp trying to teach the boys a lesson that will help them later in life, and it ends with a moral being instilled, and both Burwell men coming to realize the error of their ways.  The story is what you would expect from a tale published in 1963 - very clean cut, right always wins, and nothing untoward or scandalous that might offend anyone (although, viewing it from today's standards, I'm sure people would take offense to the fact that the comic has only white characters - there are no minority characters whatsoever).

 

I guess I should be grateful that there was only one issue, as I honestly don't think I'd be interested in reading another sports story about Coach Gil Thorp.  Sports fans may enjoy the comic, but, no, this one was not for me.

 

RATING:  6 wicked bouncers toward third out of 10 for at least giving the strip a try as a full-length comic.