Willjohn - thanks for lending a hand with the research! I really didn't have the time to look into it right then.hugob00m wrote:Thanks for the information. It's interesting that both Nancy and Iodine started out as peripheral characters and eventually moved to the forefront.willjohn wrote:According to the "Hogan's Alley" comic book site Nancy first turned up in 1933 as a character in the "Fritzi Ritz" ( Aunt Fritzi) comic strip. "Little Lulu" was first drawn in 1935. "Little Iodine" originated in a strip called "They do it every time" which was first drawn in 1929, but there is no record as to when Iodine first appeared.
b00m - Interestingly, a minor or temporary character in a comic strip who became so popular that he or she took it over was a phenomenon that happened quite a few times. Probably the most famous example was Thimble Theater, which for ten years had featured a character called Ham Gravy who had a friend named Castor Oyl and dated his sister Olive Oyl... I guess everyone can figure out from the names what happened: Popeye was introduced as a temporary character but took over the strip and beat poor Ham's time with Olive as well! But you don't argue with your fans, and the readers wanted Popeye.