Just Kids
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wasn’t any reason to be alarmed, after all, these were Just Kids.
The kids came from the mind of Baltimore-born creator Augustus Daniels
Carter, better known as Ad Carter. It was while working with the Brooklyn
Eagle that he decided to create a strip to send to the syndicates. Lucky for
him, William Randolph Hearst took notice. Hearst, realizing that other
syndicates were running strips that featured gangs of mischievous kids, didn’t
want to go without – so he had Carter revamp a strip he had done in 1916, called
Our Friend Mush, for King Features Syndicate. And before long, the
charming, often hilarious antics of a gang of pals known as Just Kids was
being published daily in newspapers across the country.
With their
baggy clothes, unique hats, rosy checks, downward sloping eyebrows and button
noses, the kids of Just Kids were just adorable. Their faces were
simultaneously stylized and highly expressive – giving them a flair that was
undeniably ’20s but also quite cutting edge. Carter continued many of his Our
Friend Mush characters, created some new ones, and centered most of their
shenanigans around a smallish town called Barnsville.
There was Mush
Stebbins, a generally wholesome kid who was always up for a good fight. There
was also the portly Fatso Dolan, the Chinese pal Pat Chan, and a gaggle of other
oddities – including a roller skating grandpa, who would flit through panels in
minor supporting roles.
Eventually, Just Kids became a continuity
strip – and the kids’ adventures took them outside of Barnesville and to
mysterious lands where crime-solving escapades could ensue. This kept audiences
riveted and in blissful suspense for many more years, until gradually, by the
late ’40s, things started to dwindle. The daily feature ended in 1947, with the
Sunday strip hanging on for another impressive 10 years – ending just after Ad
Carter’s death.
Just Kids had a fantastic run, with books,
pinbacks, games and many other treasures being produced. Unfortunately, several
readers felt that Just Kids was too similar to Gene Byrnes’ strip,
Reg’lar Fellers, which may’ve cost Carter a few fans. Stay tuned to
Scoop, because next week we’ll look at the Reg’lar Fellers and let
you decide for yourself!
ests of the homesteaders at heart. There’s also Sam Lowry, Bill’s father -
who makes the fatal discovery that war is being waged by one Mace Ballard
against the homesteaders. Being as evil as they come, Mace promptly kills Sam -
blaming the crime on the mysterious Durango Kid. Of course, this ruffles Bill’s
feathers, who <i>knows </i>the crime wasn’t committed by the Durango Kid because
he <i>is </i>the Durango Kid. <br><br>Adventure ensues, with more Ballard
atrocities including the raid of one Ben Winslow’s homestead, This raid is
eventually stopped by Bill, who promptly falls in love with Ben’s daughter,
Nancy. Then, in Durango garb, he robs Ballard blind and gives all the money to
the homesteaders. That’s when things take an interesting turn. Ballard has the
U.S. Marshall post a reward for Durango’s arrest, and the U.S. Marshall turns
around and makes Bill the deputy responsible for making that arrest. It is after
Ballard commits the most dastardly of crimes, however, that things begin to
really get intense. Suspecting the truth about Bill’s identity, he kidnaps Nancy
and sets a trap that he hopes will result in Bill’s death. He has, of course, no
such luck. Bill outsmarts him, kills him in a rousing gunfight, and gets the
gal. <br><br>So Starrett hung up his cowboy hat, but not for long. Durango Kid
mania had taken hold of the nation’s youth, so in 1943 Columbia Pictures
released <i>Sagebrush Heroes</i> - a film that featured Starrett as a radio
actor reprising the Kid on the airwaves. Then, in 1945, they went full steam
ahead and released a sequel to the 1940 film, <i>The Return of the Durang