\
 
 
 

Essential Sequentials - BOODY ROGERS


Boody Rogers
(Gordon Rogers, 1904 - 1996, USA)

From the hillbilly hijinx of "Babe" to the wacko sci-fi underworld of "Sparky Watts" to the hipster hullabaloo of "Dudley, the Prince of Prance," Boody Rogers presents an off-kilter world of hilarity that seems like an oft-unheralded link between the Golden Age of the newspaper strips and the underground cartoonists of the 1960s.

Boody Rogers studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the Chicago Art Institute. He was one of the main contributors to the first American comic book, 'The Funnies', that started in 1936. Rogers had been active since the 1920s, working mainly on syndicated comics, and drawing gag cartoons for magazines like Life, Judge, Colliers and the Saturday Evening Post.

He assisted Zack Mosley on 'Smilin' Jack', and worked on other syndicated features like 'Deadwood Gulch' and 'Possum Holler' throughout the 1930s. In 1940 he created his own 'Sparky Watts' feature for the Frank Jay Markey Syndicate. By 1942, Rogers killed of his character and enlisted in the Army, expecting not to return from the War.

However, Rogers returned to the States and so did 'Sparky Watts', this time in the Big Shot Comics comic book by Columbia Publishers. For Feature Comics, he worked on features like the hillbilly girl 'Babe', as well as 'Dudley' and 'Leroy'. Boody Rogers retired from comics in 1952 and opened two art supply shops in Arizona.

Boody Rogers was one of the main contributors to the first American comic book, "The Funnies". During his career, Rogers assisted Zack Mosley on "Smilin' Jack", and created his own nationally published comics - "Hillbilly Babe" and "Sparky Watts". Boody Rogers retired from comics in 1952 and opened two art supply shops in Arizona.

Cartoonist Bill Griffith is a fan:

Fantagraphics.com:

"Bizarre, wacky, weird, wild and sexy - these are just a few of the adjectives that describe the cartooning of Boody Rogers. Before there were underground comics, Boody Rogers dug deep into breaking the rules; before their was low-brow art, Boody created art that hit hard below the brow. Rogers' pen and ink raucousness was wrapped into great stories, beautifully drawn art, and hilarious gags. Fans of Boody Rogers Golden age comic book stories span generations of cartoonists, from Robert Williams to Art Spiegelman to Johnny Ryan. Spiegelman printed Rogerss work in RAW magazine and recently it also appeared in the anthology book Art Out of Time: Unknown Comic Visionaries (Abrams). Here at last is a single book devoted to this cult comics hero, collecting Rogers's best Sparky Watts, Babe and Dudley stories, as well as much more."

Robert Williams, Low-Brow L.A. artist:

"Boody Rogers' work was and is a visual stormfront that keeps you turning pages. I only wish our more legitimate fine art doyens and high cultured dictators of today could bring themselves down to this level of imaginative epiphany."

 


Back to Essential Sequentials