Prince Errant

Harry Cornell Greening (1876-?) born in Titusville, Pennsylvania, on May 30, 1876. He left Titusville in 1884 to contribute to Puck, Judge and Life. He was one of the early comic supplement men whose comic strips were syndicated by C. J. Hirt.

Prince Errant, accompanied by his jester, roamed a fantasy world full of griffins, witches, and dragons, in search of a princess to wed. Usually he came to grief at the hands of the various princesses’ fathers. He was a masterful draftsman and one unique quality of the comic was that it was an adventure strip continued from week to week.

STOLEN SKETCH SENT BACK TO CARTOONIST

Los Angeles, April 3, 1930.- (AP)

“Harry Cornell Greening, one of the pioneer comic strip artists, hasn’t lost faith in the world’s honesty.

A few years ago, when Enrico Caruso, the Tenor, was alive, he asked Greening to pose for a crayon sketch. After it was completed, Caruso autographed it and sent it to the artist. Several days after he received the sketch, it disappeared. Years passed and Greening came to California. Yesterday, while opening his mail, out popped the sketch. Someone in New York, without disclosing a name or address, had mailed it to him.”

Barnacle Press has a nice selection of another Greening strip, The Woo Woo Bird, HERE. Time magazine mentions his creation Percy the Mechanical Man HERE.

*TOP, 31 March 1906.