Cartoonist Arthur H. Lindberg (“Lyndell”) and Gulf Funny Weekly –

🙶 Wings Winfair, Speed Spaulding and 
This Wonderful World

🙶 It’s my favorite picture. He made those pastels, the colors were amazing.  As a kid I wanted to play with those pastels, but couldn't ...🙷  – Pam, Lyndell's granddaughter

[1] Mar 26, 1937

The earliest comic book to see the light of day was The Funnies (subtitle: “Flying – Sports – Adventure”), a dime weekly which carried original art and stories rather than newspaper comic reprints. Printing was done by Eastern Color. It ran from January 16, 1929, to October 16, 1930, a total of 36 issues. Each issue had 16 pages of four color material printed on newsprint.

Three years later Eastern Color’s sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg approached the Gulf Refining Company to produce a weekly giveaway, titled Gulf Comic Weekly. The Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries gives the date of the first issue as April 28, 1933. The title changed to Gulf Funny Weekly with No. 5, May 26, 1933. The premium comic was produced until May 23, 1941, ending at 422 issues.

Previously I noted that the lead serial ‘WINGS WINFAIR’ was originally credited to Stan Schendel (writer) and the unknown artist Lyndell. Recently the granddaughter of  ‘Lyndell’ wrote me identifying the unknown artist as Arthur H. Lindberg, well known in his time as a fine artist. He was born September 29, 1895 and passed away on July 23, 1977. Pam H. writes “My older sister is cleaning out her house to sell. It used to be my grandparents house and has been in the family since 1941.  Last night she brought over many portfolios of my grandfather's works... and in it are his cartoons he did as Lyndell.”

[2]

[3]

One other piece of comic art was saved — a Sunday SPEED SPAULDING strip.  Speed Spaulding was a curious strip based on the book When Worlds Collide, by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie, drawn mostly by Marvin Bradley, who would go on to work on Rex Morgan, M.D. The strip was distributed by John F. Dille Co., Chicago and would run under several different artists in the Famous Funnies comic book in the forties. The muddled history can be explored HERE and HERE. Since Arthur H. Lindberg only saved one original example it is likely the Sunday was drawn on speculation and never saw print.

[4] Speed Spaulding, John F. Dille Co., circa 1940

[5] Speed Spaulding, Marvin Bradley, Jan 29 1940

[6] Famous Funnies advertisement, cartoonist unknown, June 1940

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[11] July 30, 1937

[12] Aug 6, 1937

[13] Sept 10, 1937

[14] Sept 24, 1937

[15] Oct 8, 1937

[16] Nov 26, 1937

[17]

[18] Lyndell, July 30, 1937

[19] Fred Meagher, July 22, 1938

Wings Winfair and Gulf Funny Weekly HERE

Gulf Funny Weekly Scans courtesy Arthur Lortie.

Coming soon: Pulp Western Illustrator Arthur H. Lindberg

Special thanks to Pam H. 

                                                                                                                           🙷