Tip Top Comics

(St. John, 1936-1961)
™ and ©1955 St. John Publishing

Tip Top Comics packaged reprints of United Features newspaper comic strips. Ernie Bushmiller’s “simple to the point of being an archetype” art on his quintessential strip “Nancy,” was one of the comic strips that found a second home in comic books.

Nancy was certainly an acquired taste. Her quaint adventures predated the saccharine-laden type of gags perfected by “The Family Circus.”

Also featured were reprints of “The Captain and The Kids,” an iteration of “The Katzenjammer Kids” by Rudolf Dirks who relinquished his original creation when he went to another syndicate.

One of the most pertinent strips to be found in this title however, is a very early version of “Peanuts.” Charles Schultz had not yet refined these characters as the familiar images that enjoy international recognition today, and it is a treat to view the genesis of an icon.

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