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''Hazel'' is a single-panel cartoon series by Ted Key about a live-in maid who works for a middle-class family. The character of Hazel came to Key in 1943 during a dream that he drew the next morning and sent to ''The Saturday Evening Post'', where it quickly became a popular series.〔(Weber, Bruce. "Ted Key, 95, Creator of 'Hazel' Cartoon, Is Dead" ), ''The New York Times'', May 8, 2008〕 ==Characters and story== * Hazel, the live-in maid to the Baxter family, also serving as nanny to the children.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=DailyINK )〕 * George Baxter, ostensible head of the household.〔 * Dorothy Baxter, George's wife.〔 * Harold Baxter, the son of George and Dorothy.〔 * Katie Baxter, the Baxters' adopted younger child.〔 * Smiley the dog.〔 * Mostly the cat.〔 * Two Ton, another cat, named for its size.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=DailyINK )〕 In 2008, the cartoonist's son, Peter Key, talked about the origin of the character, "Like a lot of creative people, he kept a notepad near his bedside. He had a dream about a maid who took a message, but she screwed it up completely. When he looked at the idea the next day, he thought it was good and sold it to ''The Post''." Shortly afterward, the wry and bossy household maid was given the name Hazel, along with employment at the Baxter household. Peter Key recalled, "He picked the name Hazel out of the air, but there was an editor at ''The Post'' who had a sister named Hazel. She thought her brother came up with the name, and she didn’t speak to him for two years."〔 ''Hazel'' ran weekly in the ''The Saturday Evening Post'' until the magazine ceased publication in 1969, after which the cartoon was picked up for daily newspaper syndication by King Features Syndicate. Key continued to draw ''Hazel'' until his retirement in 1993. Ted Key died in May 2008. Key's cartoons were reprinted in a series of books, including ''Here's Hazel'' and ''All Hazel''. The first in the series, ''Hazel'', was published by E. P. Dutton in 1946, and sold 500,000 copies. ''Kirkus Reviews'' commented: :Cartoons from the next to last page of ''The Saturday Evening Post'', in which Hazel, a slightly dimmed jewel of a domestic, puts her employers and their friends through their paces with no hesitation about taking the center of the stage. Joining in their games, their parties, their conversations, their arguments, court of appeal for household decisions, intimidating the unwary, demanding-and grabbing-her rights, Hazel is certainly the least inhibited person on paper today. You may start off disliking her and her omnipresence in the household, but sooner or later one of her cracks will get you—and you'll be sold.〔(''Kirkus Reviews'', 1946 )〕 In 2008, King Features was reprinting ''Hazel'' panels in more than 50 newspapers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hazel (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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