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''Skippy'' was an American comic strip written and drawn by Percy Crosby that was published from 1923 to 1945. A highly popular, acclaimed and influential feature about rambunctious fifth-grader Skippy Skinner, his friends and his enemies, it was adapted into movies, a novel and a radio show. It was commemorated on a 1997 U.S. Postal Service stamp and was the basis for a wide range of merchandising that includes Skippy peanut butter. An early influence on cartoonist Charles Schulz and an inspiration for his ''Peanuts'', ''Skippy'' is considered one of the classics of the form. In ''Vanity Fair'', humorist Corey Ford described it as "America's most important contribution to humor of the century",〔Quoted in ''Skippy: A Complete Compilation 1925-1926'', foreword by Bill Blackbeard, Hyperion Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1977. ISBN 0-88355-629-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-88355-629-4 (trade paperback)〕 while comics historian John A. Lent wrote, "The first half-century of the comics spawned many kid strips, but only one could be elevated to the status of classic... which innovated a number of sophisticated and refined touches used later by Charles Schulz and Bill Watterson..."〔 Comics artist Jerry Robinson said, ''Skippy'' started in 1923 as a cartoon in ''Life'' and became a syndicated comic strip two years later through King Features Syndicate. Creator Crosby retained the copyright, a rarity for comic strip artists of the time. ==Characters and story== The strip focused on Skippy Skinner, a young boy living in the city. Usually wearing an enormous collar and tie and a floppy checked hat, he was an odd mix of mischief and melancholy who might equally be found stealing from the corner fruit stand, failing to master skates or baseball, complaining about the adult world, or staring sadly at an old relative's grave ("And only last year she gave me a tie"). The syndicated strip was enormously popular, at one point guaranteeing Crosby $2,350 a week,〔Robinson, p. 25〕 more than the United States president. ''Always Belittlin and other topper strips ran above ''Skippy'' on Crosby's Sunday page. Grosset & Dunlap published Crosby's ''Skippy'' novel in 1929. There were Skippy dolls, toys and comic books. The strip was adapted as a movie by Paramount. A success, it won director Norman Taurog the Academy Award for Best Director and boosted the career of young star Jackie Cooper. Crosby disliked the film,〔Robinson, p. 81〕 and though he had to allow a previously contracted sequel (''Sooky'') to be made the next year, he never let another Skippy movie be made. During the WWII years, Crosby's conservative politics increasingly intruded on the strip, and it began to lose readers. Negotiations on a new contract failed, and Crosby ended ''Skippy'' in 1945. His final years were tragic; he was unable to find steady work and drifted into alcoholism. After a 1949 suicide attempt, he was placed in the asylum at Kings Park, New York, where he died in 1964, unable to secure release. 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「Skippy (comic strip)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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