Cartooning
Some of these early cartoons are depicted in the slide shows, and there are a few panels from the series Slappy.
While living in Nashville, Wendell had begun drawing various types of cartoons. Some of these were political and he got a few published in the Nashville newspapers. Others had a religious theme and he got several published in various religious publications based in Nashville such as the Upper Room, Christian Herald, and SBC publications. During his time in the service, of course, Walter and Bill Morton made names for themselves doing cartoons lampooning the Army life. The Ghost army chapter deals with this phase of his life.
Wendell did some individual humorous cartoons which he submitted for publication in such magazines as the Saturday Evening Post. Most of these were rejected, but he maintained a good sense of humor even producing one cartoon showing an artist looking at a rejection letter that stated: "The enclosed material has had our careful consideration, but we are sorry to report that it is not quite suited to our needs. We are grateful to you for letting us see it and can assure you that we are always glad to consider anything submitted to us. Yours very truly, the editors" [this one was attached to Saturday Evening Post stationery]
slide show for other cartoons:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59496800@N04/sets/72157632563580870/show/
Marty Lynn (1949 – 1955)
In early 1949 he hit on the idea of an adventure series about life aboard the towboats he’d seen moving up and down the Ohio River. In fall of 1950 he moved his art operations into a tool shed modified to include a coal burning potbelly heater and some insulation. In November 16, 1950 he poured a slab for what he called his "Pilot House," and he had son John put his hand and footprints in the wet concrete with the date inscribed. He worked in the evenings and weekends on this comic strip about a riverboat captain named Marty Lynn. In order to gather background material for use in the comic strip, Walter took several trips aboard some of these tow boats.
An article in the Sunday, June 24, 1951, "Huntington Herald-Advertiser" under the byline "Reviewing the River" gives a detailed account of Wendell’s plans for the strip:
"An array of colorful present-day riverboat characters, headed by ‘Marty Lynn – Towboat Pilot,’ may be attracting the attention of newspaper readers in the near future, as the result of a cartoon strip idea being perfected by Walter W. Arnett, artist on the staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal’s promotion department.
"Drawn somewhat in the style of ‘Steve Canyon’ and ‘Terry and the Pirates,’ with authentic background, good art work, fast-moving conversation, and plenty of dashing characters, the newspaper cartoon strip on which Arnett is working fives every promise of catching the public imagination. The artist is now polishing up a large number of advance strips and has plans for syndicating ‘Marty Lynn’ and getting it out to newspapers by the end of this year. First sales efforts will be directed toward daily newspapers in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and a number of them have already shown interest.
"Since deciding on the idea for such a cartoon series more than a year ago, Arnett has spent much of his time around river boats, taking notes on conversations, localities and boat construction and equipment for he not only expects to interest the average reader but he hopes that when a river-man finishes reading one of the strips his reaction will be ‘By golly that seems natural.’ And chances are that is the way it will be, too, for the Louisville artist is making a close study of his subject.
"Some time ago he made a trip along the upper Ohio aboard the Union Barge Line towboat Jason, and just last month he boarded the Ashland Oil towboat Valvoline for a trip from Louisville down to Ostrica, La., and back as far as Memphis, where he caught a train for home, after being interviewed by Joe Curtis, the Commercial Appeal’s veteran river news editor, whose "In the Pilothouse" is widely read in the lower Mississippi valley area.
"Visiting in Ashland late last month, Arnett commented that ‘The amount of good material available on the river surprises me every time I make a boat trip.’ He asserted that ‘Modern river transportation is one of the most interesting activities there is, and the men who keep these big twos moving night and day are performing some difficult and fascinating work.’
"As a result of what the artist has learned, the romance of the river in ‘Marty Lynn—Towboat Pilot’ will be exemplified by modern Diesel-powered boats with radio-telephone systems, radar, powerful searchlights, and all the appurtenances that help to make river transportation dependable. His back ground scenes will be actual locations along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, many of which will be recognizable.
"’A thing that impresses me,’ says Arnett, ‘is the universal hospitality and friendliness on river boats. That characteristic has been most helpful to me. Another thing I’ve noticed is that boatmen seem to take more interest in their work than any group I’ve ever encountered. They love to talk about boats and the river, and most of them are well acquainted with the subject far beyond the bounds of their own job, their particular boat, or the line they work for. The typical river-man seems to have an affection for every boat that ever ran.
"He expressed appreciation for the help given him on the Valvoline by Capt. Francis ‘Dusty’ Walters, master, of Evansville, Ind.; Pilots Willard White, of Tollesboro, Ky.; and Ralph Bishop of Paducah. He had special praise, too, for the head of the culinary department aboard the Valvoline, James ‘Smitty’ Smith, of Huntington, who resides at 512 Buffington Street.
"While in Eastern Kentucky, Arnett took time for a visit to his home town of Salyersville, the county seat of Magoffin County."
In July 14, 1951 the following article appeared in "The Waterways Journal" published weekly since 1887 in St. Louis:
"TOWBOAT COMIC STRIP FOR DAILY PAPERS IN
1952"
"A comic strip, 'Marty Lynn -- Towboat Pilot,' is likely to be a feature of
daily newspapers all over the country by January 1, 1952. Walter W.
Arnett, artist of the Louisville 'Courier-Journal,' has been working on the idea
for the past two years. He now has it ready and the first sales effort
will be directed toward newspapers along the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio
Rivers. Strip One begins with the barges breaking loose at Craighead Point
on the Mississippi. Capt. Marty Lynn, coming up below them on his towboat
Yellow Jacket, hears about it over his pilothouse telephone and sets off to
rescue them. In its own way the strip will show that neither commerce nor
romance are dead on the rivers but that, to the contrary, the navigable streams
are floating more traffic and pleasure today then ever before. Pretty
girls will not be left out either. So far this year Mr. Arnett has
traversed the upper Ohio on the Union Barge Line's 'Jason' and the lower
Mississippi on Ashland Oil's 'Valvoline.' The Waterways Journal wishes
success to Mr. Arnett. His strip, if it goes over, will be invaluable in
widening the public's interest in modern river commerce."
Walter had a wonderful experience aboard the Jason and the Valvoline, and the food was "out of this world." He kept a detailed journal of his trip, the contents of which will be uploaded later (as the tweaking continues.) The trip did create some friction at home since his wife Leila was eight months pregnant at the time and their third child, Elaine Routh Arnett, was born in June, 1951 and he was gone on his 'Valvoline' trip from May 1 - May 11. But the family survived, and Walter continued to work on this comic strip. In December 1952 Walter applied for a patent for the Marty Lynn character in his comic strips and in January 1953 submitted several unpublished strips to the copyright office.
Altogether, Walter produced about fifty strips of three to four panels each. Some of these are reprinted in the slide show.
As noted in the Herald-Advertiser and Waterways Journal articles, Walter showed his strip to many newspaper editors along the waterways of mid America, but none were willing to take on his strip, and he had similarly disappointing receptions from the major comic strip syndicates.
slide show for Marty Lynn:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59496800@N04/sets/72157632558848281/show/
Free Lance Work
Though his participation at Crescent Hill Baptist Church, where Wendell served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher, he developed contacts with individuals and institutions who had plenty of work for him to do in his off hours. He did work for the Ky Baptist Convention, the Western Recorder, Kentucky Southern College, Keys Tates’ family’s Jones Apothecary, and many posters and brochures for the church. In 1955 he put together a multipage booklet about the church as a promotion for the building campaign for the new 1956 gymnasium, chapel. and education-office building. He made other contacts as well and was commissioned to do Christmas cards for several companies and individuals.
Reposo, Christmas cards, etc.
slide show for other free lance work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59496800@N04/sets/72157632559544575/show/