Broom-Hilda
Encyclopedia
Broom-Hilda is an American
newspaper comic strip
created by cartoonist
Russell Myers
. Distributed by the Tribune Media Services
, it depicts the misadventures of a man-crazy, cigar-smoking, beer-guzzling, 1,500-year-old witch and her motley crew
of friends.
The original idea for the strip came from Elliott Caplin, brother of Li'l Abner
cartoonist Al Capp
. He described the main character to Myers, who responded with a sketch of the witch and several sample strips. Caplin, acting as Myers' business manager, submitted the strip to the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, which quickly accepted the strip. The first strip ran on April 19, 1970 and became an immediate success. The strips were reprinted in several collections during the 1970s and 1980s.
). Broom-Hilda is capable of time travel
, reappearing in various centuries throughout history to chat with (burlesque versions of) diverse historical figures.
Broom-Hilda (a pun on Brünnhilde
) is a witch with green skin, a wart on the end of her nose and long stringy hair. She wears a black dress, black shoes, striped stockings (one perpetually drooping) and a black hat with a daisy on top. According to the strip's official site, Broom-Hilda is Attila the Hun
's ex-wife. She is perpetually looking for a new husband, but due to her abrasive nature, the quest has thus far been unsuccessful. Early in the strip's run, she gave up cigar smoking and beer; she served in the United States Marine Corps for two days, and was discharged for unnecessary roughness (glimpses of her underpants always reveal a USMC label). A hint to her rough-hewn side occurs in one strip where she is buying underwear. The clerk suggests a set of underwear, each one bearing the days of the week. She asks if she can get a set with the months of the year.
Irwin Troll has lots of hair and very little smarts. Perpetually innocent and naïve to the point of imbecility; he is a simple-minded, sweet natured, nature-loving character—very unlike Broom-Hilda.
Gaylord Buzzard is the intellectual of the strip. He wears thick, horn-rimmed glasses, spats and (sometimes) a fez for reading. He is worldly, egotistical and sarcastic, and enjoys playing practical jokes on the other characters, particularly Broom-Hilda. He bears the scar of a youth spent in movie theaters: he's hopelessly addicted to popcorn.
Nerwin is Irwin's smart-aleck nephew, attaining the name from a newspaper contest as a blend of "nerd" and "Irwin". Irwin broke the fourth wall
to address readers. Nerwin is often drawn wearing a propeller beanie, giving him the look of a stereotypical comic strip representation of a bratty juvenile delinquent, and he has also been known to frequently behave as such.
Grelber is never seen except for his eyes and perpetually grinning teeth, always peering out from a hollow log perched on the edge of a cliff. Mysterious and openly malevolent, he dispenses "Free insults", as a sign at the entrance of his log proclaims.
Wolfie is Broom-Hilda's small, timid pet wolf. Though an animal who never speaks, he is capable of intelligent thought à la Snoopy
.
Big Lump was a large dinosaur-like creature seen in the strip's early years.
, an animated series set in a television station run by Archie Andrews
and his friends. Broom-Hilda was one of the comic strips featured on their show, along with Dick Tracy
, Moon Mullins
and Smokey Stover
. The series was produced by Filmation
Associates. Broom-Hilda's voice was provided by Jane Webb
(also the voice of Veronica Lodge
).
Broom-Hilda appeared again in another Filmation series, Fabulous Funnies
(1978). Thirteen episodes were produced, and the series ran for one season on NBC
. The show featured animated versions of several famous comic strips, including Tumbleweeds, Alley Oop
and Nancy
. Voices were provided by June Foray
(Broom-Hilda), Bob Holt (Gaylord) and Alan Oppenheimer
(Irwin/Grelber).
(Annie
) and Kurt Andersen
(Spy magazine
). The music was composed by Leroy Anderson
. There was discussion of casting with Andersen suggesting Catherine Zeta-Jones
for the title role, but the show was not produced.
Grelber also appeared as a computer program on old Unix mainframes. Typing the command 'Grelber' would cause the computer to insult the user.
's Humor Comic Strip Award for 1975 for his work on the strip.
Caplin died in 2000. Myers continues to write and draw the strip, compiling a large backlog of strips in the event poor health were to prevent him from meeting his syndication requirements.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
newspaper comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created by cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Russell Myers
Russell Myers
Russell Myers is an American cartoonist best known for his newspaper comic strip Broom-Hilda.Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Myers was raised in Oklahoma where his father taught at Tulsa University. Myers was interested in cartooning from an early age...
. Distributed by the Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
, it depicts the misadventures of a man-crazy, cigar-smoking, beer-guzzling, 1,500-year-old witch and her motley crew
Motley crew
A motley crew is a cliché for a roughly organized assembly of characters. Typical examples of motley crews are pirates, Western posses, rag-tag mercenary bands or freedom fighters. They may align with, be , or include either the protagonist or the antagonist of the story.Motley crews are, by...
of friends.
The original idea for the strip came from Elliott Caplin, brother of Li'l Abner
Li'l Abner
Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp , the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through...
cartoonist Al Capp
Al Capp
Alfred Gerald Caplin , better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats and Long Sam...
. He described the main character to Myers, who responded with a sketch of the witch and several sample strips. Caplin, acting as Myers' business manager, submitted the strip to the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, which quickly accepted the strip. The first strip ran on April 19, 1970 and became an immediate success. The strips were reprinted in several collections during the 1970s and 1980s.
Characters and story
The strip takes place during the present in an unidentified forest. However, the setting is fluid. Locales can change drastically from day to day—and background details can change from panel to panel within the same strip, while the characters remain stationary (much like the backgrounds in Krazy KatKrazy Kat
Krazy Kat is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George Herriman, published daily in newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It first appeared in the New York Evening Journal, whose owner, William Randolph Hearst, was a major booster for the strip throughout its run...
). Broom-Hilda is capable of time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, reappearing in various centuries throughout history to chat with (burlesque versions of) diverse historical figures.
Broom-Hilda (a pun on Brünnhilde
Brynhildr
Brynhildr is a shieldmaiden and a valkyrie in Norse mythology, where she appears as a main character in the Völsunga saga and some Eddic poems treating the same events. Under the name Brünnhilde she appears in the Nibelungenlied and therefore also in Richard Wagner's opera cycle Der Ring des...
) is a witch with green skin, a wart on the end of her nose and long stringy hair. She wears a black dress, black shoes, striped stockings (one perpetually drooping) and a black hat with a daisy on top. According to the strip's official site, Broom-Hilda is Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
's ex-wife. She is perpetually looking for a new husband, but due to her abrasive nature, the quest has thus far been unsuccessful. Early in the strip's run, she gave up cigar smoking and beer; she served in the United States Marine Corps for two days, and was discharged for unnecessary roughness (glimpses of her underpants always reveal a USMC label). A hint to her rough-hewn side occurs in one strip where she is buying underwear. The clerk suggests a set of underwear, each one bearing the days of the week. She asks if she can get a set with the months of the year.
Irwin Troll has lots of hair and very little smarts. Perpetually innocent and naïve to the point of imbecility; he is a simple-minded, sweet natured, nature-loving character—very unlike Broom-Hilda.
Gaylord Buzzard is the intellectual of the strip. He wears thick, horn-rimmed glasses, spats and (sometimes) a fez for reading. He is worldly, egotistical and sarcastic, and enjoys playing practical jokes on the other characters, particularly Broom-Hilda. He bears the scar of a youth spent in movie theaters: he's hopelessly addicted to popcorn.
Nerwin is Irwin's smart-aleck nephew, attaining the name from a newspaper contest as a blend of "nerd" and "Irwin". Irwin broke the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
to address readers. Nerwin is often drawn wearing a propeller beanie, giving him the look of a stereotypical comic strip representation of a bratty juvenile delinquent, and he has also been known to frequently behave as such.
Grelber is never seen except for his eyes and perpetually grinning teeth, always peering out from a hollow log perched on the edge of a cliff. Mysterious and openly malevolent, he dispenses "Free insults", as a sign at the entrance of his log proclaims.
Wolfie is Broom-Hilda's small, timid pet wolf. Though an animal who never speaks, he is capable of intelligent thought à la Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
.
Big Lump was a large dinosaur-like creature seen in the strip's early years.
Animation
Broom-Hilda was adapted twice for animated television series. The first was part of 1971's Archie's TV FunniesArchie's TV Funnies
Archie's TV Funnies is a Saturday morning cartoon animated series produced by Filmation which appeared on CBS from September 11, 1971 to September 1, 1973...
, an animated series set in a television station run by Archie Andrews
Archie Andrews (comics)
Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.-Character and...
and his friends. Broom-Hilda was one of the comic strips featured on their show, along with Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
, Moon Mullins
Moon Mullins
Moon Mullins, created by cartoonist Frank Willard , was a popular American comic strip which had a long run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923 to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of diverse lowbrow characters who...
and Smokey Stover
Smokey Stover
Smokey Stover is an American comic strip written and drawn by cartoonist Bill Holman, from 1935 until he retired in 1973. Distributed through the Chicago Tribune, it features the wacky misadventures of the titular fireman, and had the longest run of any comic strip in the "screwball comics"...
. The series was produced by Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
Associates. Broom-Hilda's voice was provided by Jane Webb
Jane Webb
Jane Webb, a.k.a. Joanne Louise, is a movie actor and voice actor; as a voice actor, she has worked on a large number of animated cartoons, mostly for Filmation.-Film career:...
(also the voice of Veronica Lodge
Veronica Lodge
Veronica Lodge is a fictional character in the Archie Comics books series.-Fictional history and character:She is called both by her name Veronica and her nickname Ronnie...
).
Broom-Hilda appeared again in another Filmation series, Fabulous Funnies
Fabulous Funnies
Fabulous Funnies was a Filmation cartoon series on NBC that ran for one season in 1978; it featured animated versions of newspaper comic strips and attempted to teach moral lessons to children.-Overview:...
(1978). Thirteen episodes were produced, and the series ran for one season on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The show featured animated versions of several famous comic strips, including Tumbleweeds, Alley Oop
Alley Oop
Alley Oop is a syndicated comic strip, created in 1932 by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the popular and influential strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association...
and Nancy
Nancy (comic strip)
Nancy is an American daily and Sunday comic strip, originally written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller and distributed by United Feature Syndicate....
. Voices were provided by June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
(Broom-Hilda), Bob Holt (Gaylord) and Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
(Irwin/Grelber).
Other media
In 2004, it was announced that there would be a Broadway musical based on the comic strip characters, written by Martin CharninMartin Charnin
Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
(Annie
Annie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
) and Kurt Andersen
Kurt Andersen
Kurt Andersen is an American novelist who is also host of the Peabody-winning public radio program Studio 360, a co-production between Public Radio International and WNYC. In 1986 with E. Graydon Carter he co-founded Spy magazine, which they sold in 1991; it continued publishing until 1998...
(Spy magazine
Spy (magazine)
Spy was a satirical monthly magazine founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter, who served as its first editors, and Thomas L. Phillips, Jr., its first publisher. After one folding and a rebirth, it ceased publication in 1998...
). The music was composed by Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler...
. There was discussion of casting with Andersen suggesting Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
for the title role, but the show was not produced.
Grelber also appeared as a computer program on old Unix mainframes. Typing the command 'Grelber' would cause the computer to insult the user.
Awards
Myers won the National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
's Humor Comic Strip Award for 1975 for his work on the strip.
Caplin died in 2000. Myers continues to write and draw the strip, compiling a large backlog of strips in the event poor health were to prevent him from meeting his syndication requirements.
Russell Myers collections
- Broom-Hilda (1971) Lancer Books
- I Love You, Broom-Hilda (1973) Tempo Books
- Broom-Hilda Rides Again! (1975) Tempo
- Ugly Is as Ugly Does: The Broom-Hilda Story (1976) Tempo
- Flying Low with Broom-Hilda (1976) Tempo
- Broom-Hilda Presents: Mother Nature's Personal Friend, Irwin Troll (1976) Tempo
- Losing Control with Broom-Hilda (1976) Tempo
- Popcorn Sandwiches! A Broom-Hilda Book (1977) Tempo
- Broom-Hilda: Baying at the Moon and Other Tales of Unrequited Love (1977) Tempo
- Boo! Broom-Hilda (1977) Tempo
- X-Rated X-Rays: A Broom-Hilda Book (1978) Tempo
- Broom-Hilda: Growing Old Gracelessly and Other Indignities (1978) Tempo
- Broom-Hilda: Never Stilt-Walk in Gopher Country (1978) Ace Books
- Broom-Hilda: Life Begins at 1500 (1981) Fawcett
- Open at You Own Risk!! A Broom-Hilda Book (1981) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: (Comic) Strip Tease (1982) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: Sneaky Volcanos (1982) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: Doing What I Do Best (1984) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: Never Trust Short Green People! (1984) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: I Always Get My Mountie! (1985) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: Lookin' Good! (1985) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: Space Junk (1986) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: One Rotten Apple (1986) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: Sore Loser (1987) Fawcett
- Broom-Hilda: The Backward Heimlich (1987) Fawcett