Oh, Brother! (comic strip)
Encyclopedia
Oh, Brother! is a comic strip
by Bob Weber Jr. and Jay Stephens
, which was launched June 28, 2010, by King Features Syndicate
. On July 29, 2011, the Oh, Brother! team announced the finale on their blog Daily syndication ceased on August 7, 2011.
, distributed by King Features to nearly 400 newspapers worldwide. Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens, a regular contributor to Nickelodeon Magazine, was nominated in 2007 for a National Cartoonists Society
Reuben Award for his work on three drawing instruction books. He has been nominated for several Harvey Kurtzman
and Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.
Alan Gardner reviewed the strip for The Daily Cartoonist:
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....
by Bob Weber Jr. and Jay Stephens
Jay Stephens
Jay Stephens is a Canadian cartoonist. He is best known as the creator of Discovery Kids's animated television series Tutenstein and Cartoon Network's The Secret Saturdays. Stephens has also worked on an animation project Jetcat...
, which was launched June 28, 2010, by King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
. On July 29, 2011, the Oh, Brother! team announced the finale on their blog Daily syndication ceased on August 7, 2011.
Characters and story
Bud and his sister Lily live in a middle-class suburban neighborhood. King Features outlined the sibling situations and interactions:- Whether they are playing together in the family room or running amuck in the schoolyard, Bud and Lily elevate the act of one-upmanship to Code Red levels. Lily is the quintessential slightly older yet far more sensible sister. She takes it upon herself to look after her uninhibited, prank-loving younger brother, Bud. While Lily wins the occasional battle with her cool-headed maturity, Bud is intent on winning the war with his brazen brand of mischief. Despite their obvious personality differences, Bud and Lily love each other deeply and have a strong sibling bond.
Creative team
Bob Weber Jr. is the creator of the award-winning Slylock Fox & Comics For KidsSlylock Fox
Slylock Fox & Comics for Kids is a comic strip published by King Features Syndicate. The main character is Slylock Fox. Slylock first appeared 29 March 1987. He was created by Bob Weber Jr., who still writes and illustrates the comic today.. Weber is the son of Bob Weber, Sr., who writes the Moose...
, distributed by King Features to nearly 400 newspapers worldwide. Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens, a regular contributor to Nickelodeon Magazine, was nominated in 2007 for a National Cartoonists Society
National 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...
Reuben Award for his work on three drawing instruction books. He has been nominated for several Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
and Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.
Alan Gardner reviewed the strip for The Daily Cartoonist:
- The drawing style harkens back to a cartooning style of the ’60s and ’70s. It’s void of extraneous detail (sparse backgrounds, no wrinkles/folds in clothing) which adds to the simplistic writing of the comic. There are no belabored setups to get to the punchline... Another mark of its simplicity is the feature tries to be timeless. There are no iPods, iPads, iMacs or any “iModern conveniences.” In a couple of dailies there is an ATM machine and an airport X-ray machine that were necessary to set a context, but overall modern references don’t exist. When Bud writes a thank you note to his grandma for a gift, he’s shown handwriting it, not sending an email. I find it interesting that they use a vertical gag panel to do a multi-panel strip. Because of the simplicity of the line art they can pull it off. Sometimes the panel is split in half horizontally, sometimes vertically, sometimes horizontally with the top half is then split vertically. It’s an interesting arrangement, but it works well and it’s not difficult to follow the flow regardless of how they’re laid out.