The Lazarus Effect

If we're going to mention newspaper strip guys who drew a lot of strips, it's only fair to mention Mell Lazarus, a very funny man who had two long-running strips…

Miss Peach (eventually renamed Ms. Peach) started on February 4, 1957 and ran until September 8, 2002. That's 16,652 days.

Momma started on October 26, 1970 and ended July 10, 2016. That's 16,694 days.

Together, they add up to 33,346 strips…and Mell also wrote but did not draw a couple of other short-lived strips. There seems to be some argument among cartoonists and Friends of Mell as to whether or not he ever had assistants. I seem to recall him telling me that he did at times but that may have been with gags, not drawing. Others say he did it all himself so I'm not sure. Both looked like strips that one guy could draw several of in a day.

But in any case, the record for launching one newspaper strip and drawing it day after day after day, still belongs to Russell Myers on Broom-Hilda. Today's Broom-Hilda strip is #19,378. But it should be noted that Mell Lazarus came close…twice!