Dondi Lives: The Origins of the Beloved Comic Strip

Dondi Lives: The Origins of the Beloved Comic Strip
Irwin Hasen joined the U.S. Army in 1942. He was 5’2” tall. With the rifle stock against his shoulder his fingers could not reach the trigger. Assigned to Special Services at Ft. Dix he drew cartoons and edited the post newspaper. Used with permission of Irwin Hasen
John Christopher Fine
Updated:

“Read All About It. … This Boy Needs His Buddies,” proclaimed the front page of the Daily Comet. Liz “The Weeper” Teary did the story, and Tip Lenz took pictures in the 7th New York City Police Precinct. The wide-eyed six-year-old stowaway held a large ice cream cone and wore Officer Kelly’s oversize uniform hat on his head.

The heartwarming genesis of a little European post-World War II orphan befriended by two American G.I.s began with that 1955 comic strip.

The boys, Dondi’s buddies Corporal Ted Wills and Private First Class Whitey McGowan, were heading home. The war was over. The Iron Curtain had fallen over a desolate, refugee-deluged Europe trying to rebuild. Shipped back to the States, the soldiers figured they had left the little orphan behind.

Dondi became a syndicated comic strip in the Chicago Tribune. The little boy came into the nation’s homes and hearts for the next 34 years.

Dondi was the brain child of Gus Edson. As with all creative processes, there is something true to life that inspired it. Whatever an artist does from memory, that inspiration dwells somewhere. Perhaps it was Gus’s chance meeting with fellow cartoonist Irwin Hasen on a United Service Organization (USO) tour in Germany in 1954. Cartoonists were recruited by the USO to entertain U.S. troops overseas, to bring a little of home to them where they were stationed.

In 1954, both men were being phased out. Gus was about to lose his long-running strip “The Gumps.” DC Comics felt that Irwin’s comic book covers for “Wonder Woman,” “Green Lantern,” and “Wildcat” were not selling books. Pretty soon, both men would be “working in advertising,” a cartoonist euphemism that meant on the skids, unemployed, bust.

At home in his Brownstone apartment in New York City Irwin Hasen points to some of the many comic book covers and cartoon art that decorate the walls. (Myriam Moran copyright 2014)
At home in his Brownstone apartment in New York City Irwin Hasen points to some of the many comic book covers and cartoon art that decorate the walls. Myriam Moran copyright 2014
John Christopher Fine
John Christopher Fine
Author
John Christopher Fine is a marine biologist with two doctoral degrees, has authored 25 books, including award-winning books dealing with ocean pollution. He is a liaison officer of the U.N. Environment Program and the Confederation Mondiale for ocean matters. He is a member of the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences in honor of his books in the field of education. He has received international recognition for his pioneering work investigating toxic waste contamination of our land and water.