Mopsy was a 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 Gladys Parker

Gladys Parker

Gladys Parker was an American cartoonist for comic strips and a fashion designer in Hollywood. She is best known as the creator of the comic strip Mopsy which had a long run over three decades....

 in 1939. It had a long run over three decades. Parker modeled the character of Mopsy after herself. In 1946, she recalled, "I got the idea for Mopsy when the cartoonist Rube Goldberg

Rube Goldberg

Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...

 said my hair looked like a mop. That was several years ago, and she has been my main interest ever since."

Characters and story

Parker had studied fashion illustration, and Mopsy always had a stylish look. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Mopsy held such wartime jobs as a nurse and a munitions-plant worker, and the feature grew in popularity. With the Sunday strip

Sunday strip

A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...

, added in 1945, Parker was able to expand her fashion concepts into a sidebar series of paper dolls.

After WWII ended, Mopsy was fired from her defense job in 1947 and went back to civilian life. By the end of the 1940s, Mopsy was published in 300 newspapers.

Comic books

In 1947, Mopsy began in St. John Publications

St. John Publications

St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence , St. John's comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John , the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth Avenue. After the St...

' Pageant of Comics #1. Two years later, St. John gave her a title of her own, and Mopsy ran for 19 issues (February 1949 to September 1953). Charlton Comics reprinted several of those comic books in 1951.

Reprints

Berkley Books

Berkley Books

Berkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...

published a Mopsy paperback collection in 1955.

When Parker retired in 1965, Mopsy retired with her.