Sally Forth (syndicated strip)
Encyclopedia
Sally Forth is a daily comic strip
created by Greg Howard in 1982, focusing on the life of a white American
middle-class mother at home and work. Sally's name is a play on words—"to sally forth" means to set out on an adventure.
Howard, after almost ten years, was joined by Craig MacIntosh
, who began doing the drawing. In 1999, Howard quit writing as well and turned the strip over to Francesco Marciuliano
. Marciuliano and MacIntosh continue publishing the series with King Features Syndicate
distribution.
"I Gave at the Office", by Andrews McMeel, 1994. ISBN 0836217438
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 Greg Howard in 1982, focusing on the life of a white American
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
middle-class mother at home and work. Sally's name is a play on words—"to sally forth" means to set out on an adventure.
Howard, after almost ten years, was joined by Craig MacIntosh
Craig MacIntosh
Craig MacIntosh is an American cartoonist who, along with Steve Sack, draws the cartoon activity panel Doodles, which began in 1986 and is distributed by Creators Syndicate...
, who began doing the drawing. In 1999, Howard quit writing as well and turned the strip over to Francesco Marciuliano
Francesco Marciuliano
Francesco Marciuliano is the writer of Sally Forth, a widely syndicated comic strip . Marciuliano writes and draws the satiric web comic Medium Large. The strip originally ran from April 2004 to January 2007. After a long hiatus, the site was revamped and new strips began appearing each weekday...
. Marciuliano and MacIntosh continue publishing the series with 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...
distribution.
Sally and her family
- Sally Forth – Main character. Has a sarcasticSarcasmSarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
personality, wryly commenting on the eccentric behavior of those around her. A forty-year-old marketing department manager with a husband and daughter. - Ted ForthTed ForthTed Forth is a character in the syndicated comic strip Sally Forth. Ted is a perpetually forty-year-old white-collar professional working in strategic sourcing...
– Sally's hopelessly devoted husband, light-hearted with goofball tendencies. He is a professional working in strategic sourcingStrategic sourcingStrategic sourcing is an institutional procurement process that continuously improves and re-evaluates the purchasing activities of a company. In a production environment, it is often considered one component of supply chain management...
, but he was unemployed from May 2007 to May 2008. - Hilary Forth – Sally and Ted's twelve year old daughter. She is currently in the seventh grade, along with her best friend, Faye. She is very interested in music and sports. From late June 2011 to late August 2011, she developed a relationship with Jon, who was visiting for the summer.
- Kitty – The Forths' cat, usually only seen in Hilary's room.
- Jackie – Sally's younger sister, prone to juvenile behavior and in general a flippant, impulsive contrast to Sally's responsible personality.
- Laura – Sally's mother, who is very critical of Sally, her family, and most other people. Her infrequent appearances are dreaded by all.
Sally's workplace
- Ralph – Sally's former boss in human resources, Ralph is a caricature of incompetent and self-centered business leadership. Ralph was eventually fired and reduced to working at a fast food restaurant, but in 2006 returned to co-manage the department with Sally. In 2009 he became the sole manager of human resources while Sally became manager of marketing, which was staffed by several lazy, whiny employees who constantly challenged Sally. Sally suffers further anguish from Ralph in 2010 when he starts dating her sister Jackie. In April 2011 it was announced simultaneously that the marketing department would be closed, Ralph would become a consultant so he and Jackie could start a business, and Sally would return to HR as its sole director.
- Alice – An employee in HR, and Sally's main confidante at work, Alice is sardonic, self-serving and romantically frustrated.
- Jeff – Sally's blandly competent current boss.
Other characters
- Faye – Hilary's best friend as of the start of middle school. She comes from a less ideal family than the Forths, cultivates a somewhat rebellious image, and is often blunt to the point of rudeness with adults. She and Hilary attempted to start a band once.
- Nona – Hilary and Faye's classmate. She comes from a rich family and has a recording studio, indoor theater, and a guesthouse at her house. She also has a WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
system that has high definition video, which currently doesn't exist with the real system. She writes songs and claims she can play every instrument. - Aria – Ted's co-worker, referred to by Alice as his "office wife" who seems to share Ted's enthusiasm for '70s and '80s pop culture, much to Sally's consternation.
- Jon - A boy visiting for the summer from the 2011 June to August strips. He is from out of town and met Hilary at a Independence DayIndependence Day (United States)Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
picnic. After getting to know each other, both Jon and Hilary became a couple.
Recurring themes
- Sally has a quirky habit of eating the ears off of her daughter's chocolate Easter bunnies. Hilary annually schemes to hide her bunny but usually fails.
- The Forth family has long dreamed of taking a vacation in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and has been on the verge of departing several times, only to have some unexpected tragedies or complications stop them. - Several strips in 2006 and 2007 alluded to the fact that no one really knew what Ted's job was, a metatextualMetafictionMetafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
reference to the often vague nature of comic characters' employment. After his layoff Hilary frets that they will never know the truth. On March 8, 2008, Ted mentions for the first time that his job was/is Strategic SourcingStrategic sourcingStrategic sourcing is an institutional procurement process that continuously improves and re-evaluates the purchasing activities of a company. In a production environment, it is often considered one component of supply chain management...
. - Ted coached Hilary's all-girls softball team, which is so bad that it rarely, if ever, wins a game. The team is so futile, Ted insanely made a promise of a Walt Disney World trip if it won the league championship and expected not to have to follow through with the promise. Though personally enthusiastic, Ted seemed to have fatalistically accepted the team's losing streak and took to giving pre-game pep talks made up of equal parts exasperation and stream-of-consciousness rambling. One talk featured a quote from The GodfatherThe GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
. Because of this, Ted was discouraged from coaching the team during the 2008 version of the storyline. In 2011, however, the team did win the championship for their league.
Books
"Sally Forth", by Fawcett Columbine, 1987. ISBN 0449902609"I Gave at the Office", by Andrews McMeel, 1994. ISBN 0836217438