The Lockhorns
Encyclopedia
The Lockhorns is a United States single-panel
cartoon created in 1968 by Bill Hoest
and distributed by King Features Syndicate
to 500 newspapers in 23 countries. It is continued today by Bunny Hoest
and John Reiner
.
Many of the business and institutions depicted in the strip are real places located in or near Huntington, New York
on the North Shore of Long Island. The cartoon feature was initially titled The Lockhorns of Levittown
. Anticipating national syndication, Bunny Hoest suggested shortening the title to The Lockhorns. It began as a single-panel daily on September 9, 1968, with the Sunday feature
launched April 9, 1972. The Sunday feature initially employed an unusual layout that ganged together several single-panel cartoons. Comics historian Don Markstein
described the couple's battle of wits:
Bill Hoest died in 1988, but his widow, Bunny Hoest, continued the strip with Bill Hoest's long-time assistant, John Reiner.
's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for the strip for 1975 and 1980.
Panel (comic strips)
A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or comic book. A panel consists of a single drawing depicting a frozen moment....
cartoon created in 1968 by Bill Hoest
Bill Hoest
Bill Hoest was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the gag panel series, The Lockhorns, distributed by King Features Syndicate to 500 newspapers in 23 countries, and Laugh Parade for Parade...
and distributed 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...
to 500 newspapers in 23 countries. It is continued today by Bunny Hoest
Bunny Hoest
Bunny Hoest , sometimes labeled The Cartoon Lady, is the writer of several cartoon series, including The Lockhorns, Laugh Parade and Howard Huge, all of which she inherited from her late husband Bill Hoest...
and John Reiner
John Reiner
John Reiner is a cartoonist who collaborates with writer Bunny Hoest on three cartoon series: The Lockhorns, syndicated by King Features, and Laugh Parade and Howard Huge ....
.
Characters and story
The married couple Leroy and Loretta Lockhorn constantly argue. They demonstrate their mutual deep-seated hatred by making humorously sarcastic comments on each other's failings as spouses.Many of the business and institutions depicted in the strip are real places located in or near Huntington, New York
Huntington, New York
The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan...
on the North Shore of Long Island. The cartoon feature was initially titled The Lockhorns of Levittown
Levittown
Levittown is the name of four large suburban developments created in the United States of America by William Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons...
. Anticipating national syndication, Bunny Hoest suggested shortening the title to The Lockhorns. It began as a single-panel daily on September 9, 1968, with the Sunday feature
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...
launched April 9, 1972. The Sunday feature initially employed an unusual layout that ganged together several single-panel cartoons. Comics historian Don Markstein
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia was a web encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation. Don D...
described the couple's battle of wits:
- It focused just on the couple themselves—no children, no next-door neighbors, no boss, etc., except to the extent others were occasionally needed as props. The entire raison d'etre of the series is to show Leroy and Loretta trading caustic one-liners. They fight about his roving eye, her cooking, his earning power, her excessive shopping, and the fact that both are middle-aged and dumpy-looking. Also, anything else that happens to occur to them. There are a few other recurring characters, such as Loretta's mother (so they can argue about her visits), their marriage counselor (so they can argue in front of him) and Leroy's favorite bartender (so they can argue about his drinking). But the entire focus is on Leroy and Loretta themselves. The syndicate's publicity tries to make them sound more like the average comics family, claiming (of Leroy, after describing some of his faults) "you can't help but love him nonetheless"; and (of the couple, after describing their relationship) "they realize they're together 'till death do us part' and they wouldn't have it any other way"—but don't you believe it. If either of them has a lovable quality, readers never see it. And if they wouldn't want to part, it can only be because their greatest pleasure comes from keeping each other on edge.
Bill Hoest died in 1988, but his widow, Bunny Hoest, continued the strip with Bill Hoest's long-time assistant, John Reiner.
The Lockhorns
- Leroy Lockhorn - The man of the house who drinks a lot, plays golf too much and chases everything good-looking in a skirt.
- Loretta Lockhorn - The woman of the house is a shopaholic, who drives and cooks terribly and does most of the handiwork around the house because either Leroy is too lazy to do it, or because he feels she should earn all the money she spends.
- Loretta's mother - Never named and rarely seen (usually only during the Christmas season when she comes to stay), but hated mercilessly by Leroy.
- D. Pullman, marriage counselor - Whom Leroy and Loretta routinely see but to no avail.
- Arthur the bartender - Local saloonkeeper to whom Leroy often bemoans his circumstances.
Parodies
- "Marital Mirth", part of the "Super-Fun-Pak Comics" in Tom the Dancing BugTom the Dancing BugTom the Dancing Bug is a weekly satirical comic strip by cartoonist and political commentator Ruben Bolling that covers current events from a liberal point of view. The strip appears in mainstream and alternative weekly newspapers, as well as on the Boing Boing website. Tom the Dancing Bug won...
, is a parody of The Lockhorns. - The Better HalfThe Better HalfThe Better Half is the title of a comic strip created by Bob Barnes. It follows the lives of a married couple, Stanley and Harriet Parker, and the usual annoyances couples have with one another after years of marriage. It has been syndicated since 1956, and in 1958 won Barnes the National...
comic strip is often seen as a tamer version of The Lockhorns. - An early LiōLioLio is a singer and actress who was a pop icon in France and Belgium during the 1980s.- Biography :...
strip featured Liō's ants attacking numerous comic strips on a newspaper page, all of which parodied real comic strips. The Lockhorns appeared as The Hateeachothers, depicting a non-plussed Leeroy Hateeachother comparing the monstrous ant to Loretta's mother.
Books
At least nine Lockhorns collections were published by Signet between 1968 and 1982. Tor reissued the first in the series as The Lockhorns: "What Do You Mean You Weren't Listening? I Didn't Say Anything" in 1992.Awards
Bill Hoest received the National Cartoonists SocietyNational 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...
's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for the strip for 1975 and 1980.
Sources
- Strickler, DaveDave StricklerDave Strickler is a reference librarian noted for his compilation of Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index, regarded as a major reference work by researchers and historians of newspaper comic strips....
. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1
External links
- The Lockhorns official site
- NCS Awards
- Lockhorns Aloud read daily by comedian Jill Bernard