Curtis (comic strip)

American comic strip by Ray Billingsley

For other uses, see Curtis (disambiguation).

Curtis

Author(s)| Ray Billingsley
Website| comicskingdom.com/curtis
Current status/schedule| Running
Launch date| October 3, 1988; 36 years ago (October 3, 1988)
Syndicate(s)| King Features Syndicate
Genre(s)| Humor

Curtis is a nationally syndicated comic strip written and illustrated by Ray Billingsley, with a predominantly African American cast. The comic strip started up on October 3, 1988, and is syndicated by King Features.[1]

The comic strip portrays the daily life of a middle-class family living in a large American city, especially that of Curtis, the eponymous main character. It frequently chronicles aspects of African American culture and history.[2]

Curtis has been compared to Li'l Abner, which Billingsley cites as his favorite comic strip, in style.[3]

## Themes

[edit]

A recurring theme is Curtis' efforts to convince his father to try give up smoking, a personal issue for Billingsley, who is a prominent advocate for public health and the dangers of smoking.[4] For his efforts in educating young people about smoking, Billingsley has earned multiple awards from the American Lung Association.[5]

Though a fundamentally humorous comic, Curtis frequently addresses serious themes. Examples include bullying,[6] drug addiction[6] and gentrification.[7] A storyline in 2020 involved the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

During the holiday season, Billingsley sometimes deviates from his usual characters to present special two-to-three week stories celebrating the Festival of Kwanzaa. Once an annual tradition in the strip, these specials became irregular in the mid-2010s, with Ray Billingsley citing declining reader interest in them.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Dean Mullaney, Bruce Canwell and Brian Walker, King of the Comics : One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate. San Diego : IDW Publishing, 2015. ISBN 9781631403736 (p. 259)
2. ^ "Editor's Dispatch: A Conversation with Ray Billingsley, America's Leading Black Cartoonist". www.comicskingdom.com. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
3. ^ a b Dueben, Alex (2017-02-28). "INTERVIEW: Ray Bilingsley reveals the hard lessons Will Eisner and the comics industry taught him". The Beat. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
4. ^ Tobin, Suzanne (2001-05-25). "Comics: Meet the Artist - Ray Billingsley". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
5. ^ "Comic Strips & Panels | King Features Syndicate". 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
6. ^ a b Feller-Cohen, Julian (2011-02-08). "'Curtis' and cartoonist Ray Billingsley confront bullying and other real-world problems". masslive. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
7. ^ Kramer, Staci D. (1993-03-29). "Comic strip gets serious". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
8. ^ Edwards, Gavin (2020-04-27). "A Pandemic Gives the Funny Pages a Jolt of Reality". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-21.

## External links

[edit]

* Curtis by Ray Billingsley
* Toonopedia

* v
* t
* e

King Features Syndicate comics

Current|

* Arctic Circle
* Baby Blues
* Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
* Beetle Bailey
* Between Friends
* Bizarro
* Blondie
* The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee
* Carpe Diem
* Curtis
* Deflocked
* Dennis the Menace
* Dustin
* The Family Circus
* Flash Gordon
* Gearhead Gertie
* Hägar the Horrible
* Hi and Lois
* Intelligent Life
* Judge Parker
* Kevin and Kell
* Laff-a-Day
* Legalization Nation
* Mallard Fillmore
* Mark Trail
* Marvin
* Mary Worth
* Mother Goose and Grimm
* Mutts
* On the Fastrack
* The Phantom
* Popeye
* Olive & Popeye
* Prince Valiant
* Pros & Cons
* Rae the Doe
* Rex Morgan, M.D.
* Rhymes with Orange
* Safe Havens
* Sally Forth
* Sam and Silo
* Sherman's Lagoon
* Shoe
* Six Chix
* Slylock Fox & Comics for Kids
* Take It from the Tinkersons
* Tiger
* Todd the Dinosaur
* Zippy
* Zits

Historical|

* Abie the Agent
* Ace Drummond
* Agatha Crumm
* Alphonse and Gaston
* The Amazing Spider-Man
* And Her Name Was Maud
* Apartment 3-G
* Archie
* Art Linkletter's Kids
* Barney Baxter
* Baron Bean
* The Better Half
* Betty Boop
* Betty Boop and Felix
* Big Ben Bolt
* Bleeker: The Rechargeable Dog
* Boner's Ark
* Brick Bradford
* Bringing Up Father
* Buckles
* Buz Sawyer
* Captain Kate
* Count Screwloose from Tooloose
* Crankshaft
* Crock
* Disney Christmas Story
* Disney Holiday Story
* Donald Duck
* Dr. Kildare
* Dumb Dora
* Edge City
* Etta Kett
* Felix the Cat
* Flapper Filosofy
* Franklin Fibbs
* Funky Winkerbean
* Gil
* Grandma
* Grin and Bear It
* Gummi Bears
* Half Hitch
* Happy Hooligan
* Hazel
* The Heart of Juliet Jones
* Hejji
* Henry
* The Incredible Hulk
* Inside Woody Allen
* Johnny Hazard
* José Carioca
* Jungle Jim
* The Katzenjammer Kids
* King of the Royal Mounted
* Krazy Kat
* Little Annie Rooney
* Little Iodine
* Little Jimmy
* The Little King
* The Lone Ranger
* Mandrake the Magician
* Mickey Mouse
* Mister Breger
* Moose & Molly
* My Cage
* Norb
* The Norm
* Oh, Brother!
* Ollie and Quentin
* Ozark Ike
* The Pajama Diaries
* Pete the Tramp
* Piranha Club
* Polly and Her Pals
* Quincy
* Radio Patrol
* Red Barry
* Redeye
* Reg'lar Fellers
* Retail
* Rip Kirby
* Room and Board
* Rusty Riley
* Sam's Strip
* Scamp
* Secret Agent X-9
* Silly Symphony
* Skippy
* Steve Canyon
* Steve Roper and Mike Nomad
* Strictly Richter
* Teena
* They'll Do It Every Time
* Tillie the Toiler
* Tim Tyler's Luck
* Tina's Groove
* Toots and Casper
* Triple Take
* Trudy
* Tumbleweeds
* Tundra
* Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit
* Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales
* What a Guy!
* Winnie the Pooh
* Wonder Woman

Related|

* Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
* Central Press Association
* DailyINK
* Jay Kennedy
* King Comics
* King Features Syndicate
* National Cartoonists Society
* The Sunday Funnies
* Kings Watch

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template