Li'l Abner

Li'l Abner
"It's Jack Jawbreaker!" Li'l Abner visits the corrupt Squeezeblood comic strip syndicate in a classic Sunday continuity from October 12, 1947.
Author(s)	Al Capp
Current status / schedule	Concluded
Launch date	August 13, 1934
End date	November 13, 1977
Syndicate(s)	United Feature Syndicate
Publisher(s)	Simon & Schuster, HRW, Kitchen Sink Press, Dark Horse, IDW Publishing
Genre(s)	Humor, satire, politics

Li'l Abner was a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn by Al Capp (1909–1979), the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through November 13, 1977. It was distributed by United Feature Syndicate. Comic strips typically dealt with northern urban experiences before Capp introduced Li'l Abner, the first strip based in the South. Although Capp was from Connecticut, he spent 43 years writing about a fictional southern town. The comic strip had 60 million readers in over 900 American newspapers and 100 foreign papers in 28 countries. Author M. Thomas Inge says Capp "had a profound influence on the way the world viewed the American South."

Li'l Abner Yokum: Abner was 6' 3" and perpetually 19 "y'ars" old. A naïve, simpleminded, gullible and sweet-natured hillbilly, he lived in a ramshackle log cabin with his pint-sized parents. Capp derived the family name "Yokum" as a combination of yokel and hokum. In Capp's satirical and often complex plots, Abner was a country bumpkin Candide — a paragon of innocence in a sardonically dark and cynical world. Abner typically had no visible means of support, but sometimes earned his livelihood as a "crescent cutter" for the Little Wonder privy company, later changed to "mattress tester" for the Stunned Ox mattress company. During World War II, Abner was "drafted" into becoming the mascot emblem of the Patrol Boat Squadron 29. In one Post World War II storyline Abner became a US Air Force bodyguard of Steve Cantor (a parody of Steve Canyon) against the evil bald female spy Jewell Brynner (a parody of actor Yul Brynner) Abner's primary goal in life was evading the marital designs of Daisy Mae Scragg, the virtuous, voluptuous, barefoot Dogpatch damsel and scion of the Yokums' blood feud enemies — the Scraggs, her bloodthirsty, semi-evolved kinfolk. For 18 years, Abner slipped out of Daisy Mae's marital crosshairs time and time again. When Capp finally gave in to reader pressure and allowed the couple to tie the knot, it was a major media event. It even made the cover of Life magazine on March 31, 1952 — illustrating an article by Capp entitled "It's Hideously True!! The Creator of Li'l Abner Tells Why His Hero Is (SOB!) Wed!!"