Tumbleweeds (comic strip)

Tumbleweeds was an American comic strip that offered a skewed perspective on life in the Old West. Writer-artist Tom K. Ryan (1926 – ) (who signed the strip "T.K. Ryan") was very familiar with conventions of the Western genre he satirized. Launched September 1965, the strip was distributed for decades initially by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and later by the King Features Syndicate after its acquisition. Jim Davis, who created Garfield, was Ryan's assistant (from 1969 to 1978) while developing another strip, Gnorm Gnat. After a 42-year run, Ryan retired and brought Tumbleweeds to a conclusion on December 30, 2007.

Tumbleweeds is set in and around the town of Grimy Gulch, whose population was stated as 49 (later it was marked out and incremented to 50, and sometimes is revised down when the villain Snake-Eye leaves town), in an unspecified Western territory. Other locations include the nearby village of the Poohawk tribe of Native Americans, and the US Army outpost Fort Ridiculous, manned by the 6 7/8 Cavalry.

Tumbleweeds was to be one of the strips animated in Filmation's 1978 series The Fabulous Funnies (along with Broom-Hilda, Nancy, Alley Oop and others) and was included in the series' premiere episode with Alan Oppenheimer doing the voice of the title character. However, after the first episode aired, it was learned that Filmation lacked the rights to use the property, and the segment was removed from future episodes.

Tumbleweeds made another animated appearance in The Fantastic Funnies, a 1980 TV special that showcased numerous comic strips. One of the strips was animated, courtesy of Bill Melendez Productions.

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