Syndicate sites like GoComics and ComicsKingdom have a variety of reruns (or, if you prefer, vintage comics). But some of them don’t age well.
These are all old comics which are being repeated. There are certainly a number of old comics that we wouldn’t expect to see now (e.g. the drunken domestic violence played for laughs in old Andy Capp), but I’m limiting this to ones that I’ve currently found being repeated.
Here’s a few examples:
A fire at an asbestos factory (and there are still some) would likely be a major disaster, putting all those asbestos fibers into the air.
Mitch sent in this one, dated 1991. George Burns was indeed long-lived, and continued performing into his very senior years — which is sort of the joke here, saying he might go on into the distant future. But then he did die, in 1996 (at age 100).
Concussions aren’t funny any more.
Hair tonics have historically been marketed as a way to make hair grow faster, but without much evidence. In recent years, there has been a shift towards more evidence-based approaches to hair care, with a focus on products that are supported by scientific research, such as medications like minoxidil and finasteride, which are approved by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss.
Comics I Don't Understand 
In the second Nancy, isn’t the point that the kid doesn’t have a concussion?
In the Mutt and Jeff, if the barber has no customers, doubling them doesn’t improve his situation any, does it?
On the off chance somebody is missing this info, the joke intended by the first Nancy depends on knowing that asbestos was used in construction (and some household uses) for its fire-proofing property. Thus, a fire at the asbestos plant would seem to be self-extinguishing.
I love how United Features Syndicate is claiming a 2017 copyright on the Nancy strips which first ran in 1950…. Blatant illegal behavior like that should be met with the corporate death penalty. *&^%$!!
Awww, look at those cute emergency vehicle chasers in the first panel of that Nancy strip. They are all probably aspiring to become paparazzi or personal injury lawyers.
“In the second Nancy, isn’t the point that the kid doesn’t have a concussion?”
The classic problem is that kids who have concussions were, at that time, told to “shake it off”, and continue playing. The swirl above his head indicates he “had his bell rung”, or at least is very dizzy.
The adventure strips Phantom, Mandrake, Mark Trail, Flash Gordon, Judge Parker are all available in past and present (or most recent) form. Fun to compare not only the artwork but the stories. Sam Driver and Abby Spencer in the 1980s were a crime-solving lawyer and his rich but sensible girlfriend. Flash Gordon in the 60s was an almost serious scifi strip, Ming and Mongo seemingly forgotten. Mandrake’s world was downright goofy even before he “gestured hypnotically”.
The late 60s Beetle Bailey still has a toehold in the real draft-era army, but sidesteps Vietnam aside from a single gag about Fuzz freaking out over possible combat duty. Vintage 9 Chickweed Lane has Edda and Amos as teens, just beginning their sex obsession. The old Barney Google / Snuffy Smith has long, nonsensical story arcs that serve as clotheslines for wild gags (Snuffy tries to lick up spilled moonshine; gets a tongueful of splinters). Very early B.C. is fun, with gags bordering on abstract.
I especially enjoy the long-dead adventures and soaps: Big Ben Bolt, The Heart of Juliet Jones, Radio Patrol, Rip Kirby, Secret Agent X9, Johnny Hazzard, Buz Sawyer. Some involve WWII intrigues; others are as recent as the 70s. Boondocks holds up surprisingly well for vintage satire, although it helps to have some memory of BET and George W. Bush. Boner’s Ark is a curio, once popular but now hit or miss. Liberty Meadows is still fun to look at, combining impressive art with frat boy humor and cheesecake.
My dad described Lee Falk’s strips, such as Mandrake the Magician, as being like the advice given to lecturers: 1. Tell them what you are going to tell them; 2. Tell them; 3. Tell them what you told them. Monday: Narda: “Oh no! Bank robbers! They are going to rob the bank.” Tuesday: Lothar: “There, see! Bank robbers are robbing the bank.” Wednesday: Narda: “Mandrake! Some bank robbers robbed the bank and they got away!” Thursday: Mandrake: “I’ll hypnotize the teller and get an exact description of them.” Friday: Lothar: “Look! Mandrake is gesturing hypnotically.” (callout: Mandrake gestures hypnotically.) Saturday: Mandrake: “I hypnotized the guard and got a description of the robbers!”
At the other extreme, whoever was doing Captain Easy & Wash Tubbs in the 1970’s would resolve the story in one day, and if you missed it, it was gone. Thursday: Tubbs: “Who is behind all these bank robberies?” Easy: “I don’t know, but I bet the rash of food poisonings has something to do with it.” Friday: [I didn’t get the paper that day, and so I didn’t find out.] Saturday: Tubbs: “I never would have guessed.” Easy: “It just goes to show you.” (Callout: Next week: New adventure!)
Things over at Dick Tracy have been odd of late, due to writer Mike Curtis’s recent illness. They brought guest writers in the middle of the arc. One of them is Mark uh something who posts regularly in comments as Witchita1.0. Apparently his writing for the remainder of the arc was partially used, then another writer came and was told to stretch things out. So subplots were started and abandoned. Then it went to a Minit Mystery guest arc, which ended in unsatisfactory fashion. Now they’re off on a new arc, at least initially featuring one of the characters that had been in the previous one, Sprocket “Susan” Nitrate. Whether that indicates that Curtis is back at the helm is unclear. He did leave instructions that Sprocket would escape at the end of the other plotline.
“A fire at an asbestos factory (and there are still some) would likely be a major disaster, putting all those asbestos fibers into the air.”
Well, and that would make it a really bad idea to run toward the fire.
Speaking of oddball story arcs, The Daily Cartoonist recently observed that Spiderman has begun its third round of a 52-month rerun cycle:
P.S. “…opening panels [for] … Nov. 16, 2014, Mar. 24, 2019, and Jul. 30, 2023“
larK (3): Violations of copyrights, trademarks, etc., do not carry an intrinsic penalty. Enforcement depends of the owner suing violators. Just ask the folks behind Kleenex, Xerox, or Aspirin.
Mandrake began in 1934, but does anyone here know when Mandrake began running on Sundays?
@Boise Ed: that is the problem: we, the public are the owners, they hold it in trust for a Limited Time, after which it becomes Public Domain. They are illegally trying to enclose and perpetuate their copyright, and such abuse needs to be met with the harshest of penalties, ie: they should immediately lose the copyright, the contents should immediately enter the Public Domain, and the corporate entity which was behaving so illegally should be dissolved.
Please remember Ed, WE are the owners, they are merely acting as stewards for a Limited Time. Also, you are confounding Trade Mark with Copyright.
Both are forms of intellectual property, like patents, and all three have somewhat different sets of rules. What you’re describing is well exemplified by Big Pharma, who make the tiniest little changes in a profitable drug and get away with claiming a new patent.
And that “we are the owners” bit applies to radio and TV airwaves, but became pretty meaningless when they did away with the Fairness Doctrine. They’ll fine a station or network for a “wardrobe malfunction” but not for a steady diet of propagandistic lies.
Copyright notices haven’t had any legal effect in more than thirty years. This comment © 1898 by Drew, all rights reserved.
(Side note that copyright violations can carry criminal penalties, but most often are handled through civil actions.)