Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

Winsor McKay's Jungle Imps Page Sells For $57,500 – But Would You Put It On Your Wall?

Published Sat, 08 Jun 2019 12:00:43 -0500

Accusations of historical racism are something that a number of comic books – and comic art dealers – have had to deal with over the yeard. Tintin In The Congo has become a restricted text for historical and cultural research, Noddy has had a serious rewriting and the estate of Frank Frazetta has been repeatedly called out for some of his works.

But a collectable art is collectable art, it seems. And while you may not want to hang the following piece by Winsor McCay as the first thing visitors see when they walk into your home, the original art to the sixth Sunday edition of his newspaper strip The Jungle Imps published in 1903 has just sold for $57,500.

The strip pre-dated Winsor McCay's more well-known Little Nemo in Slumberland by two years – a series of text stories with illustrations had a recurring theme of explaining how certain animals came to be, in the manner of Rudyard Kipling.

A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle which ran from January 11 to November 9, 1903, in the Cincinnati Enquirer. These full-page illustrated stories are based on poems written by George Randolph Chester about pixies and the imaginary animals they encounter. Until 2006, the originals of these strips were thought to be lost and hadn't been seen for over a hundred years.

Each episode features Gack, Boo-Boo and Hickey, three imps representing primitive natural forces – and portrayed in racist manners, attitudes and cartooning styles commonplace at the time. The image of the Jungle Imp would carry over into Little Nemo. This episode "How the Pelican Got His Pouch" created in ink and watercolour over graphite on Bristol board with an image area of 19" x 23".