Akwas

The Complete Akwas  by  (c) 2016, Arthur L. Lortie Blog : Amazing Stories [NOTE: If you find this or any of the strip collections I put together listed in the sidebar here or at my BookStork page to be useful, please consider making a donation of any amount to my PayPal account. It will help defray the cost of the many archival and library services I use for these and future projects. Please use the link and not my email address, which is not listed at PayPal. Strip collections are being added all the time -- and I even consider requests! :) ]

I feel a lot like Michael Corleone -- "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."

 I had given up on this project after milking everything my sources had to give (see below). And, of course, once I announced that, folks smarter than me pointed out the error of my ways! That's not a problem; they may be smarter, but at least I can console myself with the knowledge that I'm handsomer :)

Anyway, Alex Jay told me the version of Newspaper Archives at GeneologyBank carried the Cleveland Plain Dealer (and other papers), that my direct NA access ignored! Mumble ... grumble ... WTF! OK, another $70 and I added that service to my list to pillage. I may have to start a kitty to carry all these things in the future :)

The Plain Dealer ran Akwas from June 14, 1964 to January 17, 1965, and that run included my missing strip plus an additional 15 half pagers!

More importantly, the GeneologyBank's treasure trove allowed me to finish an additional 3 strips that I was holding back on because I still had some holes to fill -- Famous Fiction, Myra North and Kid Sister (almost)! So expect those soon. [on another note -- didn't any papers ever carry the full run of 1930's Ace Drummond / Hall of Fame of the Air, the 1940's science fictional Barney Baxter or the 1950's Scorchy Smith??]

The old link for Akwas is now deactivated; the new link (rev 1), with strips from both the Boston Globe and Cleveland Plain Dealer plus a promo, is at @http://tinyurl.com/hul8doc

And, of course, if anyone has any other half pagers or color scans -- ESPECIALLY color, English, half page or tab versions of the June 28, 1964; July 26, 1964; and Sept 13, 1964 strips or anything after March 28, 1965, for a pal -- send them along.

I'm also still trying to find out the name of that "museum for Native American and Eskimo art" that Mike Roy founded; I assume its in Quebec, but it seems to be hidden from Google.

Enjoy

Art Lortie

 -Original Message- From: Buddy Lortie <> Sent: Mon, Apr 25, 2016 11:23 am Subject: Akwas

Here's a project that I'm hoping someone else will pick up.

It took me about a year to realize that none of my sources -- primarily ProQuest, Newspapers.com, Trove nor NewspaperArchives -- were going to help me improve the collection. The strip is also not at Ohio or Michigan State, and the Boston Public Library has been unable to improve on the quality. I may be stubborn but Mama Lortie didn't raise no fools; I admit defeat :(

Almost everything you need to know about the strip is at @https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akwas. It had a very short run, from June 14, 1964 to March 28, 1965, and was complete only in the half page format. All the ones I have is a third EXCEPT for the July 5, 1964 half -- plus I'm MISSING the strip from October 18, 1964.

It apparently went into reprints after this and there's an occasional strip online in French from Le Journal de Nano et Nanette which ran somewhere around #438 [1965]. I kept hoping Comics Revue -- which has an episode guide and one cover reprint at @http://comicsrevue.com/epakwas.html -- would start running this strip beyond the first episode shown.

The strip reminds me a lot of TONO from Boys Life (or a couple of earlier strips like KAM) that ran more or less monthly -- see @http://tinyurl.com/jfnfnm8 for an example -- from July, 1958 to February, 1965, ending, coincidentally, at exactly the same time as AKWAS.

I have a pal who would be very pleased if anyone can locate color, English, half page or tab versions of the June 28, 1964; July 26, 1964; Sept 13, 1964 strips or anything after March 28, 1965.

Some resources say that the comic eventually became a super-hero strip, but I don't think so, assuming I have the complete run. I was picturing something like DC Comics' Super-Chief, but all I see is a magician and some Indian lore mixed in.

Mike Roy is an extremely interesting person. I have much of his work, including a SAINT daily original. He supposedly worked on Dan Barry's FLASH GORDON, though I suspect it was with Sam Burlockoff as I've been unable to ID any "true" Roy pencils.

Mike has both a Wikipedia page at @https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Roy_(comics) and a Lambiak entry at @https://www.lambiek.net/artists/r/roy_mike.htm [which features some AKWAS art]

Like BRICK BRADFORD's William Ritt, he had a great interest in native American culture, from Incs to Indians of the plains to Eskimos. If anyone knows the name of the "museum for Native American and Eskimo art" he founded, please let me know. I've been unable to find it through Google.

The strip is at @http://tinyurl.com/zatyeab

Art Lortie