BRANNER, MARTIN
Original artwork for the "Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner" Sunday comic page. Produced for the Chicago Tribune, [Sunday November 30], on internal evidence, copyright year 1924. Signed "Branner" at the foot. 23 1/2 x 17 3/8 inches (60 x 44 cm), with twelve panels including title header, rendered in ink and fully colored in watercolor, presumably by Branner, who generally did his own coloring at this early date. Laid down to mat, otherwise fine.
The Sunday pages (begun 1923) of the Winnie Winkle strip featured a narrative about Perry Winkle, Winnie's adoptive kid brother. In this episode, Perry, involved in a magazine subscription drive, gains three subscriptions but loses the Sunday roast chicken. Beautifully drawn, but with stereotypical depictions of the Afro-American characters (so chacteristic of American cartoons at this period). This is an exceptional example of Branner's artwork.
Martin Branner's Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner strip first appeared in 1920. It was syndicated via the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. The chief protagonist, Winnie, was a young working woman, supporting her father. The strip's early years were remarkable for the attention directed to her attire, which was far more Parisian than Middle American. Branner himself continued to draw Winnie Winkle until 1962, and under other artists it was retired only in 1996, making it one of the longest-lasting of American comic strips. It even inspired Roy Lichtenstein; the work Engagement Ring is derived from a panel in a late Winnie Winkle strip.