Does anybody read Marmaduke?
I’ve always ignored it as one of those ancient strips that clutters up the comics page for generations, long after the original writer either retires or dies. Based on the box office grosses for the recent movie version, there’s not a lot of Marmaduke love out there.
When it comes to comic strip dogs, it begins and ends with Snoopy, as far as I’m concerned. All the others are entirely forgettable. Odie has made something of a name for himself as a buffoon in the Garfield strips, but he’s a weak icon. And while 71 million people supposedly read Parade Magazine every week, I have yet to meet a single Howard Huge fan.
Cartoon dogs fare much better on television. My kids grew up watching Clifford, The Big Red Dog, and I have fond memories of Underdog and Scooby-Doo. But there’s one dog character that has faded into obscurity that’s due for a resurgence. I have never forgotten him, even after all these years, and I can still sing every word to the theme song.
Yes, of course, I speak of the great Hong Kong Phooey.
Hong Kong Phooey is the mild-mannered janitor who turns into a superhero by jumping into the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet and then popping out of the top drawer after the cat pounds on it really hard. Inexplicably, he’s an anthropomorphic dog in a world of humans, but nobody recognizes him when he puts on his mask. He’s blitheringly incompetent, but he’s voiced by the great Scatman Crothers, so he’s also deeply groovy.
Yeesh, if they can make a Marmaduke movie, what’s the hold up on a Hong Kong Phooey flick?
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