Hubert Digs Himself Deeper in the Hole -- One-Page Comic by Dick Wingert

Meet "Hubert" by Dick Wingert.

"Hubert" started out as a comic about a sad-sack-type soldier in World War II, and then he adapted to civilian life (like George Baker's Sad Sack did for a short while), where he fought the never-ending battle against meaningless drudgery and a loveless marriage. Yeah. Pretty funny. Here's the whole thing, presented panel-by-panel for your perusal and pleasure:

This one-pager was a filler page
in The Katzenjammer Kids #2 from 1947.

The End. Ouch!

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Here's the whole page in all its yellowed newsprint glory:

Here's a little biography from Syracuse University, where Dick Wingert's life work is archived:

Richard C. Wingert (1919-1993), commonly known as Dick Wingert, is an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Hubert.

Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wingert's early encouragement for his talent came from a high school art teacher, who eventually helped the young man secure a three year scholarship to the John Herren Art Institute in Indianapolis. Graduating in 1940, Wingert returned home for a year in his father's printing business before being drafted in 1941. Wingert spent a year in Louisiana with the 34th Infantry Division before being shipped to Ireland early in 1942, as a sergeant.

Stars and Stripes, a new publication, was just being established in London, and, although to this point, Wingert had no expressed talent for cartoons, he did submit samples to London. By mid- May 1942, Wingert himself had been transferred to London, as an artist for the new periodical. Here he spent the rest of the war and here he created his main character "Hubert"—an unshaven, baffled and disheveled GI. During the course of his military career, Wingert spent time on the continent, with Patton and the Third Army and Bradley's First Army, searching for background material for his cartoon work, by now an established feature.

Following the end of the war and demobilization, Wingert returned to the States and spent the next few months making the rounds of the cartoon syndicates in New York. Finally, Hubert was brought to general public attention as a daily comic strip by King Features in 1945. A Sunday strip was added the following year. Though Wingert reportedly employed a few assistants over the years—Tex Blaisdell and Frank Johnson are commonly named—he remained the primary artistic presence on the strip through to the end of its run. Dick Wingert died in November of 1993.

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Here's a Hubert Sunday Strip from September 1961

A Dick Wingert biography from King Features Syndicate:

Coulton Waugh (writing in The Comics) didn't have much nice to say about Hubert...

...talk about "damning with faint praise!"

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There's more art and info on Hubert and Dick Wingert at:

http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2008/10/obscurity-of-day-hubert.html

...and some more scans at

www.comicstripfan.com

and four Dick Wingert daily comic strip scans...

...at Russ Cochran's Comic Art Auction

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By the way...

Look at this guy's TEETH!