Lum and Abner Comic Strip

This is the Lum and Abner Comic Strip Update Page!

Lum and Abner -
the Comic Strip!
UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2011

Lum and Abner is growing!
The Standard in Amity, Arkansas added the Lum and
Abner comic strip early in November 2011, becoming the
third printed newspaper to carry the strip. On Sunday,
November 20, the web site Arkansite.com picked up the
strip. Many thanks! If you'd like to visit these sites and
thank them for us, you may
CLICK HERE FOR THE STANDARD
and
CLICK HERE FOR ARKANSITE.COM!

Lum and Abner and
FirstArkansasNews.net discussed in
Columbia Journalism Review!
CLICK HERE for this review, and be sure to click "Read
more about First Arkansas News" to display the entire
story!

Kay Linaker tribute in Lum and Abner!
The actress Kay Linaker was our NLAS Convention guest
in 1998, 2003 and 2005. In 2003 she performed two roles in
our script "Murder in Pine Ridge?" which is being adapted
in the Lum and Abner comic strip. Parts of the 2003
recording featuring this wonderful actress are being
incorporated into the audio versions of the strips. "Our
Miss Kate" can be heard in strip audio 017, 018 and 022.
Just click COMICS for the FirstArkansasNews site!

Cartoonist interviewed on September 26,
2011
CLICK HERE to hear this "Panola Pride" radio interview.

Update: How to subscribe FREE to
Lum and Abner
You can now subscribe to receive Lum and Abner each
week in an e-mail from GoComics! The strip is being
offered there on a trial basis. If it is successful, we might be
offered a contract for continued syndication.
Please visit HERE to sign up for a FREE subscription. The
more subscribers, the better, and I've had zero reports of
any spam problems. In fact, I've been a subscriber to their
other comics for several months. Of course, for the audio
versions, you still need to visit FirstArkansasNews.net.
Those "hits" are important as well. Thank you for helping
us!

How did the comic strip get started?
I'm Donnie Pitchford, a co-founder of the National Lum and
Abner Society. I'm also the writer-cartoonist of Lum and Abner,
a comic strip which debuted in 2011. This project was
developed as a commercial venture between myself, Ethan C.
Nobles of FirstArkansasNews.net and Chester Lauck Jr. who
owns the Lum and Abner franchise.

The Lum and Abner comic strip is not a project of the National
Lum and Abner Society, but the other "ossifers" are supportive
of the endeavor and approve my using a page here to
document this information.

This page will provide updates on the comic strip project as
they happen. First, however, I offer some background.

Lum and Abner made its debut with the first strip in May 2011.
The response was great, and soon sponsorship opportunities
were offered to individuals, organizations and companies.
Click here for more information on individual sponsorships.
At that time FirstArkansasNews.net was only permitted to
publish one strip as an example of the series.

In June 2011, as part of the NLAS presentations at the annual
Lum and Abner Festival in Mena, Arkansas, a short video was
screened to showcase the first edition of the comic strip. More
individuals signed up as annual sponsors, and the response
was so favorable that we were given permission to publish the
strip on a weekly basis.
Click here to see the video version of the first comic strip.

Where can the comic strip be seen online?
Lum and Abner started to appear online each week in June
2011, with a continuity entitled "Laziness, Thy Name is Abner."
This storyline concludes July 31, 2011. The second series will
be "Murder in Pine Ridge!" A murder? In Pine Ridge? Well, tune
in and see!
Click here to see the online version of the strip

How can blind people hear the strip?
One unique aspect of this comic strip is the audio version.
Many of our friends who are fans of old time radio are without
sight. Due to my friendship with several folks involved in
Helping Hands for the Blind (thanks to its leader Robert
Acosta), I was aware that many would be unable to read the
strip, so I suggested to FirstArkansasNews.net founder Ethan
C. Nobles that we include an audio version with each strip. I
produce thevoices, sound effects, music and editing and adapt
the content slightly, adding some narration. This audio feature
is available with each strip thanks to a "Click to Listen" link. In
fact you can sample the audio version by clicking here.

Is the news getting out about this comic
strip?
There have been numerous interviews and articles involving
the comic strip project. I will add new links to this section as
they become available.
Click here to read an interview in Jimbo's OTR Buffet
Click here to see and hear an interview on KGAS Radio.
SPERDVAC published an article in their July issue of Radiogram.
Click here to visit the SPERDVAC web site.
Patricia and Walden hosted an interview on their Saturday live
program. Click here to visit YUSA.
The Old Time Radio Researchers Group published articles on
Lum and Abner as both a radio show and a comic strip.
Click here to visit the OTRR site and subscribe free.

Can Lum and Abner be seen in printed form?
Beginning Thursday, July 28, Lum and Abner is a weekly feature
in The Mena Star of Mena, Arkansas. If you would like to
subscribe to their paper by mail,
click here for contact information. Tell them you're subscribing
to read Lum and Abner if you decide to do so.

Lum and Abner is also appearing in The Saline Courier,
published in Benton, Arkansas, every Sunday. You can visit
their web site if you CLICK HERE.

There are other printed versions forthcoming, and as soon as
they are official, I will post an update here.

Is there any other type of merchandise
available?
You can buy coffee mugs in two sizes, tee shirts in all sizes and
a mouse pad in - well - one size. All of this is available through
FirstArkansasNews.net. Click here to visit and shop.

How can this project succeed?
We cannot produce this comic strip for free, strictly as a labor
of love. We have to pay royalties, and to be honest
FirstArkansasNews.net and I are trying to earn some income,
just as the actual Lum and Abner radio show did, and just as any
publisher and cartoonist wish to do. We do not expect to
become wealthy, of course, and this is certainly a labor of love,
but the cold hard facts are we have financial obligations to
meet. The comic strip needs additional newspapers, corporate
advertising, small business sponsorships, and individual
sponsorships.

How can we get Lum and Abner in our local
newspapers?
The best way to do this is contact the editors of your local
newspaper and request it. The syndication fee is very
reasonable. Chat with your friends, show them the strip, and
get them involved. Because of the requests by Mena, Pine
Ridge, and Benton area citizens of Arkansas, Lum and Abner is
published in The Mena Star and The Saline Courier,so we know
it works!

How can I stay updated about the comic
strip?
You are invited to check this page regularly. Also, I am
available on Facebook as both "Donnie Pitchford" and "Lum
and Abner Comic Strip Group." And please feel free to write
comments on the FirstArkansasNews.net Lum and Abner page.
We know something good is happening because the Lum and
Abner page is at the top of the "Most Commented" list at FAN!

Thank you to everyone!
I truly am thankful to everyone who has written to comment on
this project. I know it's next to impossible to illustrate every
person's mental concepts of Lum and Abner, but I will continue
to strive for improvement as we go along. To those who have
invested financially in the project, I am deeply grateful.
Click here to write to Donnie Pitchford.

CLICK HERE to hear the audio version of the strip at right.

Related images:

Happy Thanksgiving from Lum, Abner and Chester the Turkey!

Comic strip panel with Kay Linaker's character inviting readers to listen.