Number 1519: Sad, sad, Sad Sack

I’ve had many a day like poor Sad Sack in this story. I can relate.

From Sad Sack #18 (1952):

Number 1134: Fred Rhoads's cautionary tale

Fred Rhoads drew Sad Sack for Harvey Comics. He worked out of his home in Arizona, mailing in his work. In the late '70s when Harvey stopped sending him assignments he applied for unemployment compensation, only to find he wasn't considered an employee of Harvey. They claimed he was an independent contractor doing work for hire. It resulted in Rhoads filing a lawsuit against Harvey which eventually cost him everything. In the end the publisher won.

For decades artists signed away their work, never got payment for reprints, didn't get medical benefits or retirement. Rhoads' story is a cautionary tale for artists to understand what they are really signing when they endorse their paycheck.

Sad Sack, created during World War II by cartoonist George Baker, was stuck in an Army where he never got a promotion, was under constant harassment, a target of his ass-kicking sergeant and overbearing officers. (Not unlike Mort Walker's later Beetle Bailey.) I like Rhoads's writing and drawing. I chose these stories to show because they are more fantasy than typical G.I.-humor.

According to some accounts Rhoads drew 9,500 pages for Harvey from the '50s to the '70s. He died in 2000.

From Sad Sack #220 (1971):










I think Rhoads slipped one by the censors. In the last panel of page one of "Hair Raising Tale" Sack says, “I don't like the smell of this,” while standing under the horse’s tail. Ha-ha!

From Sad Sack and the Sarge #90 (1971):





In 1964 the Hairy Green Eyeball posted a story from a 1964 issue of Sad Sack where Sack became on alien abductee! Link to the posting with the story here.

Single Issue Review: Sad Sack #154

Sad Sack was a long-running comic character. Originally a cartoon strip put together during World War II by George Baker for an army weekly, the series was popular enough to get its own comic book starting in 1949. It lasted through to the 1990s.

The Sack (as he was referred to) was an unlikely candidate for stardom. He was a lowly private in the army who had zero success at anything he did. Almost every story ended with Sad Sack getting the short end of the stick.

And yet kids of all ages loved the comic. During the 1950s and 1960s the series kept expanding, adding titles like Sad Sack and the Sarge (155 issues), Sad Sack's Funny Friends (75 issues), Sad Sack Laugh Special (93 issues), Sad Sack Army Life Parade (61 issues). There was even a Little Sad Sack (19 issues). Indeed, it is obvious that Sad Sack was Harvey's biggest hit before Richie Rich.

Why the appeal? Well, for starters, army life was a rich source of comic material, as other cartoonists like Bill Mauldin and Mort Walker had already discovered. Sad Sack had a rich supporting cast, including the Sarge, General Rockjaw, Sadie Sack and Muttsy. And third, reading Sad Sack didn't require much reading.

Here's the opening gag:



Although it says "The End" in the final panel, the story actually continues. Sad Sack has trouble controlling his jet pack when he gets out to fix the flying saucer and flies straight into the hands of alien robots, who clone him many times over. Meanwhile, thinking that the Sack is dead, the Captain wishes:



Well, before you know it, the base is overrun with Sad Sacks working for the aliens. And unlike the original, some of them are quite intelligent and start rising through the ranks. And not just in the army:



Meanwhile, the Sarge has discovered the alien robots and is trying to figure out which is the real Sad Sack:



Clever little gag there. When the Sarge and Sack get back to Earth, they discover that the fake Sacks can't take a punch to the stomach, so the men go around punching every Sad Sack they see, much to the annoyance and pain of the real one.

The story continues with one of the alien robots coming to Earth and having Sad Sack show him around. The story turns into a series of gags on how crowded and polluted everything is, including this scene at a nightclub:



And in the end, the aliens decide not to invade Earth because it's so undesirable.

In the final story, after digging a ditch, Sad Sack is sent to the dry cleaners to pick up Colonel Bagby's suit. There's a tiny tear in the coat, so the tailor has Sad Sack wear it while he sews. But an air raid alert causes him to run outside, where everybody's asking him for orders. Sack says, "Aw, shoot!" and the soldiers treat this as an order. The colonel becomes a hero for brilliantly anticipating the surprise attack, and of course, the Sack goes back to digging ditches.

Comments: The Sad Sack stories are light and pleasant reading. The artwork is simplistic, but consistent.