# When comic strips show characters from other strips **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819 "2018-01-17T12:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/1 "2018-01-17T12:58:16Z")
Sometimes a comic strip will show characters from other strips. Liō, for example, seems to do this a lot (such as today’s strip). Sometimes this is a tribute, sometimes it makes fun of the other strip. Is this legally allowed under Fair Use? Or do comic artists have some sort of unwritten rule that this is OK as long as the characters aren’t abused (such as used in pornographic depictions or denigrating the character by using bad language)? Or is it just not worth the effort to complain? Clearly the publishers just publish whatever is submitted so either they are not concerned or bear no liability. Might be more of a GQ than a question about the arts. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/2 "2018-01-17T13:25:50Z")
Parody is protected speech (in the US), so civil actions aren’t likely. Sometimes the artist will insert “apologies to _[insert name of parodied artist]_” in a corner of the strip. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/3 "2018-01-17T13:56:19Z")
Berkeley Breathed has done this many times in Bloom County, mostly with Calvin and Hobbes or The Peanuts. The [biggest crossover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_strip_switcheroo#Strips_and_creators_involved) was April 1, 1997 with 45 strips involved. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/4 "2018-01-17T14:00:23Z")
[Link to today’s strip](http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2018/01/17) for reference. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/5 "2018-01-17T14:07:50Z")
Arguably the biggest case of this was **Sam’s Strip** , a short-lived strip by Jerry Dumas and Mort Walker (who does _Beetle Bailey_ and _Hi and Lois_). Sam’s Strip was “the comic about comics”, and Walker tried to meticulously research and draw each “guest” character accurately. One comic panel had a plethora of “guests” – more than 48, I think. > **[Sam's Strip: The Comic about Comics](https://www.cbr.com/sams-strip-the-comic-about-comics/)** > > A comic strip about a comic strip character named Sam that includes guest appearances by Charlie Brown, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, and tons of others. This gorgeous book collects the entire hilarious run. > **[Sam's Strip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam%27s_Strip)** > > Sam's Strip was a humorous comic strip created and produced by Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas. It was distributed by King Features Syndicate from October 2, 1961 to June 1, 1963. The series depended heavily on metahumor and appearances by famous comic-strip characters. > In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas met on Monday mornings to go over the gag ideas they had worked up for future installments of Walker's strips Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois. Just for fun, they started pu... > **[Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Sam's Strip](http://toonopedia.com/samstrip.htm)** > > Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/6 "2018-01-17T14:23:31Z")
Since copyright violations are a civil matter, a cartoonist isn’t going to bother to sue, even if the parody exclusion didn’t exist. Most cartoonists know each other and have no problem if another one uses their work. [My favorite example](http://78.media.tumblr.com/b10152f64ce780eb5827a787d3689611/tumblr_mt6d4ysyit1s4rha3o1_500.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/7 "2018-01-17T14:54:56Z")
Of course, many cartoonists are friends with each other, and get permission. There’s no legal issue at all if you have permission. In particular, I know that this is the case for Stephen Pastis (_Pearls Before Swine_) and Jef Mallet (_Frazz_), who often make fun of each other. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/8 "2018-01-17T14:59:07Z")
Then, of course, there are special days ( sometimes April 1) when a bunch of famous cartoonists will trade strips for a day or a week. For that time, Stefan Pastis may do " Beetle Bailey" while Mort Walker does “Pearls Before Swine.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/9 "2018-01-17T15:00:20Z")
Pastis also of course hammers on Family Circus. [When Family Circus strikes back](https://stephanpastis.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/ive-already-contacted-a-lawyer/), Patis reacts like someone has questioned his cousin’s television career or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/10 "2018-01-17T15:54:28Z")
[Moderating] Let’s keep issues with other posters out of this this forum. There were more diplomatic ways you could have phrased that. [Not moderating] I think, given the context, it’s clear there that Pastis is joking. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/11 "2018-01-17T16:25:57Z")
Maybe so, but that joke would get him banned from the Dope. What’s the origin of the Peanuts/ Alfred E. Newman strip? Did this really run in Schultz’s strip, or was it a Mad parody? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/12 "2018-01-17T16:46:08Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Maybe so, but that joke would get him banned from the Dope. Let me see… Did I just say "Keep issues with other posters out of this forum? Yes, I did. And I’ll also add “keep discussion of moderation actions out of this forum”, even though that should be clear from the rules already. If you want to discuss this, there’s already a thread in ATMB about it. Any further discussion along these lines in this forum will result in a Warning. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/13 "2018-01-17T17:05:43Z")
One of my favorites was Wren from _Baby Blues_ chewing on a dead \*Pearls \*Croc the week after The Crocs were trying to eat the _Baby Blues_ kids in _Pearls_. While trying to find a copy of the strip, I found[this Baby Blues blog post](http://babyblues.com/2012/11/20/a-very-special-baby-blues-thanksgiving-memory/) which describes how the whole thing went down. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/14 "2018-01-17T17:08:58Z")
Knowing how protective Disney is about their characters, I’m surprised they let this one slide (or so I assume): [![](https://assets.gocomics.com/uploads/blogs/blog_image_4374_10298_Peanuts_By_Charles_Schulz_Nov_26__1955_201711031204.jpg) ](https://assets.gocomics.com/uploads/blogs/blog_image_4374_10298_Peanuts_By_Charles_Schulz_Nov_26__1955_201711031204.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/15 "2018-01-17T17:18:37Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Maybe so, but that joke would get him banned from the Dope. > > What’s the origin of the Peanuts/ Alfred E. Newman strip? Did this really run in Schultz’s strip, or was it a Mad parody? It really did run as an episode of _Peanuts_. I remember when it first appeared. I’m sure it was “payback” for the many times that Mad had run parodies using the Peanuts characters – showing them as hippies, doing “Uptight is when…” as a parody of “Happiness is…”. Showing what would happen when the characters got old. The feature “The Adventures of the Red Baron”, and so on. They’re still running Peanuts parodies, of course (they just ran an “updated” “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/16 "2018-01-17T17:20:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Knowing how protective Disney is about their characters, I’m surprised they let this one slide (or so I assume): > > [http://assets.gocomics.com/uploads/blogs/blog\_image\_4374\_10298\_Peanuts\_By\_Charles\_Schulz\_Nov\_26\_\_1955\_201711031204.jpg](http://assets.gocomics.com/uploads/blogs/blog_image_4374_10298_Peanuts_By_Charles_Schulz_Nov_26__1955_201711031204.jpg) That’s a pretty early Peanuts from when Walt was still alive. He had much more of a sense of humor than the Disney Corporation has. I’m sure he took well if he even was aware of it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/17 "2018-01-17T18:14:59Z")
Francesco Marciuliano does this occasionally in his on-line strip Medium Large. [Here’s one](https://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/medium-large-comic-tuesday-july-9-2013/) where he uses Peanuts characters, and [another](https://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/medium-large-comic-wednesday-february-4-2016/) where he borrows from Family Circus. Marciuliano is also the author of the newspaper strip Sally Forth. He sometimes uses Sally Forth characters in Medium Large, although I’m not sure I would call this “borrowing.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/18 "2018-01-17T18:36:45Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Berkeley Breathed has done this many times in Bloom County, mostly with Calvin and Hobbes or The Peanuts. > > The [biggest crossover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_strip_switcheroo#Strips_and_creators_involved) was April 1, 1997 with 45 strips involved. He’s still doing it. Charlie Brown was in Bloom County a few weeks ago around Christmas (with his tree). The storyline was temporarily suspended when Breathed had to relocate due to the wild fires. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/19 "2018-01-17T18:45:25Z")
There’s also the idea that by showing another cartoon’s characters, you’re effectively giving them more exposure / free advertising. I mean, if you averaged 10,000 readers per day and a guy with 3 million reads per day shows off your characters, are you going to be anything but thrilled? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819/20 "2018-01-17T19:15:11Z")
As an aside about that _Pearls_/_Baby Blues_/_Zits_ crossover, it might be worth noting that _Zits_ and _Baby Blues_ have an author in common. I was amazed when I noticed that; the two strips have such completely different styles, both in art and in humor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-comic-strips-show-characters-from-other-strips/806819.md?page=2)