Curtis (comic strip)
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Curtis is a comic strip by Ray Billingsley and is one of the few comic strips centered upon strong, positive African-American characters. It began on October 3, 1988 and is syndicated by King Features.
It mostly involves the title character, Curtis, doing things like getting in trouble at home and school, trying in many attempts to make his father, Greg, quit smoking (a storyline which earned Billingsley the American Lung Association's President's Award in 2000), trying to win the heart of aspiring diva singer Michelle, and stuffing his face.
Curtis will often fantasize at school (rather than paying attention to Mrs. Nelson) about his favorite superhero, "Supercaptaincoolman" (a superhero who is constantly defending the city against the insidious schemes of the evil "Doctor Horsehead").
Once a year, Ray will have Curtis and the gang take a hiatus one day after Christmas and focus on a special 2 week inspirational story to celebrate the Festival of Kwanzaa. Also, around the Martin Luther King Holiday the strip will discuss some aspect of Dr. King's life.
Curtis featured Dagwood of the Blondie comic as part of its 75th anniversary celebration. Unlike Dennis the Menace, Hi and Lois, B.C. (comic), Family Circus, or Baby Blues, the other comic strips that participated in the anniversary crossover, Curtis took an extended storyline lasting from August 29 to September 3, like Hagar the Horrible. Also, Curtis was featured in the 75th Anniversary strip on September 4.
On 12 March 2007, Curtis was expelled from his school because his teacher Mrs. Nelson discovered a live donkey ("jackass") in the classroom and blamed him for putting it there. The story is still currently underway.
[edit] Characters
- Curtis Wilkins - Main character. A rap fan with a huge crush on a girl named Michelle. He has a huge appetite and a talent for getting himself into trouble. Always wears a baseball cap any way but forward (according to the storyline, he got it at birth from his father). Also received a slave ledger from a mysterious homeless man, which is later shown at school and sold to the history society for money so that the school can get new computers and books.
- Barry Wilkins - Curtis's younger brother. Often likes to annoy Curtis. Their parents consider Barry to be more trustworthy, while Curtis usually sees him as a brat. He whines when he has to eat his vegetables and has no qualms about mashing Curtis to a pulp when called on to do it. Also gets merit awards, which makes Curtis jealous. Has an imaginary friend named Oogie, who is green, has one eye, is about Barry's size, and likes to eat vegetables.
- Diane Wilkins - Curtis's mother. A housewife, she tends to get irritated by Curtis' antics, but is always supportive of him when he has a problem. Recently, she got a new hair style, which made Derrick and Onion think that Greg was dating another woman.
- Greg Wilkins - Curtis's father. Works at the DMV and hates his job. He gained the habit of smoking when he was a teenager, and Curtis regularly tries (unsuccessfully) to get him to quit. He and Curtis are also regularly at odds over their tastes in music (Curtis likes rap and hip-hop, and Greg can't stand it, preferring Motown).
- Mrs. Nelson - Teacher. Since Curtis is the class joker, she doesn't get along very well with him.
- Michelle Grant - Girl Curtis likes. Considered self-centered (and egotistical) by most of the other characters, she only likes Curtis as a friend and discourages his attempts to date her. She is an excellent singer and hopes to become a famous star, currently starring in energy drink commercials.
- Chutney - Girl who likes Curtis. It's ironic that Curtis only sees her as a friend, while he chases after Michelle.
- Gunk - Curtis's cross-eyed best friend. A native of the fictional Flyspeck Island, Gunk (short for Gladimus Umfred Nostradamus Klaustauviwicke) often gives some bizarre item to Curtis, with disastrous results (most often a chameleon). One of his quirks is his refusal to fight anybody, but he also is cat-like in his moves to avoid his nemesis's punches, because as he says afterwards, "Just because I won't fight you doesn't mean I'm going to let you hit me."
- Gunther - The local barber, who never gets Curtis' name right (but at least every attempt either starts with a "C" or a hard "C" sound), and who claims to know nearly every famous person (and who has photos – but always with a thumb covering the famous person). He has a niece named Rose Petal, who enjoys singing, but she gets fired from every gig she enters, which is due to the fact that she has a foul mouth and a really bad attitude. She refuses to work for money she needs to pay for her rent (although it is revealed that she really needs the money to party), and ultimately, Gunther throws her out of his shop, which demonstrates "tough love". She responds with profanity. According to Curtis, she thinks the world owes her.
- Derrick - Bully. He and his friend, Onion, make fun of Curtis by calling him "Wimpkins" amd using "yo momma jokes", and on occasion physically harass him (in one seris they attempted to falsely accuse him of criminal activity). Curtis attempts to avoid them as much as possible. In the most recent strip, Curtis gets some payback by hiding a hockey puck in a sandwich. When Derrick and Onion take his lunch, Derrick breaks some of his teeth on the puck and has to go to the dentist.
- Onion - Derrick's friend and fellow bully to Curtis. His real name is Norman, but is self-nicknamed "Onion" for being able to "bring tears to a sucker's eyes", although once Curtis exclaimed that it's probably because he stunk. Like Derrick, Onion becomes the victim of Curtis' revenge as he eats a sandwich that Curtis had spread cat food in it. In the end, Onion had to get his stomach pumped.
[edit] Trivia
- One storyline had Diane pregnant with her and Greg's third child. She had a miscarriage after fighting a mugger when she and Barry were at the ATM.
- Barry is almost always listening in on phone conversations between Curtis and Michelle. He then runs off to Diane, claiming Curtis is trying to hit him "for no reason". On a couple of occasions Barry even confesses to having listened to the conversations (asking what does a certain phrase mean, or even offering to repeat what Curtis said). This prompts questions from some over whether Diane properly punishes him for lying and eavesdropping.
- One recurring theme always involves Curtis and someone else (often his brother) entering some establishment with a name like "The Don King School of Personal Etiquette" or "The Mike Tyson Institute of Good Mannerism", then finding out it's really a record store. Curtis explains that "it's really my favorite record store in disguise" and that "the locals torch the place once they find out its real identity", apparently due to the type of music it sells (usually rap music featuring an artist with a rap sheet).
- The skits often show Curtis (and often Barry for mere association) being disciplined for his various antics by either his mom or dad. However, they never show the actual punishment as it takes place, but the final frame of a strip where discipline is administered will show stars and such showing where the punishment was administered. One exception to this was in a two-day storyline involving Curtis having to get a note for bad grades signed by a parent. Curtis decides to forge his dad's signature, but while in the middle of it, his dad appears out of the blue and points out to Curtis that he "forgot to dot the 'i' in Wilkins". This twist appears in the second to last frame of the last strip, which also includes Barry, wide-eyed because the hand his dad uses to point out his correction also holds a belt, - Curtis is about to "get it". The final frame, however, consists only of a message to the readers stating they are unable to show the rest due to its graphic nature.
- Curtis' Dad refused to spank Curtis when this punishment was demanded by a big-time moocher who was offended by Curtis calling him a moocher. Mr. Wilkins refused to punish his son for simply speaking the truth.
