Macbeth Meets Alley Oop, and William Shakespeare Meets V. T. Hamlin and Tom Stoppard

Abstract

V. T. Hamlin created Alley Oop as a simple cave man coping with his girlfriend, his pet dinosaur, and the politics of his tribe in adventure stories that had a light, humorous touch. That was the premise when the comic strip began on 5 December, 1932 (the date is usually given erroneously as 7 August, 1933, which is when Alley Oop changed syndicates); the strip continued with this premise for seven years until Hamlin created Doc Wonmug and his time machine, at which point Wonmug snatched Oop out of the past and made him a friend. Over the years, Oop went to China, Egypt, and Troy and made at least two trips into outer space. The strip was designed to appeal to both adults and children. Those who know the history of China, Egypt, and Troy may appreciate the historical and cultural crosscurrents, yet the same stories were reprinted in comic books and Big Little Books, which were marketed to children as adventure stories. Alley Oop constituted one segment of two Saturday morning cartoon series: Archie's TV Funnies, which ran on the Columbia Broadcast System (CBS) from 1971-1973; and The Fabulous Funnies, which ran on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1978. There was a 1960 pop song by the Hollywood Argyles titled after the character and targeted at teenaged buyers (Hollywood Argyles 1960). The old caveman, it seems, crosses generation boundaries.