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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Circus of P.T. Bimbo </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=310 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=315 WIDTH=300 ALT="P.T. and Bromo stroll through the grounds. Artist: Howie Schneider." SRC="ptbimbo.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"><H1>THE CIRCUS OF P.T. BIMBO, aka BIMBOS CIRCUS</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Medium:</B> Newspaper comics <BR><B>Distributed by:</B> Newspaper Enterprise Association <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1975 <BR><B>Creator:</B> Howie Schneider <FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> It's hard to imagine a type of humor that doesn't work in comics, but some settings work better than most, because of their capacity for visual humor. When something can make the viewer laugh just from what  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> it looks like, the humor is more immediate than a joke that has to be read before the reader can "get" it. That's one of the reasons <I>The Circus of P.T. Bimbo</I> retains many fans even today, a generation or more after it last appeared in newspapers. <P> <I>The Circus of P.T. Bimbo</I> started in 1975 from Newspaper Enterprise Association (<I><A href="oop.htm">Alley Oop,</A> <A href="rlojanis.htm">Arlo & Janis</A></I>). The <A href="glossary.htm#cartoonist">cartoonist,</A> Howie Schneider (<I>Percy's World, The Sunshine Club</I>) had been doing <I><A href="eek_meek.htm">Eek & Meek</A></I> for the same syndicate since 1965. The title (which had nothing to do with <A href="boop.htm">Betty Boop's</A> boyfriend) harked back to the days when a "bimbo" could be someone of either gender. In any case, it was changed to <I>Bimbo's Circus</I> in 1978. <P> P.T.'s circus environment provided plenty of opportunities for visual humor, with Hugo the Human Cannonball, Hevy Lamarr the Fat Lady, Mildew the Clown and even Eugene the Invisible Man cavorting around. Even the less-bankable performers and freaks, such as Bosco Mcnose, who had the world's biggest nose, provided visual contrast with what the viewer saw in his daily life. The biggest contrast was provided by putting tall, relatively normal Bromo, the manager, next to the extremely diminuitive circus owner, P.T. Bimbo himself. <P> <I>Bimbo's Circus</I> garnered its share of fans. But eventually the strain of doing two seven-day comics took its toll, even for a prolific cartoonist like Schneider. Something had to give, and <I>Bimbo</I> was it. The strip ended in 1980. <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE BANNER CODE><CENTER> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </CENTER><! END ADSENSE CODE> <TD WIDTH=10><TD WIDTH=180 VALIGN="TOP"> <! BEGIN ADLINKS CODE><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><! END ADLINKS CODE> <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE REFERRAL CODE><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><! 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