The Strange World of Mr. Mum
{{Short description|American comic strip by Irving Phillips}}
{{Infobox comic strip
|title = The Strange World of Mr. Mum
|image = 240px
|caption =Irving Phillips' The Strange World of Mr. Mum (January 22, 1961)
|author = Irving Phillips
| current =
| illustrator =
|website =
|rss =
|atom =
|status = Daily and Sunday; concluded
|syndicate = Hall Syndicate
Field Newspaper Syndicate
|altnames =
|first = May 5, 1958
|last = 1974
|genre = humor, adults
|followed by =
}}
The Strange World of Mr. Mum was a surreal humor comic panel by Irving Phillips which was published from May 5, 1958, to 1974. At its peak, it appeared daily in 180 newspapers across 22 countries.[http://lambiek.net/artists/p/phillips_i.htm "Irving Phillips,"] Lambiek Comiclopedia. Accessed Nov. 10, 2017. Initially distributed by the Hall Syndicate, it was later handled by the Field Newspaper Syndicate. A Sunday edition began on October 4, 1959.{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472117567 |page=369}}
Characters and story
Mr. Mum is a portly, bald and bespectacled character, who — as his name suggests — remains mum as he observes various odd, surprising or even surreal scenes. He is sometimes accompanied by his similarly silent dog. Mum is described as a "bystander on life's outer limits," and the feature's "anything-can-happen" humor paved the way for later titles like Herman, The Far Side, Bizarro and Rhymes With Orange.100 Years of American Newspaper Comics: An Illustrated Encyclopedia
By Maurice Horn, Random House Value Publishing Staff
Published by Gramercy Books, 1996
{{ISBN|0-517-12447-5}}, 978-0-517-12447-5
Because it was a pantomime cartoon, its humor translated well internationally. Dutch comics historian Ger Apeldoorn noted that Mr. Mum was "one of the weirdest of the silent strips (excluding the Dutch masterpiece from the same period, Professor Pi by Bob van der Born). . . . Mr. Mum is a curious man in a weird world, who never gets involved but only observes with ever growing amazement."[http://allthingsger.blogspot.com/search/label/Mr.%20Mum Apeldoorn, Ger. The Fabulous Fifties.]
Image:Strange_World_of_Mr._Mum.png' The Strange World of Mr. Mum (1965).]]
After the feature ceased publication, Phillips created a few dozen large, full-color paintings based on ideas from the comic series.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange World of Mr. Mum, The}}
Category:American comic strips
Category:Male characters in comics
Category:Surreal comedy comics
{{comic-strip-stub}}