Grin and Bear It: Capitalists Unite—Down with the Government (comic)

George Lichty

With the style of the inking and stapled-on registration targets, this comic panel appears to have been drawn between 1945 and 1960. It's not dated and, aside from George Lichty's title signature in the comic's logo, is also unsigned. If this image went to print (likely published by the Field Newspaper Syndicate) the cartoonist's chosen quip would have been typeset beneath this cell. As it stands, without the quip, the image therefore open to interpretation - and is infinitely timely here in the United States.

Though he was born George Maurice Lichtenstein, the cartoonist was known as George Lichty for nearly the entirety of his six decade career. His comics often focused on sociopolitical issues such as capitalism and bureaucracy- especially poignant through the Second World War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. His comic, "Grin and Bear It," would become one of the longest running syndicated comics in American history, running from 1932 to 2015.

Beyond this success, his loose, energetic linework was a major influence in the cartooning industry with the advent of the "Lichty style" appearing in the work of Warner Bros. animator Rod Scribner (Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, etc.). As well, artist Ed Ruscha, who had wanted to be a comic artist at an early age, used an image of Lichty's in one of his paintings.