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{{Short description|American comic strip by Tom Armstrong}} | |||
{{Infobox Comic strip | {{Infobox Comic strip | ||
|title=Marvin |
|title=Marvin | ||
|image= | |image= | ||
|caption= | |caption= | ||
|creator=] | |creator=] | ||
|status=Running | |status=Running | ||
|syndicate=(current) ] (1986–present)<br />(past) ] ( |
|syndicate=(current) ] (1986–present)<br />(past) ] (1984–1986)<br />] (1982–1984) | ||
| altnames = Marvin | | altnames = Marvin & Bitsy, Marvin & Family, Marvin & Staff | ||
|genre=Humor | |genre=Humor | ||
|first=August 1, 1982 | |first={{start date and age|August 1, 1982}} | ||
|last= | |last= | ||
|website=http://comicskingdom.com/marvin | |website=http://comicskingdom.com/marvin | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Marvin''''', later called '''''Marvin & Family''''', is a daily ] ] created by ] ] and distributed in the U.S. by ]'s ]. Debuting in 1982, it revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, along with his parents, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy. In 1989, ] aired a special, "Marvin, Baby of the Year." | '''''Marvin''''', later called '''''Marvin & Family''''' (and '''''Marvin and Staff''''' on Sundays in October 2020), is a daily ] ] created by ] ] and distributed in the U.S. by ]'s ]. Debuting in 1982, it revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, along with his parents, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy. In 1989, ] aired a special, "Marvin, Baby of the Year." | ||
==Publication history== | ==Publication history== | ||
] ] debuted the seven-days-weekly ] ''Marvin'' on Sunday, August 1, 1982.<ref name=toonopedia> at ]. from the original on February 13, 2016.</ref> Originally distributed by ], it later went through ]'s ]. (There was an earlier strip named ''Marvin'', which was created by Pat Moran and syndicated in 1973.) The strip revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, along with his parents, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy. | ] ] debuted the seven-days-weekly ] ''Marvin'' on Sunday, August 1, 1982.<ref name=toonopedia> at ]. from the original on February 13, 2016.</ref> Originally distributed by ], it later went through ]'s ]. (There was an earlier strip named ''Marvin'', which was created by Pat Moran and syndicated in 1973.) The strip revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, along with his parents, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy. | ||
On March 10, 1989, ] aired a half-hour special, ''Marvin, Baby of the Year''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 | |
On March 10, 1989, ] aired a half-hour animated special, ''Marvin, Baby of the Year''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/295/mode/2up |page=295}}</ref> It has never been released on home video. | ||
The location is not explicitly defined. In 2012, in honor of the strip's 30th anniversary, it spoofed '']'' where baby Marvin meets himself as a full-grown man. The 30-something Marvin tells his baby self what awaits for him. | |||
⚫ | |||
A few flashback episodes showed Marvin as an unborn fetus, in imitation of '']'', a strip by ]. | A few flashback episodes showed Marvin as an unborn fetus, in imitation of '']'', a strip by ]. | ||
===Recurring characters=== | |||
Creator Tom Armstrong has made changes to the strip's character designs. In one e-mail to a fan<ref>{{cite web|url=http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.strips/browse_thread/thread/8aef655fcc3d4845/51ff0fd1879562eb?#51ff0fd1879562eb|last=Schwarz|first=Rick|title=Google Contributor posts email from Marvin creator Tom Armstrong|date=June 10, 2003|accessdate=May 11, 2014}}</ref> Armstrong explains why he made these changes. | |||
⚫ | Other major characters include Megan, Marvin's cousin; Janet, who is Megan's mother and Jenny's sister; Ming Ming, Janet's adopted daughter from China; Bea and Roy, Marvin's maternal grandparents;{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} and Doris, Marvin's paternal grandmother.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=March 29, 2020|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Megan's father has not been seen (the strip indicates Megan's parents are divorced).{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} Minor characters have included Bea and Roy's ] ] named Junior;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailyink.com/features/Marvin|title=Marvin|publisher=DailyINK|access-date=December 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=May 31, 2014|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Roy's friend Bernie; and Marvin's friends Jordan,{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Warren (who is a genius,<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=April 26, 2016|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=April 27, 2016|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> with a 174 ]<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=June 24, 2019|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref>), Kyle,<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=August 9, 2016|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Gerald<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=August 8, 2021|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> and Will, a ] who spelled "prodigy" at five months.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=June 29, 2016|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=July 1, 2016|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Jeff has a macho friend, Ted<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=May 9, 2014|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> who in June 2024 dated Janet.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=June 17, 2024|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Jordan has a girlfriend Shillina.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=September 7, 2018|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Marvin's ] are Finn and Gill.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=November 25, 2020|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> As of 2022 Jordan has a baby sister Lici.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=September 4, 2022|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> Marvin's paternal grandfather has a cat named Clawfull.<ref> {{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=September 11, 2023|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> As of 2024 Marvin has a classmate named Wayne Johnson who can lift heavy things.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=January 14, 2024|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | Other major characters include Megan, Marvin's cousin; Janet, who is Megan's mother and Jenny's sister; Ming Ming, Janet's adopted daughter from China; Bea and Roy, Marvin's maternal grandparents;{{ |
||
Prior to 2013 the strip's name was simply ''Marvin''. | Prior to 2013 the strip's name was simply ''Marvin''. | ||
== |
==Plot== | ||
===Continuity=== | |||
⚫ | Bea and Roy Arnold<ref name="Dec82008">{{comic |
||
] is similar to that of '']'' in that milestone events affect future storylines but dramatic events occurring in one day's strip may be ignored in the next: in the strip that ran on October 4, 1982, Marvin shaves his head with his father's electric razor, but the next day his hair is back to normal. The strip's characters ], as is common in comics and other media (see ]). Marvin is identified as less than 1 year old in the December 16, 1999 strip, where he states it is his first Christmas, but in later strips he states he is two years old. He learned to walk all at once on July 16, 2003. | |||
In earlier strips, the baby characters did not speak, save for occasional crying, but were capable of understanding each other ], an ability seemingly lost by adulthood. Animals shared this power to communicate without spoken words, communicating both with each other and with the babies. | |||
⚫ | Early strips often featured puns; in later strips, much of the humor comes from the babies' limited understanding of the world around them. For example, Marvin wonders about an approaching winter by thinking to himself "Why is now the time when people put their clothes on..." then looking out the window at a tree with shedding leaves "...And trees take theirs off". | ||
===Suspension of disbelief=== | |||
Events in ''Marvin'' are portrayed as real, no matter how fantastic; there is never a story in which a baby's dramatic experiences are shown in the end to be ordinary happenings when seen by an adult's wiser eyes. These storyline elements include the frequent appearance of ] around Christmastime along with in-universe parallels of contemporary happenings; for example, one baby made hundreds of millions of dollars operating a website called '''cryspace''' around the time that ] was most popular among readers of the strip, and his fortune generates plot elements in later strips. | |||
====Fourth-wall breaking==== | |||
A few story arcs involve ] breaking, such as appearances by other ] characters, and even those from other strips such as ]. On June 24, 2016, Marvin and his best friend Jordan are shown reading Marvin's personal ], and followers of that blog share the names of some of the then-active commenters on the ''Marvin'' comic's website. | |||
===Milestone events=== | |||
Some events in the history of the strip are reflected permanently in the future strips. | |||
⚫ | Bea and Roy Arnold<ref name="Dec82008">{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=December 8, 2008|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=March 30, 2010|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> lost their retirement savings in the ] and had to move in with Jeff and Jenny; Janet did not have enough room.<ref name="Dec82008"/><ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=December 12, 2008|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> As of 2021 the grandparents are no longer living with the family.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=May 21, 2021|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> | ||
In 2010, the Millers got new neighbors, the Purfects, who are so perfect they make the Millers feel inadequate. Rodney Purfect has a ] and is a company president, has won the ] and climbed ]. He is six feet five inches tall and very manly. Barbie Purfect is a blonde ] who attended cooking school in ], was a ], class president and ] president. Rodney Purfect II is two and a half years old but reads at a third grade level, performed his ] composition for ] and was potty trained at 6 months.<ref>{{comic |
In 2010, the Millers got new neighbors, the Purfects, who are so perfect they make the Millers feel inadequate. Rodney Purfect has a ] and is a company president, has won the ] and climbed ]. He is six feet five inches tall and very manly. Barbie Purfect is a blonde ] who attended cooking school in ], was a ], class president and ] president. Rodney Purfect II is two and a half years old but reads at a third grade level, performed his ] composition for ] and was potty trained at 6 months.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=August 15, 2010|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> He also has blond hair. | ||
In 2005, Marvin guest starred in the comic strip '']'' for its 75th anniversary. | In 2005, Marvin guest starred in the comic strip '']'' for its 75th anniversary. | ||
In 2019, Jeff's mother was kicked out of her retirement home and moved in with the family.<ref>{{comic |
In 2019, Jeff's mother was kicked out of her retirement home and moved in with the family.<ref>{{cite comic|strip=Marvin|cartoonist=Tom Armstrong|date=September 22, 2019|syndicate=King Features Syndicate}}</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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Latest revision as of 22:56, 17 June 2024
American comic strip by Tom ArmstrongMarvin | |
---|---|
Author(s) | Tom Armstrong |
Website | http://comicskingdom.com/marvin |
Current status/schedule | Running |
Launch date | August 1, 1982; 42 years ago (August 1, 1982) |
Alternate name(s) | Marvin & Bitsy, Marvin & Family, Marvin & Staff |
Syndicate(s) | (current) King Features Syndicate (1986–present) (past) News America Syndicate (1984–1986) Field Newspaper Syndicate (1982–1984) |
Genre(s) | Humor |
Marvin, later called Marvin & Family (and Marvin and Staff on Sundays in October 2020), is a daily newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Tom Armstrong and distributed in the U.S. by Hearst's King Features Syndicate. Debuting in 1982, it revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, along with his parents, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy. In 1989, CBS aired a special, "Marvin, Baby of the Year."
Publication history
Cartoonist Tom Armstrong debuted the seven-days-weekly comic strip Marvin on Sunday, August 1, 1982. Originally distributed by North America Syndicate, it later went through Hearst's King Features Syndicate. (There was an earlier strip named Marvin, which was created by Pat Moran and syndicated in 1973.) The strip revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, along with his parents, Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy.
On March 10, 1989, CBS aired a half-hour animated special, Marvin, Baby of the Year. It has never been released on home video.
The location is not explicitly defined. In 2012, in honor of the strip's 30th anniversary, it spoofed Back to the Future where baby Marvin meets himself as a full-grown man. The 30-something Marvin tells his baby self what awaits for him.
A few flashback episodes showed Marvin as an unborn fetus, in imitation of Eggbert, a strip by LAF.
Recurring characters
Other major characters include Megan, Marvin's cousin; Janet, who is Megan's mother and Jenny's sister; Ming Ming, Janet's adopted daughter from China; Bea and Roy, Marvin's maternal grandparents; and Doris, Marvin's paternal grandmother. Megan's father has not been seen (the strip indicates Megan's parents are divorced). Minor characters have included Bea and Roy's toy schnauzer named Junior; Roy's friend Bernie; and Marvin's friends Jordan, Warren (who is a genius, with a 174 IQ), Kyle, Gerald and Will, a child prodigy who spelled "prodigy" at five months. Jeff has a macho friend, Ted who in June 2024 dated Janet. Jordan has a girlfriend Shillina. Marvin's goldfish are Finn and Gill. As of 2022 Jordan has a baby sister Lici. Marvin's paternal grandfather has a cat named Clawfull. As of 2024 Marvin has a classmate named Wayne Johnson who can lift heavy things.
Prior to 2013 the strip's name was simply Marvin.
Plot
Continuity
Continuity is similar to that of Garfield in that milestone events affect future storylines but dramatic events occurring in one day's strip may be ignored in the next: in the strip that ran on October 4, 1982, Marvin shaves his head with his father's electric razor, but the next day his hair is back to normal. The strip's characters age irregularly, as is common in comics and other media (see soap opera rapid aging syndrome). Marvin is identified as less than 1 year old in the December 16, 1999 strip, where he states it is his first Christmas, but in later strips he states he is two years old. He learned to walk all at once on July 16, 2003.
In earlier strips, the baby characters did not speak, save for occasional crying, but were capable of understanding each other telepathically, an ability seemingly lost by adulthood. Animals shared this power to communicate without spoken words, communicating both with each other and with the babies.
Early strips often featured puns; in later strips, much of the humor comes from the babies' limited understanding of the world around them. For example, Marvin wonders about an approaching winter by thinking to himself "Why is now the time when people put their clothes on..." then looking out the window at a tree with shedding leaves "...And trees take theirs off".
Suspension of disbelief
Events in Marvin are portrayed as real, no matter how fantastic; there is never a story in which a baby's dramatic experiences are shown in the end to be ordinary happenings when seen by an adult's wiser eyes. These storyline elements include the frequent appearance of Santa Claus around Christmastime along with in-universe parallels of contemporary happenings; for example, one baby made hundreds of millions of dollars operating a website called cryspace around the time that MySpace was most popular among readers of the strip, and his fortune generates plot elements in later strips.
Fourth-wall breaking
A few story arcs involve fourth wall breaking, such as appearances by other King Features Syndicate characters, and even those from other strips such as Garfield. On June 24, 2016, Marvin and his best friend Jordan are shown reading Marvin's personal blog, and followers of that blog share the names of some of the then-active commenters on the Marvin comic's website.
Milestone events
Some events in the history of the strip are reflected permanently in the future strips.
Bea and Roy Arnold lost their retirement savings in the 2008 recession and had to move in with Jeff and Jenny; Janet did not have enough room. As of 2021 the grandparents are no longer living with the family.
In 2010, the Millers got new neighbors, the Purfects, who are so perfect they make the Millers feel inadequate. Rodney Purfect has a PhD and is a company president, has won the Heisman Trophy and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. He is six feet five inches tall and very manly. Barbie Purfect is a blonde housewife who attended cooking school in Paris, was a cheerleader, class president and sorority president. Rodney Purfect II is two and a half years old but reads at a third grade level, performed his piano composition for Queen Elizabeth II and was potty trained at 6 months. He also has blond hair.
In 2005, Marvin guest starred in the comic strip Blondie for its 75th anniversary.
In 2019, Jeff's mother was kicked out of her retirement home and moved in with the family.
References
- Marvin at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 295. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. March 29, 2020, King Features Syndicate.
- "Marvin". DailyINK. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. May 31, 2014, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. April 26, 2016, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. April 27, 2016, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. June 24, 2019, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. August 9, 2016, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. August 8, 2021, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. June 29, 2016, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. July 1, 2016, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. May 9, 2014, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. June 17, 2024, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. September 7, 2018, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. November 25, 2020, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. September 4, 2022, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. September 11, 2023, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. January 14, 2024, King Features Syndicate.
- ^ Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. December 8, 2008, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. March 30, 2010, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. December 12, 2008, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. May 21, 2021, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. August 15, 2010, King Features Syndicate.
- Tom Armstrong (w, a). Marvin. September 22, 2019, King Features Syndicate.
External links
Further reading
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1