State

Gasoline Alley Has Moved To Charlotte Л Tar llrrl artist now carries on the tradition of one of America's lon«*esi- riinninu and most bel«»vckd comic strips. «»/ WILLIAM C. CLINE Ii seems that some things were just meant to be. All things considered, they appear to have been almost inevitable. Charlotte artist Jim Scancarclli taking over the Gasoline Alley comic strip is one of those things. It is as if he were destined for the job. Scancarclli (rhymes with ‘Frank or Ellie') was born in 1941. and the very date of his birth fits a sequence involv¬ ing the number 24 that would delight a numetologist's heart: (I) Gasoline Al¬ ley was created by Frank King and first published by The Chicago Tribune as a weekly cartoon panel on August 24. 1919. (2) Scancarclli was born August 24, 1941. By then King’s creation had become one of America's favorite daily and Sunday strips. (3) On June 24. 1969. Frank King passed away. The daily strip was continued by his col¬ league Dick Moores, who had been King’s assistant since 1955. and the Sunday strip was continued by another assistant. Bill Perry. (4) Six years later. Moores took over the Sunday strip from Bill Perry and became Gasoline Alley's sole artist. His first Sunday strip was published August 24. 1975. (5) In 1979 Moores engaged Jim Scancarclli as his assistant for inking and lettering— just 24 years after he himself had been hired for that job by King. (6) When Moores passed away last year, the last Sunday page he had completed— The one Scan¬ carclli was polishing for publication— was the one to be run on August 24. 1986. (7) Jointly with King’s at first and then singly. Moores’ name appeared on the strip from 1962 to 1986— a total of 24 \ ears. Longest lasting Over Moores’ signature. Gasoline Alley was still America's longest-lasting cartoon strip with an ongoing storyline, gaining for Moores 5 awards by the Na¬ tional Cartoonist Society for the best continuing story in a North American cartoon strip, and in 1974 their coveted Reuben Award as outstanding cartoonist <6 of the year. With the passing of Dick Moores, the job of drawing the popu¬ lar strip was undertaken by Scancarclli. The strip is distributed by Tribune Me¬ dia Services. Inc. In addition to the number 24 phenomenon. Scancarclli shares another bond with Frank King, the strip’s original creator— their love of fiddling. King, a native of Toma. Wis¬ consin. started playing folk music on the fiddle at local functions at a very early age. Scancarclli has developed his fiddling talent— especially for his he¬ lmed ‘Bluegrass’ music— to the point of w inning a number of area and regional fiddling competitions. As a break from the drawing board, he regularly sits w ith several friends playing the lively folk music that has been called "pure American." Scancarclli has been a lifelong fan of the strip he now draws. Born in New York but brought to Charlotte when he was six weeks old. Jim's first remem¬ brance of his grandfather Otto Parati was sitting on his lap while the grand old man read Gasoline Alley to him. He grew up following the daily exploits of the strip's main characters: Avery. Doc and Bill. Walt and Phyllis Wallet, and their adopted son Skcezix (so named because he was found in a basket on Walt’s doorstep one morning— and •skee/ix' being an old cowboy’s word for a maverick, or motherless, calf). Unlike other strips, whose characters never seemed to change. King had made his unique by allowing Walt. Phyllis. Skee/ix and all the others, to grow older and develop as human be¬ ings. just as his readers were doing. B\ this time. Skee/ix was a young man in his twenties, serving in the army— just like millions of other real young Amer¬ icans were doing. At WBTV After receiving his education in schools in Charlotte and Arlington, Vir¬ Jim Scancarclli at his drawing board Gasol.ne Alley, was created by Frank King in 1919. continued by his colleague Olek Moores In 1969. then passed to his assistant. Scancarclli Iasi year ginia (while his father worked in Wash¬ ington. D.C.). Scancarclli served in the U.S. Navy from 1959 to 1963 and worked in the art department at televi¬ sion station WBTV in Charlotte from 1964 to 1967. where he drew the daily weather map. among other duties. While there he also wrote and acted (as the villain) in a daily radio show for WBT Radio called The Yellow Jacket. a parody of the then-popular TV series Batman. Since 1967. Jim has been a free-lance commercial artist in Char¬ lotte and illustrator for well-known chil¬ dren’s magazines such as Child Life. Children’s Digest. Jack n Jill, and Humpty Dumpty. In the late seventies Scancarclli was introduced to Dick Moores at his home studio in Fairview. North Carolina, by their mutual friend (and then artist for the Mutt and Jeff comic strip). George Breisacher. When Moores decided to hire an assistant. Jim was interviewed and chosen, mainly because of his ar¬ tistic talent, knowledge of and rapport with the strip, but also because he and Moores both lived in Western North Carolina and could easily communicate with each other. In addition to his lifelong love for Gasoline Alley and its characters. Scan- carelli’s other interests support and strengthen his feeling for the strip and its continuity. A collector of old radio shows and radio premiums, he is a devoted student of series shows such as Lain n’ Abner. Amos 'n' Andy, hirenzo Jones. Vic 'ii' Satie and One Man’s (Con tinned on page 62) THE STATE. MA* 1987