ID,
WIZARD OF
Does it get any better than “Frammin’ at the jim-jam!” or “Frippin’ in the krotz!”? No; no, it does not. These are just a couple of the Beat-inspired incantations1 belted out by the Wizard of Id, the eponymous enchanter of Johnny Hart and Brant Parker’s insidiously successful comic strip of the same name. Alcoholism, domestic violence, capital punishment, unfair taxation, war against the Hun—this strip has got it all, and how it’s escaped the hip attentions of so-called scholars of so-called absurdist comics is beyond understanding. (Who died and made Bil Keane king anyway? Fuck Billy and Dolly, comin’ straight from the underground.) Even when the Wiz is getting a rolling-pin beatdown from his meat-fisted wife Blanch,2 he’s making a statement, a very serious statement, a statement that you—yes, you—need to listen to. And the same goes for the rest of WoI‘s rogue’s-gallery cast: the King, Sir Rodney (described in promo materials as “a knight in shining humor,” ho, ho, ho), the ether-huffing jester Bung, and that hairy thing in the dungeon who’s always eating swill and trying to escape, what’s his name again?
Fortunately, we all have many long years ahead of us to appreciate Hart and Parker’s handiwork. Only a global mass-extinction event could do in the likes of WoI, as demonstrated by the persistence of such other archaic strips as Barney Google3 and Prince Valiant.4 Besides, Hart has the power of God behind him: Ever since he had cable installed at his remote upstate New York home by an evangelical father-son team of satellite-dish installers,5 he’s been slyly—and not so slyly, as when his strips have been banned or shunted to the Religion section—insinuating “Christian” messages into his strips.6
1. Oddly, “frammin'” is also part of NASCAR parlance, with the rough-riding “frammin’ and bammin'” being a favorite turn of phrase of the late Dale “The Intimidator” Earnhardt (may he fram in peace).
2. Usu. as the result of some insulting remark that he’s made. (Hart’s other strip, B.C., includes the characters Cute Chick and Fat Broad, so you know that this is a guy who never has to put down the bottle.) For example: In a recent strip, Blanch gets out of the shower and begins complaining about how small her breasts are. The Wizard tells her to rub a small piece of toilet paper between them a couple times a day, claiming that this will make them grow. She’s puzzled by this solution and inquires as to its efficacy. He replies, “Just trust me. It worked on your ass, didn’t it?” (OK, so this wasn’t an actual strip, but you get the idea.)
3. This particular strip has been credited with enriching the American vernacular with phrases such as “sweet mama,” “horsefeathers,” “heebie-jeebies,” and “hotsie-totsie.”
4. It should be noted that both of these strips have been perpetuated by assistants. Only truly great strips—your Peanuts, your Pogos, your Far Sides—end with any dramatic finality.
5. Yes, this story is true. Apparently, the installers were using Bible-thumping programming as a test signal to fine-tune the setup. Cable TV corrupts; satellite TV corrupts absolutely.
6. J.H., from The Plain Truth, July-Aug. 1997: “I think the current balance is effective—using good secular humor. That keeps people reading it—the audience I need to reach with the Christian stuff.”
Paul Hughes, Contrib.
