How Broom Hilda celebrated the Bicentennial

I always loved the Broom Hilda comic strip. Oh, sure, like any daily strip it can be a bit repetitive, but Russell Myers has a great line and draws some of the best trees and landscapes (not to mention monsters) in the business.

I don't recall Broom Hilda getting all that topical very often, so I'm actually a bit surprised by this strip from Sunday, July 4, 1976. At first glance it just appears to be the cast wishing readers a happy Bicentennial (all while standing in front of a wind-flapped American flag), but there's some cynicism in the few words that we have: "Folks, until a better place comes along, let's be very kind to our wonderful United States of America!"

I think ties in pretty well to the times. The more I read about 1976, the more I realize it wasn't the happiest year. Bicentennial celebrations sometimes tried to brush that under the rug or wrap it in the flag, but others acknowledged it. Some took a totally cynical turn, while others pointed it out and said "let's try to move on." This seems to be a classic example of the last of those three models.


Some interesting context: The Broom Hilda strip was only a few years old by this point, but it must have taken off incredibly quickly. The year 1976 saw no less than four Broom Hilda books published. Three more followed in 1977. That's pretty incredible. I remember having a few of the Scholastic volumes when I was a kid, but I don't recall them carrying the Sunday strips, so I wonder if this Bicentennial strip was ever reprinted in 76, 77, or later.


Interestingly, there does not to be any current Broom Hilda reprint program. That's a shame. In preparation for writing this Bicentennial Comics entry, I took some time to revisit Broom Hilda strips both new and old. They can be a lot of fun. I think a "best of" book would be quite welcome on my shelves. Hint, hint.

UPDATE:

Here's another scan of this strip from a different newspaper. Note how the first paper chopped up the panels and ran them in a way that totally messed with the way the flag flows (quite beautifully) through the four panels in the version below. This kind of thing must really drive strip cartoonists crazy.