It's a Big Week for Pioneering 'Wee Pals' Cartoonist Morrie Turner

By: Dave Astor For renowned "Wee Pals" creator Morrie Turner, the week of Feb. 10-16 is a memorable one.

The Berkeley, Calif.-based cartoonist will be the featured guest Saturday at Pittsburgh's ToonSeum, where he'll speak and draw. Since last month, the museum has been exhibiting Turner's work.

"I'm pretty excited about it," Turner said of the exhibit and the appearance.

Also, tomorrow is the 43rd anniversary of "Wee Pals" -- considered the first comic strip with a truly integrated cast.

And this past Sunday, more than 10 cartoonists of colors participated in a comics-page action to draw attention to the way many newspapers run only one or two so-called "black strips."

Did Turner, 84, want to take part in that action? "Oh yes," he replied, when phoned today by E&P. "But I'm on a 13-week deadline." Meaning Turner handed in his Sunday, Feb. 10, "Wee Pals" comic before he learned about the action.

"Compared to what it was, comics pages have gotten a lot more diverse," said Turner, who was virtually the only cartoonist of color in syndication when "Wee Pals" began in 1965. But Turner, whose pioneering strip is now distributed by Creators Syndicate, said some of today's newspapers "seem to feel two is the limit" when it comes to running comics by African-American cartoonists. The problem, he said, is that some editors categorize these comics as interchangeable "black strips" rather than as family strips, children's strips, friends strips, or political strips.

Turner hopes the Feb. 10 action brings more diversity to comics pages, but is not sure if the event will have a lot of impact. "The whole business has changed," he said, noting that there are fewer newspapers and smaller comics sections.

Back in 1965, newspapers were even more reluctant to integrate comics pages. "Wee Pals" -- which had started in the Chicago Daily Defender two years before under a different name -- only found about a half-dozen newspaper clients when it was introduced by the old Lew Little Syndicate.

It wasn't until 1968 that the "Wee Pals" list suddenly skyrocketed into more than 100 newspapers. That was right after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and a number of papers -- whether because of guilt or other reasons -- decided to finally bring more diversity to their comics sections. "You can imagine how I felt about benefiting from the death of a hero," said Turner, recalling his very mixed feelings at the time.

The Oakland, Calif.-born Turner got the idea for "Wee Pals" after hearing a San Francisco talk by "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz.

"I've always been a big fan of his," said Turner, who decided to create a comic starring children that would be sort of an integrated version of "Peanuts." Turner's "Wee Pals" cast -- which has expanded over the years -- includes kids of various races, ethnicities, and situations who all get along. "Rainbow Power" is the term Turner coined to describe that kind of harmony.

"I don't care what Jesse Jackson says, but I thought that up," Turner said with a laugh.

Before creating "Wee Pals," the World War II veteran worked as a clerk for 15 years in the Oakland Police Department, did art for that department, did freelance magazine cartoons, did freelance editorial cartoons (often on civil-rights issues), and more.

During his career, Turner has also authored about 20 comic collections, children's books, and theme books.

In addition, Turner has received numerous honors -- including the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 2003 and the Sparky Award ("Sparky" was Charles M. Schulz's nickname) from the Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco in 2000.

Speaking of Schulz, Turner unfortunately had a fire in his home a couple of years ago, and a Snoopy statue survived the blaze but turned black. The "Wee Pals" creator called Jeannie Schulz, the "Peanuts" creator's widow, to quip: "Snoopy's now a brother."

Caniff -- who did "Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon" -- was another cartoonist Turner knew, liked, and admired.

Turner also has memories of "Gordo" cartoonist Gus Arriola, who died earlier this month. When he began drawing "Wee Pals," Turner put in a lot of background art "to prove to the world that I could draw." Arriola suggested that much of that art be eliminated to give the comic a cleaner look and make it easier for readers to follow the main action. "I really appreciated that advice," said Turner.

And Turner's fans will show their appreciation for him this Saturday at the ToonSeum, which is housed in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.