Comic strip switcheroo

The comic strip switcheroo (also known as the Great Comics Switcheroonie or the Great April Fools' Day Comics Switcheroonie) was conducted on April 1, 1997, in which several cartoonists, without the foreknowledge of their editors, worked on the other's comic strip for that date, in commemoration of April Fools' Day.

Overview

Forty-six syndicated artists participated in the event, which was conceived by Baby Blues creators Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott. Some of these trades were one for the other, while others did multiple-way swaps. Additionally, Drabble creator Kevin Fagan drew the strip with his non-dominant hand, while Greg Howard and Craig MacIntosh assumed each other's respective roles for the date's Sally Forth strip. Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) and Patrick McDonnell (Mutts) were slated to do each other's strips, but ultimately did not participate because the former doubted the idea's viability. Each artist was permitted to take liberties with the strip they were handling.

The one-day experiment proved to be a success, garnering some publicity and being a harmless yet amusing prank played on the newspapers, the readers, and the comic syndicates.

While characters making guest appearances in comics is not uncommon, this event was the most ambitious in scale. Similarly, the phenomenon persists in webcomics, where Internet cartoonists occasionally do the other's series. Guest character tributes have also appeared since 1997, notably on May 27, 2000 and on October 30, 2005, both tributes to Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts.

Similar events

The Arlo and Janis strip for April 1, 1998, references the event; the first two panels are blank, with the last two panels comprising Janis telling Arlo that no such similar event would take place in 1998 and Arlo informing her that Dagwood Bumstead "misunderstood entirely".

The FoxTrot strip for April 1, 2001, also references the event; in that strip, Paige Fox reminisces about the switcheroo, as characters from other strips make appearances in FoxTrot's style, briefly taking Jason's place; followed by members of the Fox family appearing in the styles of other strips. The strips thus referenced include Cathy, Hägar the Horrible, The Boondocks, Doonesbury, Baby Blues, and Calvin and Hobbes.

On April 1, 2005, Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Bill Amend (FoxTrot), and Darby Conley (Get Fuzzy) each drew similar strips revolving around Ouija boards; the three strips have largely similar dialogue and punchlines.

On April 1, 2016, at least fifty webcomics, including Cyanide & Happiness, The Awkward Yeti, and Poorly Drawn Lines, all ran similar dialogue; the comics revolved around a subject having a bucket of water dumped on them, criticizing the stunt as "unoriginal", and the originator of the prank reflecting that "perhaps... [they] were the fool".

On April 1, 2021, Olivia Jaimes of Nancy and Steenz of Heart of the City worked on the other's strip for that date.

Strips and creators involved

The comics of April 1, 1997, were swapped as follows:

13-way swap

• Baby Blues was drawn by Stephen Bentley (Herb and Jamaal): The characters have the same skin color as Herb and Jamaal's stars.
• Herb and Jamaal was drawn by Russel Myers (Broom-Hilda).
• Broom-Hilda was drawn by Bud Grace (Ernie).
• Ernie was drawn by J. C. Duffy (The Fusco Brothers).
• The Fusco Brothers was drawn by Jerry Van Amerongen (Ballard Street).
• Ballard Street was drawn by Mell Lazarus (Momma).
• Momma was drawn by Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds (Tank McNamara): Marylou introduces Momma to Tank as her new boyfriend.
• Tank McNamara was drawn by Chip Sansom (The Born Loser).
• The Born Loser was drawn by Brian Crane (Pickles): Earl joins Thorney on a walk through a neighborhood.
• Pickles was drawn by Michael Jantze (The Norm): Earl is really Norm in a costume.
• The Norm was drawn by Bill Holbrook (On the Fastrack): Wendy is at Norm's workplace.
• On the Fastrack was drawn by Jim Toomey (Sherman's Lagoon): Just when you think Sherman makes a cameo, it's Wendy's hair.
• Sherman's Lagoon was drawn by Kirkman and Scott (Baby Blues): Fish versions of the MacPhersons visit Sherman & Megan.

11-way swap

• 9 Chickweed Lane was drawn by Chris Browne (Hägar the Horrible): Lucky Eddie was one of Amos' Ancestors.
• Hägar the Horrible was drawn by Wiley Miller (Non Sequitur): Hägar is visited by a systems analyst.
• Non Sequitur was drawn by Robb Armstrong (Jump Start).
• Jump Start was drawn by Walker and Browne (Hi and Lois): Joe and Marcy see themselves like Hi and Lois.
• Hi and Lois was drawn by Greg Evans (Luann): Luann is Trixie's babysitter.
• Luann was drawn by Dan Piraro (Bizarro): Luann sees a cartoon chihuahua named Squeeky in her mirror. The shock slowly turns her into a bug.
• Bizarro was drawn by Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead): One of the women shown is played by Zippy.
• Zippy the Pinhead was drawn by Bill Amend (FoxTrot): Zippy and Griffy have Jason and Peter's respective faces and are accompanied by Quincy the Iguana.
• FoxTrot was drawn by Brad and Guy Gilchrist (Nancy): Jason (as Luke Skywalker) is fighting Darth Vader who reveals himself to be Nancy.
• Nancy was drawn by Pat Brady (Rose Is Rose): The animals Nancy performs for make the same happy expressions as Rose is Rose's characters.
• Rose Is Rose was drawn by Brooke McEldowney (9 Chickweed Lane).

9-way swap

• Beattie Blvd. was drawn by Ted Martin (Pavlov).
• Pavlov was drawn by Vic Lee (I Need Help).
• I Need Help was drawn by Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate).
• Big Nate was drawn by Scott Stantis (The Buckets).
• The Buckets was drawn by Jan Eliot (Stone Soup).
• Stone Soup was drawn by Glenn McCoy (The Duplex): Val and Joan discuss their comic being drawn by a man instead of the usual woman.
• The Duplex was drawn by Delainey and Rasmussen (Betty).
• Betty was drawn by Dave Whamond (Reality Check).
• Reality Check was drawn by Bruce Beattie (Beattie Blvd).

2-way swaps

• Barney Google and Snuffy Smith was drawn by Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace): Dennis helps Jughaid with a "kick me" sign. Plus, Elviney and Lowezey resemble Alice and Mrs. Wilson.
  • Dennis the Menace was drawn by Fred Lasswell (Barney Google and Snuffy Smith): Dennis' characters dress like Snuffy Smith's for a group photo.
• Beetle Bailey was drawn by Jeff MacNelly (Shoe): Skyler got stuck at Camp Swampy.
  • Shoe was drawn by Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey): Shoe beats up Cosmo like Sgt. Snorkel would Beetle.
• Blondie was drawn by Jim Davis (Garfield): Garfield steals one of Dagwood Bumstead's famous sandwiches.
  • Garfield was drawn by Young and Drake (Blondie): Jon and Garfield stay with the Bumsteads while their paint dries.
• Dilbert was drawn by Bil Keane (Family Circus): Billy visits Dilbert's cubicle.
  • Family Circus was drawn by Scott Adams (Dilbert): Thel sports a PHB-esque hairdo and Dogbert is her consultant.
• For Better or For Worse was drawn by Mike Peters (Mother Goose and Grimm): John and Elly Patterson got 'stuck' with dialogue balloons of the characters of Mother Goose and Grimm.
  • Mother Goose and Grimm was drawn by Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse): Edgar sneaks away to hang with the Mother Goose & Grimm cast.
• One Big Happy was drawn by Dave Coverly (Speed Bump).
  • Speed Bump was drawn by Rick Detorie (One Big Happy): Ruthie and her family are in the background.

Other notes:

• Kevin Fagan drew his creation Drabble using his left hand instead of his right.
• The artist and writer behind Sally Forth switched roles for a day.

See also

• Détournement
• Swipe (comics)

External links

• "Comics". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 1, 1997. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
• Kulich, William (April 1, 2016). "The extremely original way webcomic artists are making fools of us all". Retrieved November 25, 2018.