Peter Wheat
| The Adventures of Peter Wheat | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Walt Kelly |
| Current status / schedule | Concluded |
| Launch date | 1 April 1948 |
| End date | 1956 |
| Publisher(s) | Dell Publishing, Western Publishing, Bakers Associates, Inc, Hermes Press |
| Genre(s) | Humor, Promotional |
The Adventures of Peter Wheat is the title and central character of an American comic book series, created by cartoonist Walt Kelly (1913–1973) and distributed by the Dell Publishing as part of a marketing campaign.[1] It was created for the Peter Wheat Bread and Bakers Associates, and it was published between 1948 and 1956. All of the stories were fairy tales starring Peter Wheat, an elf-sized boy who lived in a hollow tree on the edge of a wheat field where he and his animal friends go on adventures and try to save the wheat field from Dragonel and Hornet Knights.
Unlike other advertising comic books of the time, as Captain Tootsie, Peter Wheat did not directly advertise his product, but instead went on many his adventures with his animal friends. All direct ads were in the form of merchandising and secondary pamphlets.
History
The Adventures of Peter Wheat was created as a marketing tool to sell Peter Wheat Bread, a prepackaged bread that was sold in grocery stores and markets around the United States in the 1940s and 50s.[2] It was created by Pogo creator Walt Kelly, and each story was a sixteen-page episode with an ad for the bread at the end.[2]
The comic ran for 66 issues, although Kelly only worked on the first 35 issues.[2] Later issues were sporadically released and featured stories by Del Connell with art by Al Hubbard.[3]
Peter Wheat News
The Peter Wheat News was a four-page advertising flyer that could be folded into a mini-Peter Wheat comic.[2] They normally ran in a three-story arc alongside the comic books, and it ran alongside the main comic continuity.[4]
Main characters
- Peter Wheat: The main character of the series, Peter is a tiny boy who has a series of animal friends. They go on adventures and live near a wheat field. Peter is brave and tries to never let his friends down, and as such gets into a lot of mischief.
- Dragonel, Queen of the Hornets: Dragonel is a hornet who, at the start of the series, is the enemy of Peter Wheat and his animal friends. She and the Hornet Knights are trying to destroy the wheat field that Peter Wheat and his friends live next to. Over the course of the series, however, she goes from primary antagonist to "not exactly friends", to being friends by the end of the series.[4]
- The Wizard: The Wizard is the father of Dragonel, and is another antagonist in the series. Even when Peter saves Dragonel's life, The Wizard refuses to have any mercy on the young hero. Unlike Dragonel, he does not change in his ways during the course of the series.
Distribution and publication
Peter Wheat was distributed for free in bakeries around the United States, including Krug, Sterling, Rice's, Donaldson, Friedrichs', Mrs. Conklings, and others.[2] The original material is difficult to find due to the limited distribution, and there are also many bits of merchandising that were created using the character of Peter Wheat, such as toy trucks.[2]
Currently Peter Wheat is unavailable in its entire form, as it was only published as the free giveaways to grocery stores.
In 2016 the publishing company Hermes Press announced that they would be collecting and reprinting the series with help from comics historian Thomas Andrae.[5]
References
- ↑ "GCD :: Series :: The Adventures of Peter Wheat". www.comics.org. CGD. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Buchanan, Thomas Haller (21 May 2010). "Whirled of Kelly: Peter Wheat's Publishing History". Whirled of Kelly. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ↑ Ghez, Didier. Walt’s People –: Talking Disney with the Artists who Knew Him. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781477147900.
- 1 2 Buchanan, Thomas Haller (24 May 2010). "Whirled of Kelly: Walt Kelly's Adventures of Peter Wheat". Whirled of Kelly.
- ↑ "Announcement: Thomas Andrae Joins Hermes Press as Special Projects Editor: his first book to be an archival reprint of Walt Kelly's Peter Wheat". Hermes Press. Retrieved 6 January 2016.