Curtis
Curtis is a nationally syndicated comic strip written and illustrated by Ray Billingsley, with a predominantly African American cast. The comic strip started up on October 3, 1988, and is syndicated by King Features. The comic strip portrays the daily life of a middle-class family living in a large American city, especially that of Curtis, the eponymous main character.
Curtis
- Creator
- Ray Billingsley.
- Date
- 1988.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Curtis is a nationally syndicated comic strip written and illustrated by Ray Billingsley, with a predominantly African American cast. The comic strip started up on October 3, 1988, and is syndicated by King Features. The comic strip portrays the daily life of a middle-class family living in a large American city, especially that of Curtis, the eponymous main character.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5195666
In this article
The object
The object
It frequently chronicles aspects of African American culture and history. Compared to Li'l Abner, which Billingsley cites as his favorite comic strip, in style.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Curtis • Creator — Ray Billingsley • Status — Running • Syndicate — King Features Syndicate • Genre — Humor • First — October 3, 1988 • Website — http: comicskingdom.com/curtis
Themes
Themes
A recurring theme is Curtis' efforts to convince his father to try give up smoking, a personal issue for Billingsley, who is a prominent advocate for public health and the dangers of smoking. For his efforts in educating young people about smoking, Billingsley has earned multiple awards from the American Lung Association. Though a fundamentally humorous comic, Curtis frequently addresses serious themes. Examples include bullying, drug addiction and gentrification. A storyline in 2020 involved the COVID-19 pandemic. During the holiday season, Billingsley sometimes deviates from his usual characters to present special two-to-three week stories celebrating the Festival of Kwanzaa. Once an annual tradition in the strip, these specials became irregular in the mid-2010s, with Ray Billingsley citing declining reader interest in them.
Course of the series
Dated record
Course of the series
The full dated record · 2 entries
1988
Curtis created.
1988
Curtis is recorded from 1988.
Literature
Literature
Literature
Curtis-Smith, Curtis O(tto) B(ismarck), Oxford Music Online, 2001
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Dean Mullaney, Bruce Canwell and Brian Walker, King of the Comics : One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate. San Diego : IDW Publishing, 2015. (p. 259)
- 2.Editor's Dispatch: A Conversation with Ray Billingsley, America's Leading Black Cartoonist. www.comicskingdom.com. 2016-07-18.
- 3.Dueben, Alex. INTERVIEW: Ray Bilingsley reveals the hard lessons Will Eisner and the comics industry taught him. The Beat. 2017-02-28.
- 4.Tobin, Suzanne. Comics: Meet the Artist - Ray Billingsley. The Washington Post. 2001-05-25.
- 5.Comic Strips & Panels King Features Syndicate. 2011-05-14.
- 6.Feller-Cohen, Julian. 'Curtis' and cartoonist Ray Billingsley confront bullying and other real-world problems. masslive. 2011-02-08.
- 7.Kramer, Staci D. Comic strip gets serious. The Chicago Tribune. 1993-03-29.
- 8.Edwards, Gavin. A Pandemic Gives the Funny Pages a Jolt of Reality. The New York Times. 2020-04-27. 0362-4331.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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