Mopsy
Mopsy was a comic strip created in 1937 by Gladys Parker, who was one of the few female cartoonists of the era. The strip had a long run over three decades. Parker modeled the character of Mopsy after herself.
Mopsy
Gladys Parker · Public domain
- Creator
- Gladys Parker
- Date
- 1939
- Publisher
- St. John Publications
- Language
- English
- Genre
- humorous comics
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Mopsy was a comic strip created in 1937 by Gladys Parker, who was one of the few female cartoonists of the era. The strip had a long run over three decades. Parker modeled the character of Mopsy after herself.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
The genre of Mopsy is humorous comics. The recorded language is English. Formation dates to 1939.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 02 October 2026
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q6908816
In this article
The object
The object
In 1946, she recalled, "I got the idea for Mopsy when the cartoonist Rube Goldberg said my hair looked like a mop. That was several years ago, and she has been my main interest ever since." The strip ended on August 13, 1966.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Mopsy • Author — Gladys Parker • First — 1937 • Last — August 13, 1966 • Syndicate — Associated Newspapers • Publisher — St. John Publications Charlton Comics Berkley Books • Genre — Humor
Characters and story
Characters and story
Mopsy is an independent and witty, if ditzy, woman. She enjoys activities such as golf, fishing, and painting. Parker was a fashion illustrator and designer, and Mopsy always sported a stylish look. With the Sunday strip, added in 1945, Parker was able to expand her fashion concepts into a sidebar series of paper dolls, titled "Mopsy Modes." "Mopsy Modes" did not always feature Mopsy herself; sometimes the doll was blonde or red-haired, and rarely, a young girl or a man. During World War II, Mopsy held such wartime jobs as a nurse and a munitions-plant worker, and the feature grew in popularity. After World War II ended, Mopsy was fired from her defense job in 1947 and went back to civilian life. By the end of the 1940s, Mopsy was being published in 300 newspapers. The strip has no continuity, and the only steady character is Mopsy. It has been drawn in single- and multi-paneled formats.
Reprints
Reprints
Charlton Comics reprinted many Mopsy comic books in the publication TV Teens during the 1950s. Berkley Books published a Mopsy paperback collection in 1955.
TV Teens
TV Teens
• Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 7 (1955) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 8 (1955) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 9 (1955) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 10 (1955) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 12 (1956) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 12 (1956) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 12 (1956)
Mopsy Modes
Mopsy Modes
• Illustration — Mopsy, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1948) • Illustration — Mopsy, Vol 1, No. 18 (1953) • Illustration — TV Teens, Vol. 2, No. 9 (1955)
Identification
Identification
The canonical record carries the following identifying particulars. It is also recorded that mopsy is recorded from 1939. Institutional cataloguing adds that mopsy is associated with United States.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Mopsy is associated with United States.
Country
Comic books
In 1947, Mopsy began being published in St. John Publications' Pageant of Comics #1. The following year, St. John gave her a title of her own, and Mopsy ran for 19 issues (February 1948 to September 1953). Parker created original content for these comic books, including original stories and full-page paper dolls. Mopsy was successful, becoming one of St. John's longer-lasting titles. Mopsy was sometimes used as a back-up page in St. John's romance comics.
Where the work is held
Archives and holdings
Institutional holdings are recorded as follows.
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.Reynolds, Moira Davison. "Comic Strip Artists," Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers, 1945–1980 (McFarland, 2003), p. 114.
- 2.Holtz, Allan. American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. The University of Michigan Press. 277. 2012. 9780472117567.
- 3.CBS Interactive Inc. Mopsy. Comic Vine. 2016.
- 4."Meet the Artists". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 25, 1946.
- 5.Talbot, Ann Robbins. My Dolls. The Melrose Mirror. Silver Stringers. January 4, 2008.
- 6.Markstein, Donald D. Mopsy. Don Markstein's Toonopedia. toonopedia.com. 2007.
- 7.Quattro, Ken. Archer St. John & The Little Company That Could. Comicartville.com. 2006.
- 8.WordPress. Mopsy. Good Girl Comics. August 11, 2013.
- 9.Scrooge. Mopsy. Collectors Society. UBB.threads. July 31, 2006.
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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