J.P.

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Eyes: Black
Hair: White
Race: Human


Story: J.P. is the traveller who visits all the famous people through history.


Continuity: Hystoria
Publisher(s): Syndicated series
First app.: 1966
Creator(s): Tom Shephard
Country of origin: USA


Background notes: Hystoria with J.P. was created by Tom Shephard and Bob Cohn, who both worked in advertising. The series, which ran from 1966 to 1970, relied heavily on the reader's knowledge about history, literature, art and religion and was considered sophisticated humor for connoisseurs. The humor was low key and relied entirely on the reader's basic knowledge; e.g. a joke about Jonah cutting himself shaving because the whale has hiccups, is only funny if you know about Jonah and the whale from the Old Testament.

According to Ruthann Cohn, Bob Cohn clarified that "hystoria was derived from "hysterical history" and "JP" stood for "just people" based on the belief that all the famous people and other participants in history had the same self-doubts, problems and anxieties as the rest of us."

Hystoria with J.P. was published as a comic strip in newspapers, and except for a few reprints in comic books, the series was never seen in other medias.


Example (click to enlarge):