KATY KEENE AND BILL WOGGON, STRAIGHT UP (continued)

MF: What was Woggon’s work schedule like?
BILL WOGGON, JR.: Some [write the script and draw the comic book] all themselves. Dad was someone who was equally talented [in both drawing and writing]. He would work 6 months in advance of when the comic book came out.

MF: How did the business of comic books evolve during Katy Keene’s run?
BILL WOGGON, JR.: Dad tried to get [Katy Keene] into a syndicated newspaper. It was published in comic books. Archie still has the copyright. There has been some resurgence, re-interest in Katy Keene. It was re-published by John Lucas, but it never really took off again. Once TV captured the youth. It used to be when you went into a grocery store, you’d see a section of the store, with 20 to 30 feet of comic books.
Now, there’s no comic books. In the late 1950s, when TV was really able to capture the youth. Besides the funny pages, comic books themselves sort of disappeared from 1962 to 1965. [In 1965] they just wrote to my dad saying we’re not going to publish the comic book anymore.[He drew it] for 20 years. There was a monthly comic book, a semi-annual and an annual, which he timed to come out in the vacation seasons: Christmas and spring break.

MF: What did Bill Woggon’s studio, on the Woggon Wheels Ranch, look like?
BILL WOGGON, JR.: The studio was not attached to the house. It was a converted stable that he remodeled into his art studio. He would go in there from 8 to 5, just like a normal job.
SUSIE BOTHKE: In Ohio, we had a two-story house, and his studio was a bedroom upstairs. ..In California, he bought some property in the foothills, and he used a small stable for his studio. He built another stable and we had horses for pleasure. The studio was not very big at all. [It was just big enough for] Dada and the two gals that worked for him that would help do the artwork. It was yards from the house. We had both parents at home.
[The studio] was not real advanced by modern standards. There was a drawing board for each one, and filing cabinets. He kept clippings for ideas for everyone or copy. There was something to hold pens or pencils in. All that [necessary cartoonist] stuff: rubber cement and erasers. There were braided throw rugs on the floor. Not a real furry place. It was a working place. Fans ocassionally came to see the studio.

MF: What was it like having a cartoonist for a father?
BILL WOGGON, JR.: It doesn’t really settle in to you. Maybe when there was a re-interest in the 70s, I had the realization of what my dad did, that’s when it really settled in. I remember telling a story during show and tell in second grade, after I was asked what my dad did for a living, and I remember saying, “My dad just sits at home and draws.” As a teen-ager, it was embarassing. It’s not like he had paparazzi coming around. I didn’t realize the interest and impact unlit later, after the comic had ended. I did work for him for awhile.

MF: Did the family help out with Katy Keene?
SUSIE BOTHKE: We did, as a family participate in the fact that we opened up the mail. We opened up every single letter that came in.
BILL WOGGON, JR.:There was even a division of the post office just for dad’s mail. During the 1940s and 1950s, he got an average of 1000 to 3000 letters per week and all of them would have a drawing [and we helped open the letters.] [Kids could write in with money to buy] this pin-up kind of thing and paper dolls. We stuffed those and mailed them. It was a family kind of thing.

MF: Did Bill Woggon pass on his interest in art to you?
SUSIE BOTHKE: I took art in high school and was thinking of going to the Art Institute, but I decided to follow what’s important to me. I went to bible school and my dad thought that was great, too. I went on to take some things at SUSIE BOTHKECC- [My brother Bill,] he’s artistic. and his abilities come out in his [woodworking] finish work. I say to my son’s little boy, “Perhaps you have Papa’s ability, his gift.” My dad’s family, his siblings [all had it]. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother Elmer at the Toledo Blade. His brother, Glen, got involved ister enjoyed drawing for her personal pleasure, and branched out.

BILL WOGGON, JR.: I had the art talent, it was always my easy A. I pursued art as a major in college. I majored in art. I could see that unless I got into something that took off [that it would be a difficult career.] I’m just excited that Jerico is following his dream. I encourage it 100%.
JERICO WOGGON: I remember going over to my grandfather’s house and his always asking, “How’s the art? How’s the art?” So, the question would be out there and I’d have to tell him.
It was exciting to go over there and see what he was working on. There were comics books everywhere. It was always fun. Grandpa’s buddies were all cartoonists, and their work was on his studio walls. It was always kind of fun to go over and see his drawing board and studio. I remember seeing a hand-inked drawing of the Peanuts Gang by Charles Shultz and a drawing of Mary Worth by Allen Saunders.

MF: What did Bill Woggon do after the Katy Keene comic ended in 1961?
JERICO WOGGON: As I remember, he worked for Sambo’s Restaurant and created their logo of an Indian kid and the tiger, which were also coloring books. I remember his freelance efforts in Santa Barbara, as well as working on Katy Keene paper doll books with John Lucas and Barbara Rausch.
He was also an avid golfer. Even when he stopped playing all the holes, he’d walk the course and stroll the park. I remember going to the golf course and hitting the ball around. It kept him going.

MF: What was Bill Woggon like?
SUSIE BOTHKE: I think he had an artist’s temperment: mellow and creative. [I am impressed] by how he affirmed each one of us. He treated us well, with discipline. In that era when men didn’t always relate to kids, he would talk to you like you’re a big person. He was a good dad and my brother worked for him a little bit. I didn’t get into that angle.
He was a comfortable person for everyone to be with. He was stable. [He liked] including us as a family. He would bring out the best thought about each person. He would taxi us to everything. One thing he would do, that I tried to do with my kids, he would read us a devotional every morning. He would share, but he wasn’t preachy. I’ve always thought that was a good idea.
He was a humble person. He had to have enough enthusiasm for what you do to sell it, make a breakthrough there. Not just anyone. He was a spiritual person to bring that community together.

MF: Where did your dad get his ideas?
SUSIE BOTHKE: From real life, sense of humor, situation comedy, movie stuff. I really don’t know how he kept that going. I remember the strip he did about people and their dogs. All these people on the street looking like their animals. I don’t know where it all came from. It came out of him. That is a talent. He and his assistants [including Cathy Gill] fine-tuned it together. He did the storyline and layout. They helped him get it more developed. His part of selling the product, doing the layout, it all blened together. He relied on them. He wasn’t threatened.

MF: Can you remember any storylines that were directly taken from actual life?
SUSIE BOTHKE: [I remember one example. Our family] made a trip to Canada. We went to Buffalo Springs and Lake Louise. We had our photos taken with the the mounties. He drew the whole thing up. Definitely the trip to Canada. When I was getting married, Katy got married. Leading up to my wedding, Katy Keene had a lot of beautiful wedding gowns in it.There were a few things that would end up in there. But not like Hank Ketchum’s comic where his kids provided one-liners. [Author’s Note: I ordered Katy Keene, Vol. 1, No. 27, March, 1959, online without knowing what storyline it contained. When I read it, I was amazed to see that this particular issue features a Canadian story line, including a an outing to feed birds during the winter with French-Canadian hunk and guide, Pierre. Could this be the Woggon family adventure to Canada, transferred to ink, that Susie Bothke is talking about?]