I first came across it roughly 10 years ago and could find very little about it, other than it ran exactly 5 years between January 12, 1958 and January 6, 1963 and was syndicated by the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, indicating it probably had a limited exposure as far as total newspapers were concerned. Additionally, I could not turn up much about the creator, Arthur Radebaugh, other than he was a painter and industrial designer in the automotive industry.
So I began to scan the strips as I came across them, saving them to a folder for future use perhaps in a blog post. I was incredibly impressed at Mr. Radebaugh's visionary powers, gorgeous artwork, and struck by how many of his future predictions have actually come to pass. Then two years ago I came across a website where information was requested on Mr. Radebaugh and this strip for a documentary being planned. The filmmaker was equally puzzled by how little could be uncovered on both the man and the feature. Again, I sort of put the feature aside as many different projects came my way and different avenues of research required my time and efforts.
Well, today my pal Art Lortie posted to my NY Sunday News Facebook group that he discovered the documentary was finished and ready to be unveiled!
Closer Than We Think from Clindar on Vimeo.
Closer Than We Think - Predicting the Future from Clindar on Vimeo.
The history of both the creator and the strip will be covered extensively in the film so I will bypass any meager history I have (which is minimal) and present what I've discovered of the actual strips so far. Commentary on individual strips can be made by readers in the comments section to this post.
I present below 105 of the total 261 CLOSER THAN WE THINK! Sunday pages by Arthur Radebaugh between 1958 and 1963, roughly 40% of the entire series. Unfortunately, between December 9, 1962 and March 31, 1963, the New York newspapers were in the midst of a terrible newspaper strike so the final 5 Sunday strips did not get printed in the NY Sunday News comics as the paper was not publishing. A source for these missing strips would be The Chicago Tribune. Additionally, I've come across 5 instances where the paper just dropped the strip that particular week, for reason having to do with ad placements.
All strips below were scanned by myself from the original newspapers, the NY Sunday News comics sections. (One was sourced from elsewhere and identified as such). I will keep this page open for continued updates as I can add to the collection.
*** [I covered the 1962-63 newspaper strike and the return to the Sunday comics HERE]
*** [Brought to my attention by my pal Robert Beerbohm, he duly noted that a possible inspiration for Radebaugh could have been Hugo Gernsback, who was publishing similar concepts on the covers (and interiors) of his seminal Science and Invention magazine in the latter 1920's]
Before we start, here is a full page ad for the strip that was published in a 4-page, slick paper house ad insert into the centerfold of the May 5, 1961 New York Daily News.....
CLOSER THAN WE THINK!
By: Arthur Radebaugh
(January 12, 1958 - January 6, 1963)
February 23, 1958:
March 16, 1958:
March 23, 1958:
March 20, 1958:
April 6, 1958:
July 6, 1958:
July 13, 1958:
July 27, 1958:
September 21, 1958:
October 12, 1958:
October 19, 1958:
November 23, 1958:
December 28, 1958:
February 8, 1959:
March 8, 1959:
March 15, 1959:
March 22, 1959:
April 5, 1959:
April 12, 1959:
April 26, 1959:
May 17, 1959:
May 24, 1959:
May 31, 1959:
June 28, 1959:
July 5, 1959:
July 12, 1959:
July 19, 1959:
August 2, 1959:
August 16, 1959:
August 23, 1959:
August 30, 1959:
September 6, 1959:
September 13, 1959:
September 20, 1959:
September 27, 1959:
October 4, 1959:
October 11, 1959:
October 18, 1959:
November 1, 1959:
November 8, 1959:
November 15, 1959:
November 22, 1959:
December 6, 1959:
December 13, 1959:
December 20, 1959:
December 27, 1959: (Philadelphia Enquirer)
January 3, 1960:
January 10, 1960:
January 17, 1960:
February 14, 1960:
February 21, 1960:
July 24, 1960:
September 25, 1960:
October 2, 1960:
October 9, 1960:
November 13, 1960:
January 1, 1961:
January 15, 1961:
January 22, 1961:
January 29, 1961:
February 12, 1961:
February 19, 1961:
February 26, 1961:
March 5, 1961:
March 12, 1961:
March 19, 1961:
March 26, 1961:
April 2, 1961:
April 9, 1961:
April 16, 1961:
April 23, 1961:
April 30, 1961:
May 7, 1961:
May 14, 1961:
May 7, 1961:
May 14, 1961:
May 21, 1961
June 4, 1961:
June 18, 1961:
June, 25, 1961:
July 2, 1961:
August 20, 1961:
September 3, 1961:
September 17, 1961:
September 24, 1961:
October 8, 1961:
October 15, 1961:
October 15, 1961:
October 22, 1961:
October 29, 1961:
November 5, 1961:
November 26, 1961:
December 3, 1961:
December 10, 1961:
December 17, 1961:
December 31, 1961:
January 7, 1962:
January 14, 1962:
January 21, 1962:
January 28, 1962:
February 25, 1962:
April 22, 1962:
April 29, 1962:
June 24, 1962:
August 26, 1962:
September 9, 1962:
September 16, 1962:
September 23, 1962:
SOURCES:
104 scans above were scanned at 300 dpi by myself from the actual New York Sunday News comics sections. One scan was taken from The Philadelphia Enquirer, and the format is stretched out a bit with the text placed on the left side to accommodate the "full" size of the Philadelphia Enquirer versus the tabloid size of the Sunday News.
Great work collecting these! I'm also a fan of Radebaugh and his work--not only his comic strips, but also his other advertising and airbrush work, which also sought to illustrate his unique vision of the future.
ReplyDeleteI am very happy to see these. Thank you for a wonderful, as usual, collection.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Great stuff! I want that Atomic Car. Hey if Tom Swift Jr can get one, I can.
ReplyDeleteI grew up with CTWT in the Bronx, reading the Sunday News. We would go out on Saturday night when the Sunday papers would arrive at the corner store around 7 or 8 pm and I sooooo... looked forward to ripping open the comics to find that week's panel!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your efforts! I have been a big fan of 'Closer Than You Think' for a long time. This is a treasure chest for me!
ReplyDelete... here is my collection of Raedbaugh - which you are welcome to share
ReplyDeletehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/albums/72157622518584561
There's one specific panel I remember vividly, although I don't recall the title or the tech innovation it portrayed. It showed a woman holding an exotic, alien looking creature on a leash in a city setting. I think it involved transport or cars.
ReplyDeleteI've been unable to find this panel in any Radebaugh collection i've searched. Does anyone remember or know of it?
Thank you very much for inspiring the world.
ReplyDelete