An Altar Boy Named Speck

An Altar Boy Named Speck, also known as Speck the Altar Boy, is an American gag cartoon comic strip series created by Tut LeBlanc.[1] The strip first appeared March 1, 1951 in Catholic Action of the South, which was the official paper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.[2] Margaret Ahern continued the Speck comic upon LeBlanc's 1953 death, drawing it until 1979.

Author(s)W. R. "Tut" LeBlanc
Margaret Ahern
Current status/scheduleConcluded gag cartoon
Launch dateMarch 1, 1951
End date1979
Alternate name(s)Speck the Altar Boy
Syndicate(s)National Catholic News Service
Genre(s)Humor, Religion

The comic is about a mischievous but lovable altar boy who keeps getting into various kinds of trouble.

Tut LeBlanc

Wilmer Ralph "Tut" LeBlanc[3] (born in Perry, Louisiana, 1915; died 1953) was a self-taught artist.[1] In 1943, he married Mildred Marie Simon.[4] He drew the Speck material while living in Abbeville, Louisiana, where he had spent most of his life. He died in 1953 from heart problems that he had had since childhood.[5]

Collections

The Speck cartoons have been collected in various reprint volumes.

  • LeBlanc cartoons
    • An Altar Boy Named “Speck” (Lafayette, LA: Tribune Printing Plant, 1952)[6] - reprinted by Our Sunday Visitor.
    • Speck: More Cartoons (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1952)[7]
  • Ahern cartoons
    • Speck the Altar Boy (Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1958)[6]
    • Presenting Speck the Altar Boy (Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1960)[6]
    • Speck: The Altar Boy (New York: All Saints Press, 1963)[6] - reprints all of the first and part of the second Hanover House volumes.
    • A Speck of Trouble: New Escapades of the Inimitable and Irresistible Speck, the Altar Boy (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964)[6]

References

Notes
  1. "Speck the Altar Boy, by Margaret Ahern," ComicStripFan.com. Accessed Dec. 31, 2018.
  2. "Catholic Paper Cartoon Breaking Into Book World". The Prospector. April 11, 1952. p. 2. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  3. Catalog of Copyright Entries (1952 ed.). Library of Congress. p. 139. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  4. "Obituaries" (PDF). The Examiner. February 26, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  5. Dalhouse, Neil (December 2007). "Speck The Altar Boy". The Good & True (50). St. George's College Old Boys Association. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  6. Bates, John C. (Fall 2018). "Portraits of Catholics with Western Pennsylvania Connections: The Famous, the Forgotten, and the Unknown". Gathered Fragments: 82.
  7. Amazon listing

Sources
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