ABSTRACT
The conventional narrative for the history of autobiographical comics begins with the publication of Justin Green's Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary in 1972. Citing Gardner and Thierry Groensteen, El Rafaie explains that "1972 is the most plausible birthdate of the genre," with key works by R. Crumb appearing alongside Green's comic. This chapter examines what a history of autobiographical comics looks like if we push that tradition back before 1972, specifically looking at two ongoing series from the 1940s: Sheldon Mayer's Scribbly and the Quality Comics series Inkie, created by Al Stahl. Scribbly can be found in All-American Comics 1–59, from 1939 to 1944, along with appearances in other anthology comics. One of the remarkable aspects of Scribbly is that Mayer envisions a world in which autobiographical comics seem predominant. Inkie, created by cartoonist Al Stahl, was a recurring feature in Quality's Crack Comics series, appearing in issues 28–60, from 1943 to 1949.
