View source for Rick O'Shay

{{short description|1958-1981 American comic strip}}
{{distinguish|text=the Irish radio personality [[Rick O'Shea]]}}
{{Infobox comic strip
| title     = Rick O'Shay
| image     = [[File:Rickoshaylynde.png|250px]]
| caption   = 
| creator   = [[Stan Lynde]]
| status    = Ended
| syndicate = [[Tribune Media Services|Chicago Tribune Syndicate]]

| genre     = Western
| first     = Sunday: April 27, 1958<br />daily: May 19, 1958
| last      = March 8, 1981
}}
[[File:Rickoshaybook.png|right|thumb|320px]]
'''''Rick O'Shay''''' is a [[Western (genre)|Western]] [[comic strip]] created by [[Stan Lynde]], which debuted as a [[Sunday strip]] on April 27, 1958. The [[daily comic strip]] began on May 19 of the same year.<ref name=toonopedia-ROS>[http://toonopedia.com/rikoshay.htm ''Rick O'Shay''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20240527133244/https://www.webcitation.org/6bus9vefW?url=http://toonopedia.com/rikoshay.htm |date=2024-05-27 }} from the original on September 29, 2015.</ref>   It was distributed worldwide through the [[Tribune Media Services|Chicago Tribune Syndicate]]. The final ''Rick O'Shay'' comic strips written and drawn by Lynde were the daily for 7 May 1977 and the Sunday for July 17, 1977. He left the syndicate after a disagreement.<ref>''Rick, Hipshot, and Me'', Stan Lynde, Cottenwood Graphics, 1990,{{ISBN|0-962699-90-X}}</ref><ref name=lambiek-lynde>{{Cite web|last=Lambiek Comiclopedia|title=Stan Lynde|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/l/lynde_stan.htm}}</ref> As the syndicate owned the rights to the strip, the popular ''Rick O'Shay'' comic strip was continued by others: Marian Dern (writer), [[Alfredo Alcala]] and Mel Keefer (artists). Publication ended on March 8, 1981.<ref name=Holtz>{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472117567 |page=331}}</ref>

==Characters and story==
The strip is set in the Western town of Conniption where Rick O'Shay is the [[Marshal#Federal marshals|marshal]]. His best friend is gunslinger Hipshot Percussion. Other key characters include gambler Deuces Wilde, dance hall owner Gaye Abandon, physician Dr. Basil Metabolism (and his nurse, Ophelia Pulse), gunsmith and Civil War veteran Cap'n Ball, banker Mort Gage, barber Dan Druff, cafe owner Hominy Grits, preacher Jubal Lee, and a boy named Quyat Burp. The neighboring Kyute Indian tribe includes Chief Horse's Neck, his ugly but sweet daughter Moonglow and her persistent suitor Crazy Quilt.

==Books==
Lynde and his wife formed [[Cottonwood Publishing]], which later acquired the rights to ''Rick O'Shay''.<ref name=toonopedia-ROS/> The company has published reprints, posters, collectibles and a new two-part comic book story, ''The Price of Fame'' (1992), featuring Rick and Hipshot. They reprinted all of the dailies from the beginning up through 1964, except for one week in December 1963.  They also published ''A Month of Sundays'' reprinting 60 Sunday strips from the 1970s, 32 of which are in color.  Further plans for reprints were put on hold after some of the original artwork was destroyed in a fire.

''[[The Menomonee Falls Gazette]]'' reprinted dailies from September 24, 1973 to March 13, 1976. ''[[Comics Revue]]'' magazine reprinted strips from the week missing in the Cotonwood books in issue #231, and is reprinting all of the dailies, starting where Cottonwood Publishing left off, in issues #227. They have published all of the Stan Lynde dailies, and are currently publishing the Sundays.<ref>Lynde, Stan, ''Rick O'Shay, Hipshot, and Me&ndash; A Memoir'', Cottonwood Graphics, 1990. {{ISBN|0-962699-90-X}}</ref>

==Style==
The backgrounds were realistically drawn; the characters were originally cartoonish, but became more realistic over the years. There are surreal themes mixed in (such as the pun-laden names). By the late 1960s, elements of adventure, philosophy, morality and tragedy&nbsp;— such as Hipshot teetering on the brink of death following a gunfight&nbsp;— were added to the storyline.

Hipshot is frequently referred to as an "outlaw", and in one strip he decided to regain his losses at poker by holding up the local bank. Sometimes in the Sunday strip he is shown alone, on horseback, in the Western background, speaking to his Maker, whom he addresses as "Boss". He does not attend church and prefers to recognize his God in a privately styled fashion.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Rickoshaysunday.png|thumb|right|400px|Stan Lynde's ''Rick O'Shay'' (April 27, 1958), first Sunday strip]] -->

==References==
{{no footnotes|section|date=November 2019}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stanlyndeauthor.com www.stanlyndeauthor.com]&nbsp;— Stan Lynde official 'blog
* [http://stanlynde.net stanlynde.net]&nbsp;— Stan Lynde site

{{Tribune Content Agency comics}}

[[Category:1958 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1981 comics endings]]
[[Category:American comic strips]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1958|O'Shay, Rick]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics|O'Shay, Rick]]
[[Category:Western (genre) comics]]
[[Category:Western (genre) comics characters]]
[[Category:Western (genre) gunfighters|O'Shay, Rick]]
[[Category:Western (genre) peace officers|O'Shay, Rick]]
[[Category:Comic strips formerly syndicated by Tribune Content Agency]]