"Now which one of you killed Bil Keane?" "Ida Know." "Not Me!"

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

RIP

https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/09/us-bilkeane-idUSTRE7A871R20111109

"The Family Circus" creator Bil Keane, whose kid-friendly comic strip gave readers a funny version of his own life at home and became one of the most widely syndicated cartoon panels in the world, has died at age 89, his distributor said on Wednesday.

Keane died on Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, said Claudia Smith, a spokeswoman for syndication company King Features.

"The Family Circus" first appeared in 1960, and Keane modeled the strip's two parents and four boisterous kids on himself, his wife and children. The comic is still appearing in 1,500 newspapers although Keane's son, Jeff, has helped with it.

"They provided the inspiration for my cartoons; I provided the perspiration," Keane wrote in a biography on his website.

"The Family Circus" is characterized by traditional family values and a round border that Keane used on his panels, to emphasize the closeness between the characters.

The strip features the characters Daddy, Mommy and their children Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and P.J.

The comic's humor typically comes from the children's guileless attitude, or their misunderstanding of what is occurring around them.

In one typical panel from the 1970s, the oldest boy holds out a hand in a snow storm and complains "I CAUGHT one of those snowflakes but I can't find it!"

Keane, a native of Philadelphia, taught himself to draw in high school and later served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He met the woman who would become his wife, Thel Carne, while stationed in Australia.

Aside from appearing as a character in his strip, Thel also helped her husband as an editor and consultant.

After World War II, Keane worked at the Philadelphia Bulletin as a staff artist, and moved his family to Arizona the year before launching his most famous comic strip.

With that, let the demented knock-off strips start:

[Orbert]

I used to read The Family Circus when I was little.  I think even then I realized that there were only about five jokes and punchlines that he ever used, in infinite variation and repetition.  But most of the time it was good for a chuckle.

[lonestar]

R.I.P.

My favorites were when he went on vacation and let Billy draw them.

[Pols Voice]

RIP. Family Circus was a cute little comic.