![]() |
Above: Full view of painting |
![]() |
Above: The artist’s signature upper right |
![]() |
Above: Detail |
![]() |
Above: Framed and matted behind glass in green dyed birds eye maple gallery frame |
An original illustration created for the December 7, 1959 edition of Life Magazine by legendary comic artist Frank Frazetta showing the Al Capp studio characters Daisy Mae and L’il Abner. This Frazetta is a “one-of-a-kind” piece–you can see the white out above Daisy Mae’s cleavage line–the magazine editors felt that she was busty enough without Frazetta’s intended cleavage curve which they reversed for publication.
Beautiful Daisy Mae was hopelessly in love with Dogpatch’s most prominent bachelor Li’l Abner through the entire 43 year run of Al Capp’s comic strip. During most of the epic Abner took Daisy for granted. He exhibited little romantic interest in her voluptuous charms (much of it visible daily thanks to her trademark polka-dot peasant blouse). In 1952 Abner reluctantly proposed to Daisy Mae to emulate the wedding of his comic strip ideal, Fearless Fosdick. Fosdick’s own wedding to longtime fiance Prudence Pimpleton turned out to be fake, but Abner and Daisy’s ceremony, performed by Marryin’ Sam, was “real.” Once married, Abner became relatively domesticated and the two produced their only child, Honest Abe Yokum, in 1953.
Like Abner’s Mammy Yokum and other wimmenfolk in Dogpatch, Daisy Mae did all the work, domestic and otherwise, while the menfolk generally did nothing whatsoever. Despite this near slavish role, Daisy Mae seldom complained, one of her countless virtues. Her blood family, The Scraggs, on the other hand, was as evil and bloodthirsty as could be imagined. Wild plot twists often took Daisy Mae to exotic locales and she was frequently wooed by rich and handsome men, but she always returned —virtue intact— to Dogpatch and her true, if worthless and undeserving love.