Gil Thorp
Encyclopedia
Gil Thorp is a sports-oriented comic strip
which has been published since September 8, 1958. The main character, Gil Thorp, is the athletic director of Milford High School and coaches the football
, basketball
, and baseball
teams. In addition to the sports storylines, the strip also deals with issues facing teenagers such as teen pregnancy, steroids
, and drug abuse.
The strip was created by Jack Berrill, who modeled and named Thorp after baseball player Gil Hodges
and the great Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe
. Berrill continued the strip until he died of cancer on March 14, 1996. Over the course of his 38 years, Berrill broke ground with many of his stories, often dealing with sensitive social issues of the day. As editorial standards relaxed, he was able to move from stories about jalopies and after-school jobs to topics like teen pregnancy, divorce, and steroids.
Upon Berrill's death, Tribune Media Services chose author Jerry Jenkins (co-author of the Left Behind
novels) to take over writing the strip. Jenkins had been in negotiations with TMS about expanding previous Gil Thorp stories into a series of youth novels and was a convenient replacement. Jenkins was hand picked by Berrill. Many of Jenkins' stories were written uncredited by his son Chad Jenkins, a baseball coach at Bethel College
. The Jenkins stories discussed overtly religious topics which had not appeared in the strip before, including an apparently Orthodox Jewish
football player and a 15-year-old pregnant girl whom Thorp talks out of getting an abortion
.
In 2004, Jenkins was followed as writer by Detroit News columnist Neal Rubin
.
The strip was drawn by Berrill from 1958-1993 until glaucoma forced him to turn the reins over to his Connecticut Cartoonist Associate colleague Warren Sattler
, then Frank Bolle, Ray Burns, and finally Frank McLaughlin following Burns' death in 2000. On February 18, 2008, Apartment 3G artist Frank Bolle
again took over art chores for Gil Thorp on an interim basis. Rod Whigham became the permanent artist two months later.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
which has been published since September 8, 1958. The main character, Gil Thorp, is the athletic director of Milford High School and coaches the football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
teams. In addition to the sports storylines, the strip also deals with issues facing teenagers such as teen pregnancy, steroids
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
, and drug abuse.
The strip was created by Jack Berrill, who modeled and named Thorp after baseball player Gil Hodges
Gil Hodges
Gilbert Ray Hodges was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
and the great Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
. Berrill continued the strip until he died of cancer on March 14, 1996. Over the course of his 38 years, Berrill broke ground with many of his stories, often dealing with sensitive social issues of the day. As editorial standards relaxed, he was able to move from stories about jalopies and after-school jobs to topics like teen pregnancy, divorce, and steroids.
Upon Berrill's death, Tribune Media Services chose author Jerry Jenkins (co-author of the Left Behind
Left Behind (series)
Left Behind is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world. The primary conflict of the series is the members of the Tribulation...
novels) to take over writing the strip. Jenkins had been in negotiations with TMS about expanding previous Gil Thorp stories into a series of youth novels and was a convenient replacement. Jenkins was hand picked by Berrill. Many of Jenkins' stories were written uncredited by his son Chad Jenkins, a baseball coach at Bethel College
Bethel College (Indiana)
Bethel College is a Christian liberal arts institution located in Mishawaka , Indiana, United States. It was established in 1947 by a Mennonite group which was one of the founding members of the Missionary Church...
. The Jenkins stories discussed overtly religious topics which had not appeared in the strip before, including an apparently Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
football player and a 15-year-old pregnant girl whom Thorp talks out of getting an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
.
In 2004, Jenkins was followed as writer by Detroit News columnist Neal Rubin
Neal Rubin
Neal Rubin was born in 1955 in Southern California. He is a columnist for The Detroit News and currently writes the nationally syndicated comic strip Gil Thorp....
.
The strip was drawn by Berrill from 1958-1993 until glaucoma forced him to turn the reins over to his Connecticut Cartoonist Associate colleague Warren Sattler
Warren Sattler
Warren Sattler is an American artist and cartoonist, who contributed work to many popular publications from the early 1960s through the 1990s....
, then Frank Bolle, Ray Burns, and finally Frank McLaughlin following Burns' death in 2000. On February 18, 2008, Apartment 3G artist Frank Bolle
Frank Bolle
Frank Bolle is an American comic strip artist, comic book artist and illustrator.-Career:-Children's books:...
again took over art chores for Gil Thorp on an interim basis. Rod Whigham became the permanent artist two months later.
External links
- Gil Thorp on GoComics.com
- "Gil Thorp Gets Benched" by Michael Miner, Chicago Reader, April 18, 2003