Sherlocko the Monk: The Adventure of Tightwaddo and the Missing Penny

“It was like some strange caricature …”

– The Adventure of the Priory School (PRIO)

There are a few Sherlockians that might be familiar with the works of cartoonist Gus Mager. From December 9, 1910 until February 1913, Mager drew Sherlocko the Monk for the Hearst newspaper syndication group. He would draw over 270 strips under this title, featuring the characters of Sherlocko and Watso.

Several years earlier, Mager created another cartoon strip with the name of Knocko the Monk, which featured monkeys in human situations. He would go on to create several other cartoon strips with humans replacing the monkeys, but those human characters would continue to have some resemblances to monkeys. All of these strips would retain the words “the Monk” in their titles.

In February 1913, Mager jumped to The New York World. The cartoon strip came with Mager, and was now called Hacksaw the Detective. Watso was renamed “the Colonel.” The comic strip would continue until 1922 and would reappear on and off until 1947.

For those interested in discovering more about Gus Mager and his cartoons, click HERE.

Below is the first strip of Sherlocko the Monk from December 9, 1910 titled The Adventure of Tightwaddo and the Missing Penny. From time to time, we share other of these comic strips that have a coin or money theme.