The Family Circus | |
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![]() An early strip featuring (L to R) Daddy (Bil), Dolly, Billy, Mommy (Thel), and Jeffy. A fourth child, P.J., was introduced in 1962. | |
Author(s) | Bil Keane Jeff Keane |
Current status/schedule | Running |
Launch date | February 29, 1960 |
Alternate name(s) | The Family Circle Family-Go-Round |
Syndicate(s) | (Current) King Features Syndicate (Previous) Register and Tribune Syndicate (1960–1986) |
Genre(s) | Humor, gag cartoon, family values, religious |
Preceded by | Silly Philly |
The Family Circus (originally The Family Circle, also Family-Go-Round) is a syndicated comic strip created by cartoonist Bil Keane and, since Keane's death in 2011, written, inked and rendered (colored) by his son Jeff Keane. The strip generally uses a single captioned panel with a round border, hence the original name of the series, which was changed following objections from the magazine Family Circle. The series debuted February 29, 1960, and has been in continuous production ever since. According to publisher King Features Syndicate, it is the most widely syndicated cartoon panel in the world, appearing in 1,500 newspapers.[1] Compilations of Family Circus comic strips have sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.