Sally Forth (syndicated strip)

:"Sally Forth is also the name of an earlier comic strip by Wally Wood".Infobox Comic strip
title= Sally Forth


caption=
author= Greg Howard (art, 1982-1992; scripts, 1982-1999)
Craig MacIntosh (art, 1992-present)
Francesco Marciuliano (scripts, 1999-present)
url= http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/sforth/about.htm
rss=
atom=
status= Active
syndicate= King Features Syndicate
comictype=print
publisher=
first= January 4, 1982
last=
genre= Humor
rating=
preceded by=
followed by=

Sally Forth is a comic strip created by Greg Howard in 1982, focusing on the life of a white American middle-class mother at home and work. Sally's name is a play on words - "to " means to set out on an adventure.

Howard, after almost ten years, was joined by Craig MacIntosh, who began doing the drawing. In 1999, Howard quit writing as well and turned the strip over to Francesco Marciuliano. Marciuliano and Macintosh continue publishing the series with King Features Syndicate distribution.

Characters

*Sally Forth - Main character. Has a sarcastic personality, wryly commenting on the eccentric behavior of those around her. A mid-level human resources manager, apparently in her thirties, with a husband and daughter.
*Ted Forth - Sally's hopelessly devoted husband, light-hearted with goofball tendencies. He is a professional working in strategic sourcing, [Comic book reference |writer=Francesco Marciuliano |artist=Craig MacIntosh |title=Sally Forth |paper=Houston Chronicle |date=2008-03-08 |syndicate=King Features Syndicate |panel=3 [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080308&name=Sally_Forth] ] but he was unemployed from May 2007 to May 2008. [Comic book reference |writer=Francesco Marciuliano |artist=Craig MacIntosh |title=Sally Forth |paper=Houston Chronicle |date=2008-05-19 |syndicate=King Features Syndicate |panel=3 [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080519&name=Sally_Forth] ]
*Hilary Forth - Sally's daughter, featured as a pre-teen (11 years old). Precocious and athletic.
*Ralph - Sally's former boss, a caricature of incompetent and self-centered business leadership. Ralph was eventually fired and reduced to working at a fast food restaurant, but in 2006 returned to be co-manager (with Sally) of their department.
*Faye - Hilary's best friend as of the start of middle school. She comes from a less ideal family than the Forths, cultivates a somewhat rebellious image, and is often blunt to the point of rudeness with adults. She and Hilary attempted to start a band once.
*Kitty - The Forths' cat, usually only seen in scenes set in Hilary's room.
*Alice - One of Sally's co-workers and main confidante. Sardonic, self-serving and romantically frustrated.
*Jeff - Sally's blandly competent current boss.
*Jackie - Sally's younger sister, prone to juvenile behavior and in general a flippant, impulsive contrast to Sally's responsible personality.
*Laura - Sally's mother, who is very critical of Sally, her family, and most other people. Her infrequent appearances are dreaded by all.
*Aria - Ted's co-worker, referred to by Alice as his "office wife" [Comic book reference |writer=Francesco Marciuliano |artist=Craig MacIntosh |title=Sally Forth |paper=Houston Chronicle |date=2008-10-04 |syndicate=King Features Syndicate |panel=3 [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20081004&name=Sally_Forth] ] who seems to share Ted's enthusiasm for 70s and 80s pop culture, much to Sally's consternation.

Recurring "gags"

*Sally has a quirky habit around Easter of eating the ears off of chocolate bunnies, especially those of her daughter. Hilary annually schemes to hide her bunny, but inevitably fails. On March 23, 2008, Hilary was successfully able to eat the ears off of her chocolate bunny before her mother did. [Comic book reference |writer=Francesco Marciuliano |artist=Craig MacIntosh |title=Sally Forth |paper=Houston Chronicle |date=2008-03-23 |syndicate=King Features Syndicate |panel=3 [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080323&name=Sally_Forth] ]
*The Forth family has long dreamed of taking a vacation in Paris, and have been on the verge of departing several times, only to have some unexpected tragedy or complication stop them.
*Several strips in 2006 and 2007 alluded to the fact that no one really knew what Ted's job was, a metatextual reference to the often vague nature of comic characters' employment. After his layoff Hilary frets that they will never know the truth. On March 8th, 2008, Ted mentions for the 1st time that his job was/is Strategic Sourcing.
*Ted coaches Hilary's all-girls softball team, who are so bad that they rarely, if ever, win a game. The team is so futile, Ted can sanely make a promise of a Walt Disney World trip if they win the league championship and expect not to have to follow through with the promise. Though personally enthusiastic, Ted seems to have fatalistically accepted the team's losing streak and taken to giving pre-game pep talks made up of equal parts exasperation and stream-of-consciousness rambling. One talk featured a quote from "The Godfather".

References to Wikipedia

*In the Sunday strip published on July 1, 2007, while viewing fireworks, Hilary quoted such 'obscure facts' about American History as Thomas Jefferson writing a movie-like sequel to the Declaration of Independence after its success and John Hancock bare-knuckle boxing other signers of the Constitution to be the first to sign the document. Sally then asks her daughter if she found those facts via Wikipedia. [Comic book reference |writer=Francesco Marciuliano |artist=Craig MacIntosh |title=Sally Forth |paper=Houston Chronicle |date=2007-07-01 |syndicate=King Features Syndicate |panel=3 [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070701&name=Sally_Forth] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/sforth/about.htm Sally Forth]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/sallyf-2.htm Toonopedia entry]