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.
History
The strip was created by Jack Berrill, who modeled and named Thorp after baseball player Gil Hodges and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe. The setting of Milford is named for New Milford, Connecticut when he began writing the strip.
Writers
Upon Berrill's death, Tribune Media Services chose author Jerry Jenkins (co-author of the Left Behind novels) to take over writing the strip.
The Bucket
The Bucket was an online forum hosted by the Chicago Tribune, named after the teen burger hangout in the strip, The Bucket. It was a lively site for 15 years and featured discussions about the strip and other topics. Members of the community were known as "Bucketeers".
References
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External links
- Gil Thorp on GoComics.com
- Gil Thorp at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016.
- "Gil Thorp Gets Benched" by Michael Miner, Chicago Reader, April 18, 2003 (Archived May 13, 2003).