For Domers before the 1960s and after the 1980s, cartoon 12 needs a brief explanation: a weekly seven-question chemistry quiz that had most freshman dreading studying Thursday nights was given by Dr. Emil T. Hofman. Students would pray “Deliver us from Emil.”
Cartoon 13 features the logo of the Student Union, which depicted a little devil that told people they “ought to be having fun.” I should credit the creator of the logo, but I don’t know who it was.
Cartoon 14 was drawn during the big blizzard that shut down the University for three days: Thursday, Friday and the following Monday (January 26-30, 1978). It was the first cartoon about which I heard people talking while I sat anonymously in the dining hall. It also got some editors realizing that cartoons could be timely if they kept room for them. Steve Odland, ND Class of 1980, (now CEO of Office Depot) made it a point to feature the cartoons whenever he was night editor.
By Cartoon 15 I fixed on a ratio of height and width and, of course, stuck with the four- panel cartoon style of Doonesbury. That strip by Garry Trudeau was my inspiration, and why I thought there should be a cartoon strip about Notre Dame.
See the first five classic strips; and classic strips 6-10.Come back Monday, Aug. 16 for the next five classic Molarity strips. Molarity Redux, the updated, continuing adventures of Jim Mole and friends, are posted monthly. For those new strips, check out the cartoon archives.