AND HE drew "Conchy." It was a schitzophrentic strip: gag-a-day one afternoon, serious social commentary the next, something in between other times. It was set on a cartoon desert island ruled over by a king who was a cousin to the one in "The Wizard of Id." (Brant Parker, "Id's" creator, provided a foreward to Childress' first book, calling him a born cartoonist. "This book is just another step on his way to the top.")

There's Oom Paul, the wise professor, Bug, a beachcomber/captain, Patch and Duff, the ne'er-do-well twins who live in a cave and Conchy, who acted as an Everyman beachcomber. Oh, there was a tribe of really tiny pygmies to handle size jokes, and some of the sea life would talk as well.