Editing Al Capp (section)

==Parodies, toppers, and alternate strips==
''Li'l Abner'' also features a comic strip-within-the-strip: ''[[Fearless Fosdick]]'' is a parody of [[Chester Gould]]'s ''[[Dick Tracy]]''. It first appeared in 1942, and it proved so popular that it ran intermittently during the next 35 years. Gould was parodied personally in the series as cartoonist "Lester Gooch"—the diminutive, much-harassed and occasionally deranged "creator" of Fosdick. The style of the ''Fosdick'' sequences closely mimicks ''Tracy'', including the urban setting, the outrageous villains, the galloping [[mortality rate]], the crosshatched shadows, and even the lettering style. In 1952, Fosdick was the star of his own short-lived [[puppet show]] on [[NBC]], featuring the Mary Chase [[marionette]]s.

Besides ''Dick Tracy'', Capp parodied many other comic strips in ''Li'l Abner''—including ''[[Steve Canyon]]'', ''[[Superman (comic strip)|Superman]]'' (at least twice; first as "Jack Jawbreaker" in 1947, and again in 1966 as "Chickensouperman"), ''[[Mary Worth]]'' as "Mary Worm", ''[[Peanuts]]'' (in 1968, with "Peewee", a parody of Charlie Brown, and "Croopy", a parody of [[Snoopy]], drawn by "Bedley Damp", a parody of [[Charles Schulz]]), ''[[Rex Morgan, M.D.]]'', ''[[Little Annie Rooney]]'', and ''[[Little Orphan Annie]]'' (in which Punjab became "Punjbag", an oleaginous slob). ''Fearless Fosdick''—and Capp's other spoofs such as "Little Fanny Gooney" (1952) and "Jack Jawbreaker"—were almost certainly an early inspiration for [[Harvey Kurtzman]]'s ''[[Mad Magazine]]'', which began in 1952 as a comic book that specifically parodied other comics in the same distinctive style and subversive manner.

Capp also lampooned popular recording idols of the day, including [[Elvis Presley]] ("Hawg McCall", 1957), [[Liberace]] ("Loverboynik", 1956), [[the Beatles]] ("the Beasties", 1964)—and in 1944, [[Frank Sinatra]]. "Sinatra was the first great public figure I ever wrote about," Capp once said. "I called him 'Hal Fascinatra.' I remember my news syndicate was so worried about what his reaction might be, and we were all surprised when he telephoned and told me how thrilled he was with it. He always made it a point to send me champagne whenever he happened to see me in a restaurant{{nbsp}}..." (from ''Frank Sinatra, My Father'' by [[Nancy Sinatra]], 1985). On the other hand, Liberace was "cut to the quick" over Loverboynik, according to Capp, and even threatened legal action—as would [[Joan Baez]] later, over "Joanie Phoanie" in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/topic/Al_Capp/|title=Al Capp News &#124; Wiki - UPI.com|website=UPI|access-date=October 29, 2020}}</ref>

Capp was just as likely to parody himself; his self-caricature made frequent, tongue-in-cheek appearances in ''Li'l Abner''.<ref>''Anything Can Happen in a Comic Strip: Centennial Reflections on an American Art Form'' by [[M. Thomas Inge]] (1995) University Press of Mississippi, pp. 18–19</ref> The gag was often at his own expense, as in the above 1951 sequence showing Capp's interaction with "fans" (see excerpt), or in his 1955 [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]] parody, "Hal Yappland". Just about anything could be a target for Capp's satire—in one storyline Li'l Abner is revealed to be the [[Transitional fossil#Missing links|missing link]] between ape and man. In another, the search is on in Dogpatch for a pair of missing socks knitted by the first president of the United States.
 
In addition to creating ''Li'l Abner'', Capp also co-created two other newspaper strips: ''[[Abbie an' Slats]]'' with magazine illustrator [[Raeburn van Buren]] in 1937, and ''[[Long Sam]]'' with cartoonist [[Bob Lubbers]] in 1954, as well as the Sunday "[[topper (comic strip)|topper]]" strips ''Washable Jones'', ''Small Fry'' (a.k.a. ''Small Change''), and ''Advice fo' Chillun''.