Ernie Pook's Comeek is an American underground comic/alternative comic by Lynda Barry.[1]
It was first published in 1979, without Barry's knowledge, by Matt Groening and John Keister in their respective college newspapers. In the very beginning, the comic chronicled the everyday life of a young boy, Ernie Pook. However, within a period of about a year, the comic's focus shifted to a slightly awkward young girl named Maybonne Mullen and her largely dysfunctional family, who live in a trailer park in the Pacific Northwest sometime in the early 1970s. Most often featured was Maybonne's passively-aggressive sour grandmother, whom Maybonne and her siblings lived with, and Maybonne's younger siblings: somewhat naive and easily-led Freddie, and cheerful, energetic and irrepressible Marlys. Cousins Arna and Arnold also lived with the Mullens off-and-on. Ernie Pook himself faded from the strip very shortly after the Mullen family took center stage -- nevertheless, the strip retained the name "Ernie Pook's Comeek" for its entire 29-year run.
While Barry has stated the comic wasn't autobiographical, it was loosely based on her own childhood years.[2] It ran in over 70 alternative newspapers,[3] such as the Chicago Reader.[2]
It was discontinued in 2008.[4] Drawn & Quarterly reissued a collection called The Greatest of Marlys in 2016 and is continuing to reissue collections.[2]