| There Oughta Be a Law! | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Harry Shorten (1944–1970) Frank Borth (1970–1983) Mort Gerberg (1983–1985) |
| Illustrator(s) | Al Fagaly (1944–1963) Warren Whipple (1963–1981) Mort Gerberg (1981–1985) |
| Current status/schedule | Concluded daily gag panel |
| Launch date | 1944 |
| End date | April 13, 1985 |
| Alternate name(s) | Bitter Laff (1944–1945) TOBAL! |
| Syndicate(s) | McClure Newspaper Syndicate / Bell-McClure Syndicate (1944–c. 1972) United Feature Syndicate (c. 1972–1985) |
| Publisher(s) | Midwood Books Belmont Books |
| Genre(s) | gag-a-day, humor, adults |
There Oughta Be a Law!, or TOBAL!, was a single-panel newspaper comic strip, created by Harry Shorten and Al Fagaly, which was syndicated for four decades from 1944 to 1985.[1] The gags illustrated minor absurdities, frustrations, hypocrisies, ironies and misfortunes of everyday life, displayed in a single-panel or two-panel format. There Oughta Be a Law! was similar to Jimmy Hatlo's They'll Do It Every Time.[2] TOBAL! was initially syndicated by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate; eventually it moved over to United Feature Syndicate.[3]