An Altar Boy Named Speck

An Altar Boy Named Speck, also known as Speck the Altar Boy, is an American gag cartoon comic strip series created by Tut LeBlanc.^[1] The strip first appeared March 1, 1951 in Catholic Action of the South, which was the official paper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.^[2] Margaret Ahern continued the Speck comic upon LeBlanc's 1953 death, drawing it until 1979.

Author(s)	W. R. "Tut" LeBlanc Margaret Ahern
Current status/schedule	Concluded gag cartoon
Launch date	March 1, 1951
End date	1979
Alternate name	Speck the Altar Boy
Syndicate(s)	National Catholic News Service
Genre(s)	Humor, Religion

The comic is about a mischievous but lovable altar boy who keeps getting into various kinds of trouble.

Tut LeBlanc

Wilmer Ralph "Tut" LeBlanc^[3] (born in Perry, Louisiana, 1915; died February 23, 1953^[4]) was a self-taught artist.^[1] In 1943, he married Mildred Marie Simon.^[5] He drew the Speck material while living in Abbeville, Louisiana, where he had spent most of his life. He died in 1953 from heart problems that he had had since childhood.^[6]

Collections

The Speck cartoons have been collected in various reprint volumes.

• LeBlanc cartoons
  • An Altar Boy Named “Speck” (Lafayette, LA: Tribune Printing Plant, 1952)^[7] - reprinted by Our Sunday Visitor and About Comics.^[8]
  • Speck: More Cartoons (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1952)^[9]
  • An Altar Boy Named 'Speck': The Collection Compilation (Camarillo, CA: About Comics, 2024) - reprints both previous books as a single volume.^[10]
• Ahern cartoons
  • Speck the Altar Boy (Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1958)^[7]
  • Presenting Speck the Altar Boy (Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1960)^[7]
  • Speck: The Altar Boy (New York: All Saints Press, 1963)^[7] - reprints all of the first and part of the second Hanover House volumes.
  • A Speck of Trouble: New Escapades of the Inimitable and Irresistible Speck, the Altar Boy (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964)^[7]
  • Speck the Altar Boy: The Collection Compilation (Camarillo, CA: About Comics, 2021) - reprints both Hanover House books as a single volume.^[11]