John Hix was just 21 years old when his syndicated newspaper strip “Strange as It Seems” first appeared in newspapers in 1928. As Robert Ripley’s biggest rival, Hix was able to create a similar brand that produced the daily newspaper comic strip, books, radio shows, film shorts, and live shows at World’s Fairs. For the California Pacific International Exposition, which opened in San Diego in May 1935, the fair employed Ripley’s “Believe It Or Not!” Odditorium as its primary freakshow attraction. With a reputation for being a little too extreme,the fair organizers decided to replace Ripley in the 1936 season of the fair. with a show put together by Hix. The “Strange As It Seems” show opened February 1936 in a large building in the center of the fair’s “Fun Zone.” Then again in 1939 Hix beat Robert Ripley out for the freakshow at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Ripley countered by opening his Times Square Odditorium. “Strange as It Seems” also spawned a radio show based on the daily syndicated newspaper strip– a 15-minute radio program that debuted on March 22, 1935 and ran until 1940. Universal Studios contracted to create short films based on the cartoon, and there were 39 short subjects released between August 22, 1930, and May 5, 1934, coming out on average about once per month. The shorts played in over 6,000 movie theaters. On June 5, 1944, John Hix collapsed, gashing his head in front of a hotel in Washington, DC. He died the following morning, the cause of death was a heart attack caused by myocarditis. He was only 36 years old. His comic strip was taken over by his brother and ran until 1970. The “Strange As It Seems” brand was purchased by Ripley