Christopher Aruffo rescues Levy’s Law, a trailblazing strip featuring a Jewish female police officer, from near total obscurity

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When pro boxer Anthony Joshua regained the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles from Andy Ruiz Jr. on Dec. 7, 2019, he memorably said, “The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice.”

Joshua wasn’t the first person to say something along these lines, but his turn of phrase remains the most succinct. It can be applied to different scenarios. A sequel to a great movie. A spin-off of a popular TV show. A new book featuring a beloved main character.

It can even happen to columnists. Case in point, a second examination of a recent subject with a similar backstory but a significant twist.

I wrote a piece for the Washington Examiner last October about Christopher Aruffo and his one-man crusade to publish most of the entire run of the comic strip Alley Oop. Aruffo, a dialect coach and acting teacher with a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, had no previous experience in the comics industry. The roots of his motivation to properly archive this popular comic strip, which began in 1932 and had never been fully collected, can be found in childhood memories.

Lost comic strip Levy’s Law restored for new readers.

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