What Cartoonist Did You Grow Up With?

[Red Oak Kid]

It's common for people to associate certain musicians with providing the music that they grew up with. Like the Beatles, or Bob Dylan.

But what cartoonist did you grow up with?

In my case, and I suspect many others here, it had to be Jack Davis. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, his stuff was everywhere.

I think the first drawings I ever fell in love with, or made an impact on me was the Jack Davis drawing of monsters on the back of some bubble gum cards. They were the ones with photos from monster movies with funny captions. On the back were these monsters in purple ink by Davis.

And he was in Mad magazine and the covers of TV Guide and even Time magazine. Not to mention toy ads and candy ads.

Which cartoonist reminds you of your childhood when you see their work?

[Hintermann]

In grew up in the 60s and for me the favourite ones were George Baker (Sad Sack), Walt Disney comics, Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace) and so on. I loved (and still do) most Harvey, Dell / Gold Key, Phantom, Archie and Classics Illustrated comics. Never a "Superhero" person.

[Graham Vingoe]

Charles Schultz- we used to get a new peanuts collection roughly every month in the UK in paperback form, and I got them as soon as I could find them

[Hombre]

Charles Schultz- we used to get a new peanuts collection roughly every month in the UK in paperback form, and I got them as soon as I could find them

Of course him. I could always relate to his characters and the universal truths that his cartoons conveyed in their simplicity.

The honesty in his portrayal of kids that can be wise and foolish at the same time, archetypes of feelings and ideas greater than themselves, makes his wistful strips resonate with me and keep me entertained now as they did when I was twelve.

It's a sign of a truly gifted artist, who can never, ever, not be true to what is real to himself... and somehow becomes real to kindred spirits everywhere and everywhen.

[MDG]

The first two I thought of have been mentioned. Around second grade i really got into Peanuts, and still have a lot of the stuff I accumulated back then: the paperbacks, felt banners, dolls, pajama bags. The one thing I lost was the original drawing I received from Schulz after I wrote him a fan letter. Aaaaagh!

Jack Davis was the first artist that I thought of in larger terms, when I realized that the guy in Mad was the same one in Time and TV guide and on movie posters. First artist whose style I could recognize.

I connected with Davis even more as a teenager. I went into the local liquor store with my father and behind the counter was a caricature of the owner by Davis. Then, when I caddied at a nearby golf club, I saw a flier with Davis drawing, and in the clubhouse, a poster for an event that was an original drawing (pastel on brown paper). I looked in the member directory and there was a "Jack B Davis Jr." listed. A week later, the caddy master said to me,"You take Mr. Davis." >Gulp!<

I didn't bother him then, but asked him for an interview that I hoped to get placed in a fanzine, and used for a school project.

He was, in some ways, a local presence--I'd see his art on local posters for things like rummage sales, and a nearby art store had an original Time cover that Davis gave them on the wall.

MDG

[Mike Kuypers]

Any MAD cartoonist circa 1965 does it for me: Jack Davis, Don Martin, Paul Coker, Jr., George Woodbridge, Mort Drucker, Antonio Proh&#237;as, Dave Berg, Al Jaffee, Bob Clark...

[Cei-U!]

Walt Kelly. My folks were Pogo fans and collected the paperbacks. I read them constantly plus our paper carried the strip. I was in high school when Kelly passed. Accepting that he would never draw another panel of my beloved Okeefonokee critters was one of the more painful steps on my road to adulthood.

Cei-U!
Ah summons the lightnin'!

[scratchie]

Good call on Jack Davis. I wouldn't have thought of him if you hadn't mentioned him, but he, Al Jaffee, Don Martin, Antonio Prohias and Sergio Aragones definitely played a major part in my (misspent) youth.

Also Garry Trudeau, Charles Shultz and Johnny Hart.

[clayholio]

There were two - Sergio Aragones and Bill Watterson. I was a child of the 80's, and Aragones had certainly been around before that, but that just meant there was a nearly endlessly supply of old work by him to dig up in addition to the monthly Groo book. And Bill Watterson was my Charles Schultz - Calvin and Hobbes was unquestionably my favorite comic strip as a kid. Nothing else was even close.

Those two are still 1A and 1B for my favorite cartoonists.

[Slam_Bradley]

Don Newton. I started picking up his work shortly after he turned pro. I got quite a bit of his Charlton work (tough due to spotty distribution) and followed him through most of his work at DC. I was absolutely devistated when he passed away.

[scratchie]

Another one I forgot about earlier was Paul Szep, the editorial cartoonist at the Boston Globe.

http://www.szep.com/

Nobody drew a more evil-looking Nixon than Szep. My mom had an entire closet door covered with his cartoons during the Watergate crisis. (Sadly, they all got tossed, and the one book of reprints I have only includes about 5% of the ones she clipped).

--Art

[Jonathan Bogart]

First, it's Charles Schulz -- no T. If you love the man's work, at least give him the courtesty of spelling his name correctly.

For me, it would probably be Berke Breathed. My parents and my older cousin had Bloom County collections that I would read over and over, convinced that they had to mean something, but damned if I could figure out what.

Now that I'm old enough to get all the references, I'm kind of sorry I wasted my time.

[scratchie]

First, it's Charles Schulz -- no T. If you love the man's work, at least give him the courtesty of spelling his name correctly.Whatever. I didn't know John Byrne was posting on this board under the name "Jonathan Bogart".

[Agentum]

Usually i didn't know who the persons behind the comic was anyway.
And as they didn't credit much comics here in those days it was hard to even get to know anything about such things.
But we had some national creators on national comics that was known by all here.
And Lee Falk was known as it was written on the cover on all Phantom comics:-)

I was not aware of any comic people untill in my teens when some comics had letterpages or credit.
So people like Miller and Claremont was the first ones i knew of and talked about, that i had an opinion on.

I have never been much of a newspaperstrip reader.

[Agentum]

Whatever. I didn't know John Byrne was posting on this board under the name "Jonathan Bogart".
:D :D :D

Sorry this is spamming but that was so good and perfectly fitting.

Byrne is one of those that can disguise himself or use diffrent names but always will be discovered when he write or say something:D

[Scott Shaw!]

Early childhood (2 -6 years): Carl Barks -- Like most kids in the 1950s, I had a subscription to WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES and his stuff really stood out even to this very little kid (who taught himself how to read with comic books!) Also John (LITTLE LULU) Staney, Sheldon (THREE MOUSKETEERS, SUGAR & SPIKE) Mayer, Al (DENNIS THE MENACE) Wiseman, Harvey (TOM & JERRY) Eisenberg and Dr. Seuss, the first cartoonist whose style I could recognize and better yet, imitate.

Middle childhood (6 - 9 years): Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Al Plastino and Kurt Schaffenberger -- I was fascinated by Mort Weisinger's world of Superman; now, the wonderful CLARITY of those folks' comics is wonderful to behold. I also discovered Bob (LITTLE ARCHIE) Bolling around this time.

Late childhood (9 - 12): Ed Benedict (through Hanna-Barbera cartoons), Jay Ward cartoons, Mort Walker's BEETLE BAILEY, Sam Glanzman's KONA, MONARCH OF MONSTER ISLE, George Gladir and Orlando Busino's TALES CALCULATED TO DRIVE YOU BATS and Jack Davis were all huge influences on me, as were Charles Addams' gag cartoons. And Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's hot rod monster-finks were a BIG deal to me as well.

Early teenhood (12 -14): Jack Kirby, who else? A few years later, Jack, along with San Diego cartoonists Gene (FLINTSTONES) Hazelton and Bernie (SEVENTEEN) Lansky, would mentor me.

Teenhood (14 - 18): Gilbert Shelton, with his WONDER WART-HOG and FABULOUS FURRY FREAK BROTHERS. R. Crumb and Robert (COOCHIE COOTY) Williams were also big eye-openers!

Although they represent a ridiculously diverse and eclectic mix of creators from every cartoon medium, virtually ALL of these cartoonists continue to inspire this 55-year-old cartoonist! Whenever you see my artwork or read one of my funnybook stories, all of these guys are still in there!

Aloha,

Scott!

[Jonathan Bogart]

Whatever. I didn't know John Byrne was posting on this board under the name "Jonathan Bogart".
Aw, man, you didn't even go after me for putting an extra T in "courtesy." I expect better of you all.

[Aaron Kashtan]

Aw, man, you didn't even go after me for putting an extra T in "courtesy." I expect better of you all.

I kind of thought that was detliberate, but I wasn't sure.

[Aaron Kashtan]

Whatever. I didn't know John Byrne was posting on this board under the name "Jonathan Bogart".

John Byrne would have demanded that we only call him Charles Schulz, and not "Sparky."

[Knight Rider Jacubs]

Posted by Argentum:

"Sorry this is spamming but that was so good and perfectly fitting.

Byrne is one of those that can disguise himself or use diffrent names but always will be discovered when he write or say something"
__________________

Why the Hell would someone do that unless they are trying to hide from someone? come on! even a nine-year old knows that you should never try to say anything that would give yourself away when you are pretending to be someone else. How lame is that?

[pmpknface]

Well... in Spidey, it'd have to be the Romitas and Ron Frenz era of ASM (aroudn the Hobgoblin era).

However I also have to input guys like Tex Avery and Chuck Jones. Well, the whole 5 founding fathers if you will. Cartoons kicked @$$ when I was a kid! :D

[scratchie]

Aw, man, you didn't even go after me for putting an extra T in "courtesy." I expect better of you all.I must be slipping! Where's the smiley for hanging my head in shame?

[dr_cyclops]

Hank Ketcham, The early Dennis newspaper cartoons are classic. I read and re-read the paperback collections throughout my childhood. For the days when "Dennis" really was a "Menace". :)

[telerites]

For me it was Irwin Hasen and his Dondi strip. At the time, I had no idea he had been a Golden Age comic book artist. For that matter, as a young lad, I had no idea there was a Golden Age of comic books.

[MWGallaher]

Schulz, yes. He was a constant when I was a tad, reinforced by the requisite viewings of any showing of any Charlie Brown Special.
But in terms of really making me feel young again, in my case, it's the unlikely work of Jack Elrod.
You see, most of the other comics artists I saw as a child accompanied me through to adulthood. My favorite comic book artists kept drawing new comics. Peanuts continued for decades, as did most of my newspaper comics page favorites.
But Jack Elrod? Well, some time in the early seventies, one of the newspaper omics I followed, "The Ryatts"(sometimes labeled as "Winky Ryatt"), was cancelled*. Jack Elrod disappeared from the Memphis Commercial Appeal along with the strip. As I grew into a comics enthusiast, the strip was never mentioned in comics histories. It was never collected in paperbacks. Noone talked about it. It was a part of my childhood that disappeared, seemingly forever.
Jack Elrod didn't disappear. The papers in Memphis didn't carry "Mark Trail", the far more popular strip that he lateer took over. And while I'd often hear about Mark Trail, I was in my forties before I ever actually saw it!
And--that's him! That's the artist that drew the Ryatts! I knew it immediately, although I'd forgotten, or had never known, Elrod's name.

*I later learned that the paper probably carried the relatively unsuccessful "Ryatts" strip because it originated with Memphian cartoonist Cal Alley, also a cartoonist I "grew up with"...Alley did cartoons for most of my childhood which--get this--appeared on the front page of every issue! Those were the days for newspaper cartoonists!