Category : Ink-Slinger Profiles

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Shorty Shope

(An earlier profile was posted in 1919.) 

Henry Irvin “Shorty” Shope was born on May 11, 1900, in Boulder, Montana, according to Shope’s birth certificate at Ancestry.com. His parents were Ira Daniel Shope and Emily Alvis Shope.

In the 1900 United States Census, month-old Shope was the youngest of three children. Their father was a stationery engineer. The family resided in Boulder. 

According to the 1910 census, Shope was the third of seven siblings. The family resided in township six of Jefferson County, Montana. Shope’s father was a farmer.

The Great Falls Tribune (Montana), November 23, 1977, said the family moved to Missoula, Montana when Shope’s father died.
It was there, in his formative years of 13 throughout 18, that he came under the influence of E.S. Paxson, painter of native Americans and the frontier West.

“He gave me my first lesson in anatomy and would correct and trim up my drawings, illustrated on the side of my paper and even let me watch him paint,” he later said….

His formal art education began in 1919, when he attended both Portland Art Academy and Reed College in Portland….
Shope graduated in 1932 from the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. The Missoulian Sun, September 4, 1966, said Shope met artist Charles M. Russell and studied with Harvey Dunn in New York City.

Shope was mentioned in the Missoulian newspaper on September 5, 1913
“Irvin Shope, 13 years old and a nephew of Mrs. W. W. Wickes, was operated upon for appendicitis yesterday morning at St. Patrick’s hospital.” In the May 27, 1914 issue, Shope was one of several speakers in the Roosevelt School’s declamation contest. Shope was listed as an honor student in the February 23, 1917 Missoulian. Shope was a guest at the Christmas party hosted at the Wickes home. 

Farmer Shope signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918. His address was 425 West 5th Street in Missoula. His description was short, medium build with blue eyes and light brown hair.

The 1920 census said Fargo, North Dakota was Shope’s home at 1043 Tenth Street North. The head of the household was his widow mother’s brother-in-law, Carl Greenwood. Shope was unemployed.

In the 1920s Shope was a correspondence student with the Federal School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His art was printed in the school’s publication, The Federal Illustrator, Winter 1925–1926 and Fall 1926. 


In the department of Animal Drawings, Irvin Shope, with his “Stage Coach,” carried away the bacon, as the vulgar say. The picture is full of action. Shope is always good at that—so good that he sometimes, like that great original draughtsman of the moving horse, Frederic Remington, sacrifices drawing to movement. I have seen better things of his than this, yet it deserved a prize. The lad is, I think, very promising.

Shope was one of several artists who wrote about the late Charles Russell in The Federal Illustrator, Winter 1926–1927. 

The Poplar Standard (Montana), November 18, 1927, said 

Irvin Shope, of the State university, is exhibiting oil paints of Glacier national park and the Canadian rockies. He was formerly with the forest service.

Shope appeared in The Federal Illustrator, Summer 1928. 

Illustrator of Western Life Busy on Mural Paintings for Glacier Resort
Irvin Shope’s realism in picturing of Western life secured him a place among the prize winners with a pen line drawing nicely adapted to illustrative uses. 

Altho adept in drawing of horses and horsemen, Mr. Shope does not confine himself to drawing them.

“I have just pleased a young husband and was paid liberally for a portrait sketch of his pretty wife,” he writes in a recent letter which also reports good returns in a cover design for a catalogue, an illustration of a vicious broncho to advertise high power gas for a new Montana gas company; two pen drawings for decorative use in a new Spanish home in Los Angeles and another cover design for Triple-X.

The letter continues, “My old friend Justin and Company have asked me to do a painting to be used on a window card advertising their boots, giving me full sway as to subject.

“Then I have been doing some drawing to advertise a new lodge or dude camp just over the edge of Glacier park on beautiful St. Mary’s lake. I am going up there in June to paint a couple of large pictures for the lobby.

“Four years and some odd months of work under encouragement of the old Federal Schools has brought me thus far and now I suppose I can keep going alone but I still want a word from you now and again for a long time.

“I paid my last ten dollars in the first installment for the course and was Wass out of work too. The path between then and now has been rough but I’ll never regret the course I took nor cease to wonder what chance made me write to Federal Schools as I had no first hand information of you folks nor on one to ask who knew anything about you. I was lucky that’s all.”

The late Charles M. Russell gave Mr. Shope high commendation on early drawings in the course and assured him that he was on the right track studying with the Federal Schools.
The 1930 census listed Shope, his mother and three brothers in Missoula, Montana at 425 South Fifth Street West. Shope was a self-employed artist.

The Great Falls Tribune said Shope married Erva Vivian Love, on June 23, 1932 in Missoula. 

Shope received his University of Montana fine arts degree in 1933.
The 1934 Missoula city directory listed artist Shope at 517 Connell Avenue.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Shope drew Rusty Rawlins, Cowboy which was written by Glenn Chaffin. The McClure Syndicate strip began in late 1934 and ended in early 1936. The last three weeks were drawn by Tom Maloney.

Shope was mentioned in The Federal Illustrator, Spring 1935. 

The 1940 census recorded Shope, his wife and three daughters in Helena, Montana at 1337 9th Avenue. The advertising artist worked for the Montana Highway Department. The census said Shope had lived in Los Angeles, California in 1935.

During World War II Shope registered with the draft on February 16, 1942. The Helena resident was employed at the Montana Highway Department. 


1956 and 1964 Helena city directories said Shope’s occupation was artist whose address was 1337 9th Avenue.

The Missoulian Sun, September 4, 1966, said several paintings by Shope were to be exhibited at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Shope was a member of the Cowboy Artists of America, Inc. Shope had three dioramas at the Charles M. Russell Historical Society Museum in Helena. Shope “painted many portraits of Indians, mainly from the Blackfeet tribe in Browning who adopted him as a ‘blood-brother’ in 1937 and gave him the name ‘Wolf Bull.’”

The Independent Record Sun (Montana), August 24, 1969, said between 1950 and 1965 Shope painted murals for the Highway Department, Western Life Insurance Company, First National Bank, Helena Junior High, St. Paul Fire & Marine Building, and the Federal Building in Webster, South Dakota. He contributed a painting every year to the Shedd-Brown Calendar Company starting in 1956. 

Shope passed away November 22, 1977, in Burlington, Massachusetts. The Great Falls Tribune said Shope and his wife were visiting their daughter when he suffered a stroke. He was laid to rest at Boulder Cemetery


Further Reading and Viewing
Montana’s Historical Highway Markers; cover art by Irvin Shope
Meadowlark Gallery; signature
Montana Historical Society, Museum Collections Online
Surveys and Surveyors of the Public Domain, 1785–1975, Photograph from an oil painting by Montana artist Shorty Shope

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Odin Burvik


(An earlier profile was posted in 2015.)

Odin Burvik was the pseudonym of Mabel Glazier “Grace” Burwick, who was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado on September 17, 1904. Her full name was pieced together from census records and a family tree; the birth information was from her Social Security application (transcribed at Ancestry.com). Burvik’s parents were Odin Burwick and Della Marie Glazier. In A Century of Women Cartoonists (1993), Trina Robbins wrote “Another woman who took a masculine name was Mabel Burwick; at the start of her career, she changed her name to Odin Burvik.”

The 1905 Colorado Springs directory had a listing for her parents, Odin and Della, who resided at 128 West Mill. He was a driver at the Houston Lumber Company. The 1907 directory recorded them at 418 South Tejon and he remained employed at Houston Lumber. Iowa Gravestone has a photo of Odin’s gravestone, with the dates “1879–1908”, at the Holman Sergeant Bluff Cemetery in Woodbury County, Iowa.

In the 1910 United States Census, Burwick and her mother, a widow and dressmaker, lived in Colorado Springs at 914 Lake Avenue. Later, her mother remarried.

The 1920 census recorded Burwick and her mother and brother, Robert, who both had the Olesen surname, in Los Angeles, California at 6110 Moneta Avenue. She worked as a saleslady in her mother’s candy store. The whereabouts of her Danish step-father is not known. 

Burvik graduated from Santa Maria Union High School. The Los Angeles Times (California), June 13, 1925, said “the salutatory was delivered by Miss Mabel Burwick, a student who has carried away high honors in the art class as well as other studies.” 

The Federal Illustrator, Summer 1926, mentioned Burvik.
Believes in Fairies
Charlie Plumb believes in fairies, but he hasn’t a corner on this believing business because Mabel Burwick does too. “Do you believe in fairies?” She asks, “I do. I envy no one, not even Cinderella or Aladdin.

“Actually I am the happiest person I have ever known and it was through drawing that such friends came to me!

“You and your school deserve everlasting thanks for. Helping me discover the golden Aladdin’s lamp which needed but a little elbow grease and rubbing to bring me friends and happiness.”

Miss Burwick has gone ahead so rapidly that it is almost possible to believe that she did have a fairy godmother watching over her. She was art editor of the Breeze, a school weekly which won first place over fifty others at Stanford University. She has illustrated a text book on design and has done excellent work in the greeting card field.

She is now traveling in Europe with a friend made by her art ability. Doesn’t that almost take your breath away?
The 1926 Colorado Springs city directory listed Burvik, a student, and her mother at 304 East Monument. She studied at Colorado College. 

1927 Pikes Peak Nugget yearbook

In 1930 the Burwick family was in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 916 Seventh Avenue. The census had Burvik’s first name as Grace. She was a self-employed commercial artist and her mother was a school teacher. 

In June 1933, Burvik was aboard the steamship Paris when it departed from New York City. She arrived in Plymouth, England on June 16, 1933. Burvik returned on the steamship Ile de France which departed from Le Havre, France on September 13, 1933. According to the passenger list, she arrived in New York on the 19th; her destination address was the L.S. Donaldson Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Burvik’s name appeared, as Miss Mabel Burwick, in an issue of the Bulletin, Volumes 23-24, 1934, from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts. She was in the Federal Illustrator, Spring Number, 1938. The Kingston Daily Freeman (New York), April 13, 1968, said she “…decided at the age of 12 to become a professional artist…Mrs. Waugh studied at Minneapolis and Chicago Art Institutes, and with Harvey Dunn at Grand Central Galleries in New York…”

The Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 1, Group 2, Pamphlets, Etc. 1940 New Series, Volume 37, Number 2 has an entry for her and John Charles Fabbrini. 

New York City was the home of the Burwicks in the 1940 census. They lived at 51 West 68th Street. Burvik was a freelance artist, who had two years of college; her brother was a hotel porter. The census said the Burwicks, in 1935, resided in Chicago, Illinois. 

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Dickie Dare, created by Milton Caniff, started on July 31, 1933 and ran to October 12, 1957. Coulton Waugh produced the strip from December 3, 1934 to March 26, 1944. His then assistant, Odin Burvik, drew the Sunday from April 2, 1944 to 1948, and daily from May 22, 1944 to March 6, 1948. She was followed by Fran Matera from March 8, 1948 to November 5, 1949. Waugh returned to the Associated Press series on November 7, 1949. 

In Waugh’s book, The Comics (1947), he explained how Burvik became involved with the strip.
…When the writer decided to turn finally to other matters, he had as assistant a determined young woman with an interesting Norwegian name, Odin Burvik. She could herring-bone up a hill on skiis as fast as he could roll down them, and she had one burning, devastatingly difficult ambition: to become a comic artist.

Knowing the stress and strain of strip-producing, the author decided to try her determination and gave her the most difficult assignments he could. “You can’t be sick; no holidays,” he said. She wonders now how she ever survived; but she learned so much in a single year as assistant, that when the big chance came in the spring of 1944, the Associated Press agreed to try her out. She won, and soon she was in full charge of “Dickie,” matching his bubbling energy with with the sense of life which gives her style its own special distinction.
Arts Magazine, Volume 20, Issue 6, 1946, said “…Coulton Waugh, son of the late Frederick Waugh of seascape fame, has long been the creator of a popular cartoon strip titled ‘Dicky [sic] Dare’…Not long back he decided that he wanted to give it up, and in due course, an open competition was held by the Associated Press to find someone to carry it on. One Miss Odin Burvik won. Miss Burvik was a former assistant of Coulton…Well…it’s still in the family…he married the girl!…” 

According to Who Was Who in America with World Notables (1976), Waugh married Elizabeth Dey Jenkinson on May 18, 1919; she passed away in 1944. He married Burwick on January 17, 1945. The Connecticut Marriage Record, at Ancestry.com, said they married in Stamford.

The Newburgh News (New York), September 6, 1945, reported the marriage of Burwick’s brother, who “…at present is assistant to his sister, Mrs. Coulton Waugh, of Little Britain who draws a comic strip for Associated Press…” In Alter Ego #59, June 2006, Fran Matera explained how he took over the strip and who did the lettering.

…the Associated Press hired me to take over Dickie Dare. I went to see Coulton Waugh and his wife, Odin. Waugh was writing and doing a lot of the art, and his wife worked on it for a while, signing it ‘Odin.’ Her brother lettered. Gradually, both Coulton and Odin wanted to taper off…doing the strip so they could paint, and I took over. Odin’s brother continued to letter it, but he didn’t live near me, so I decided to take that over….

The 1950 census counted Burvik, her husband, daughter, Phyllis, and son, John, in New Windsor, New York on Jackson Avenue two miles right. Also living with them was the mother-in-law of Waugh’s first wife and two hired hands. 

Burwick devoted her time to painting. Parade magazine, January 12, 1958, had an advertisement for Art Instruction, Inc., which had a paragraph about her (below).

The Kingston Daily Freeman said, “…She gained her total knowledge of color and oil painting from working with her husband and the two often work together on a portrait. The almost life-size portrait of their daughter, Phyllis, is one example of this collaboration…” 

The Newburgh News, March 18, 1958, noted the upcoming lecture at Temple Beth Jacob Brotherhood: “…The program will feature a lecture discussion on ‘The History of Cartooning’ by Coulton and Odin Waugh, nationally-syndicated cartoonists and creators of ‘Dickie Dare’….” 

During the mid-1960s and 1970s, the couple produced the panel Junior Editors Quiz.

Citizen Advertiser (Auburn NY) 11/18/1969
Word balloons say: “Some may enjoy abstraction but
for me the things in nature are just—so beautiful or 
funny—that I can’t resist drawing them just as they are—”.

The Evening News (Newburgh, New York), June 11, 1964, published photos of Phyllis and her mother, and the November 6, 1983 edition has another photo. The Otsego Farmer (Cooperstown, New York), July 17, 1969, reported the upcoming exhibition at the Pioneer Gallery, whose members included the Waughs and their daughter.

Waugh passed away May 23, 1973, according to The New York Times. He was survived by his wife, Odin, son, John, daughter, Phyllis Goodman, and sister, Gwenyth Clymer. 

The Cornwall Local (New York), September 30, 1981, reported Burvik’s marriage.
Odin Waugh is wed to Hubert Buchanan
Odin Waugh of Jackson Avenue, New Windsor, and Hubert Buchanan of Pueblo, Colorado, were married September 13 at the the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in New Windsor.

Over 100 friends and relatives attended the ceremony. The couple was received at a social hour after the ceremony in the Church hall.

After a trip to Torremolinos, Spain, the couple will reside at 209 West 19th St., in Pueblo, Colo.

Mrs. Waugh-Buchanan is a well-known local artist. Buchanan is retired from the New York Life Insurance Co. and also is an artist. He is president of the Pueblo Art Center in Colo.
The same wedding date was in Who’s Who in U. S. Writers, Editors and Poets, United States & Canada 1992–1993 which profiled Buchanan.

Burvik, as Odin Waugh, passed away in June 1998 according to the Social Security Death Index. The USGenWeb Project website, Welcome to the Orange County, New York GenWeb Site, has the Times Herald-Record Obituary Index June 1998. The entry has an error: “Burwick Glazier, Odin [Waugh, Buchanan] / Born 09/17/1904 / Birth Place Colorado Springs, NY / Died 06/17/1998”. She was born in Colorado state. 

Her mother passed away December 3, 1964, and brother on December 15, 2006. In The Comics, Waugh said

…The author would like especially to thank his research assistant, Robert Burwick, whose wide knowledge of the subject and sharp intelligence proved invaluable during the several years of hard work which went into the book….

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Lawrence Nadle

Lawrence Malcolm Nadle was born on September 29, 1913, in Manhattan, New York, New York, according to the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com and his World War II draft card which had his full name. Nadle was occasionally misspelled Nadel.

Nadle’s paternal grandfather, Julius Nadle, submitted a naturalization petition, dated August 11, 1900 (at Ancestry.com). The petition said he was born on August 26, 1859 in Russia. On August 1, 1887, he arrived in New York City. Julius was naturalized on August 22, 1900.

The 1900 United States Census recorded Julius (a tailor), his wife, Johannah, and three sons, Joseph (age 15; Nadle’s father), Alexander (age 8) and Henry (age 6), in Manhattan at 242 East Houston Street.

The same address was in the 1905 New York state census. Joseph was a salesman.

On February 8, 1910, Joseph and Anna Gerler obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 3680. They married on February 15, 1910. 

The 1910 census counted the couple in Manhattan at 202 East Seventh Street. Joseph was a ribbon salesman.

The 1915 New York state census said one-year-old Nadle, his parents and four-year-old brother, Martin, were Manhattan residents at 1968 Seventh Avenue. His father was a ribbon buyer.

On September 12, 1918, Nadle’s father signed his World War I draft card. His address was 3 West 116th Street in Manhattan.

The same address was on the 1920 census. In the household were Nadle (age 6), his parents, and brothers, Martin (age 9) and Henry (age 2).

In Alter Ego #72, September 2007, Nadle’s son, Ken, wrote about his father and two uncles, Martin and Henry. 

… Larry distinguished himself as being a good writer when he was just nine. He won a story-writing contest and had his picture in the newspaper. He never went to college. Instead, he teamed up with his best friend, Jack Arnold (who later directed the movies The Mouse That Roared and The Creature from the Black Lagoon), and they performed an acrobatic/tap dance/comic routine in vaudeville. …

In the 1925 New York state census, the Nadle family were Bronx residents at 643 Southern Boulevard. Nadle’s sister, Jean, was a year old.

The 1930 census said the Nadle family lived in the Bronx at 2105 Walton Avenue. Nadle’s brother, Martin, was a newspaper cartoonist. The name of Nadle’s high school is not known.

Nadle’s father passed away on October 9, 1935. 

Around 1932, Nadle married Sylvia Resnikoff (1914–1998). 

According to the 1940 census, Nadle, his wife and four-year-old son, Bruce, were Bronx residents at 2819 Morris Avenue. Nadle was manager of retail men’s clothing store. He had four years of high school and earned $2,150 in 1939. 

On October 16, 1940, Nadle signed his World War II draft card. His address was updated from 2819 Morris Avenue to 521 West 112th Street. His employer was H. Lowenthal, 114 East Fordham Road in the Bronx. Nadle’s description was five feet nine inches, 180 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.

Ken Nadle said

… it was also Martin who opened the door for Larry to get some writing assignments with King Features Syndicate. …

In the mid-1940s Nadle entered the comic book field at National Comics. 

Nadle was mentioned in The Exhibitor, March 9, 1949. 
The other day. Paramount’s Sid Mesibov, company promotion director, asked if we wouldn’t like to look at a comic book. We agreed to witness the latest in the field, “Miss Beverly Hills,” which has to do with a non-existent girl and her adventures in Hollywood, on the motion picture sets, on location, etc. We weren’t very surprised to see that Alan Ladd and his latest release, “Whispering Smith,” had received more than a fair share of publicity in the first issue. Forthcoming issues also are to feature Paramount and its stars.

After laying the preliminary groundwork, we were whisked over to the editorial offices of the National Comics Publications, where, after bowing three times in the direction of a huge oil portrait of “Superman,” we were introduced to Larry Nadle, editor, “Miss Beverly Hills,” and others of the 30 different books put out by the organization, which has a circulation of some 60 million people. He told us how well the initial combination of a fan magazine plus a comic book had been received by some million readers, and we read a portion of the 4,000 letters received from readers from 8 to 50. Especially commendable were those which praised the book for providing proper reading for all audiences, and for the way that Hollywood was treated.

Paramount thinks that much value for the company, its films, stars, and, finally, for exhibitors, can be gained through this promotion, and we agree. Some gal, that “Beverly Hills.”
The 1950 census counted Nadle, his wife, and two sons, Bruce and Kenneth, in New York City at 45 Park Terrace West. Nadle was an editor and writer at a publishing company. 

Editor & Publisher, November 22, 1952, reported the upcoming I Love Lucy gag-a-day comic strip from King Fea­tures Syndicate. American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Nadle and Bob Oksner teamed up, under the pseudonym Bob Lawrence, to produce the I Love Lucy comic series which ran from December 8, 1952 to June 4, 1955. Editor & Publisher, January 24, 1953, said the series incorporated the real-life birth of Lucy’s son. 

1/19/1953


The Nero Wolfe comic strip ran from November 26, 1956 to July 13, 1957. In American Newspaper Comics, Alberto Becattini said Nadle wrote three weeks of the series. Ken Nadle said

… But if there was one thing he did that most impressed me, it was ghosting the syndicated strip Nero Wolfe. The creator of the famous detective character was also impressed. I have a letter from Rex Stout to my father stating, “Today I received the text for the 6th, 7th, and 8th weeks of the third daily sequence, have read and enjoyed it…”

Art Direction, June 1957, identified the people involved with the School of Industrial Art’s new location. The group included “Sol Harrison, Natl. Comics Publications”,  “Lawrence Nadel, art editor Superman DC Comics” and “Arthur Weiss, Terrytoons”.

Nadle passed away on December 26, 1963, in Lynbrook, New York according to the obituary in Newsday, December 27, 1963. He was survived by his wife, three sons, mother, and siblings Martin and Jean. The New York Times printed an obituary on December 28. 


Nadle was laid to rest at New Montefiore Cemetery. (Find a Grave has the wrong date.)

Further Reading
Grand Comics Database, Larry Nadle and Lawrence Nadle
Todd’s Blog, The DC Comics Offices 1930s–1950s Part 2DC Comics’ 1945 Christmas Party photograph includes Martin and Larry Nadle

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Martin Nadle


Martin Nadle was born on March 26, 1910, New York, New York according to his World War II draft card. His surname, Nadle, appeared on his early published work. On comic book material, he used the name Martin Naydel. By 1959, he was known as Martin Dell. 

Nadle’s paternal grandfather, Julius Nadle, submitted a naturalization petition, dated August 11, 1900 (at Ancestry.com). The petition said he was born on August 26, 1859 in Russia. On August 1, 1887, he arrived in New York City. Julius was naturalized on August 22, 1900.

The 1900 United States Census recorded Julius (a tailor), his wife, Johannah, and three sons, Joseph (age 15; Nadle’s father), Alexander (age 8) and Henry (age 6), in Manhattan at 242 East Houston Street.

The same address was in the 1905 New York state census. Joseph was a salesman.

On February 8, 1910, Joseph and Anna Gerler obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 3680. They married on February 15, 1910. 

The 1910 census, enumerated on April 22, counted the couple in Manhattan at 202 East Seventh Street. Joseph was a ribbon salesman. It’s curious that Nadle was not counted with his parents. 

The 1915 New York state census said four-year-old Nadle, his parents and brother, Lawrence, were Manhattan residents at 1968 Seventh Avenue. His father was a ribbon buyer.

On September 12, 1918, Nadle’s father signed his World War I draft card. His address was 3 West 116th Street in Manhattan.

The same address was on the 1920 census. In the household were Nadle (age 9), his parents, and brothers, Lawrence (age 6) and Henry (age 2).

In the 1925 New York state census, the Nadle family were Bronx residents at 643 Southern Boulevard. Nadle’s sister, Jean, was a year old.

It’s not known where Nadle attended high school and when he acquired his art training. 

On March 1, 1930, Nadle and Dorothy Hauser obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 3675. They married the same day according to the marriage certificate. At the time, artist Nadle was 19 years old but the certificate said 21. 

Evidently, the marriage was secret because Nadle and Dorothy were counted in their parents’ households. The 1930 census, enumerated on April 5, said newspaper cartoonist Nadle lived with his parents and siblings in the Bronx at 2105 Walton Avenue. (The address on the marriage certificate was 205 Walton Avenue.) Bookkeeper Dorothy was the second of four daughters born to David and Anna who lived in Brooklyn at 165 Washington Street.

Nadle and Dorothy had three sons: Stewart/Stuart (1933), Jeffrey (1935) and Arthur (1942–2004).

Nadle’s father passed away on October 9, 1935. 

When I was 16, my puzzle panel, “Kiddies Heaven” appeared in the old New York Evening Graphic. At 19, I drew a weekly puzzle strip, “Pogo and Pengy” for King Features Syndicate, followed by “The Noodleteaser Family” for the New York Post [July to October 1943] …

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Nadle was one of five artists who drew Asparagus Tipps. The series began with Irv Papp in 1926. He was followed by Nadle from 1926 to 1927. Graphic Syndicate handled the series. Pogo and Pengy ran from 1930 to December 28, 1931 and was produced for the Premier Syndicate. 

Nadle created The Adventures of Detective Ace King comic book for the Humor Publishing Corporation. An entry in the Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 1, Books, Group 2, New Series, Volume 30, Number 10, 1933 said 

Nadle (Martin) Adventures of detective Ace King, the American Sherlock Holmes. A story in cartoons. © Oct. 6, 1933; AA 131033; Humor pub. co. 29216

In Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History (2000), Ron Goulart said about Ace King:

This one-shot introduced one of the earliest detective characters created directly for comic books. Martin Nadle spelled his last name Naydell [sic] when he worked for DC Comics in the 1940s. 


Life, September 6, 1937, published two photographs of Nadle with puzzle maker F. Gregory Hartswick and artist Jesse Jacobs. 

Editor and Publisher, December 2, 1939, published an apology to Nadle who was confused with Martin Nadel of the New York Civil Service Commission. The magazine summarized Nadle’s career. 

Cartoonist Nadle, who was with Publishers Service approximately three years up until May 13 of this year, formerly did art work for the New York Daily News and a weekly puzzle strip for King Features Syndicate. For a time, he was staff artist on the old New York Evening Graphic and was with that paper when it suspended.

The 1940 census said Nadle was a widower and Dorothy was married. He lived with his parents in the Bronx at 2756 Creston Avenue. His highest level of education was two years of high school. The newspaper cartoonist earned $1,200 in 1939. Dorothy and two sons lived with her parents in Brooklyn at 165 Washington Street.

On October 16, 1940, Nadle signed his World War II draft card. His address changed from 165 Washington Street, Brooklyn to 37-15 81st Street, Jackson Heights, New York. Nadle’s employer was King Features Syndicate. He was described as five feet eleven inches, 195 pounds, with brown eyes and hair. Next of kin was his wife. Apparently Nadle and his wife were together again. 

In 1941, Nadle illustrated the Listen-Look Picture Book series for Music You Enjoy, Inc. The characters included The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Myrtle the Turtle, Little Black Sambo and Alice in Wonderland. 

According to the 1950 census, Nadle, his wife and three sons had the same address, 37-15 81st Street, in Jackson Heights. Nadle was a self-employed cartoonist producing material for comic book publishers. 

Evidently, Nadle’s son, Stuart, adopted the Naydel surname as printed in The New York Times, August 25, 1957. 

By 1959 Nadle’s name changed to Martin Dell. It was used in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 14, Part 1, Number 1, Books and Pamphlets, January–June 1960. 
Dell, Martin
Play Comicode and test your power of deduction. © Martin Dell; 23Dec59; A429128.
Editor & Publisher, September 2, 1961, said
Martin Dell Starts ‘Comicode’ Game
A syndicate has been formed to market a word puzzle game by a successful cartoonist and puzzle creator.

The syndicate: The Martin Dell Syndicate, Inc., 310 E. 44th St., New York 17, N. Y.
The puzzle: “Comicode.”
The creator: Martin Dell.
The starting date: Oct. 2.

“In achieving the lifelong ambition of setting out on my own, which is my present status, I am honestly proud to be able to offer the exhilarating Comicode as an opening wedge for the Martin Dell Syndicate,” said Mr. Dell. “Subsequently, I intend marketing other features outside the puzzle category.

In 1954, Mr. Dell created “Jumble … That Scrambled Word Game,” and produced it for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate up to last April 20, when his contract expired, terminating a seven-year affiliation. Mr. Dell, cartoonist and puzzle maker, has been the talent behind scores of newspaper puzzle contests all over the country and his work has appeared in many top magazines. …
Comicode and other puzzles were collected in Pocket Books’ 1963 paperbacks, Puzzle Fun and More Puzzle Fun. Samples are here, here and here

Nadle sued the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate over Jumble
Nadle’s brother, Lawrence, passed away on December 26, 1963, in Lynbrook, New York. He was an editor and writer at DC Comics. The Newsday obituary said the survivors included Nadle and their sister, Jean. 
Ken Nadle believed his uncle Martin died in 1965. The New York, New York Death Index, at Ancestry.com, has a Martin Dell who passed away on November 30, 1965 in New York City. 


Further Reading and Viewing
Alter Ego #72, September 2007, “Pens and Nadles” by Ken Nadle
Todd’s Blog, DC Comics’ 1945 Christmas Party photograph includes Martin and Larry Nadle 
Grand Comics Database, Martin Naydel
News from ME, BEJLMU
Jumble.com, About the Jumble…

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Vernon Greene

Vernon Van Atta Greene was born on September 12, 1908, in Battle Ground, Washington, according to Washington birth records at Ancestry.com and his World War II draft card. His parents were Albert Edward Greene and Letha Jane Van Atta (sometimes spelled Vanatta).

In the 1910 United States Census, Greene was the youngest of four siblings. The family included his paternal grandmother. They were residents of Eaton, Washington. Greene’s father was a farmer born in Canada. 

The 1920 census recorded the Greene family in Battle Ground, Washington. Their farm was on Aduddle Road. Three children were born after Greene.

Greene’s art training included the Federal School of Applied Cartooning correspondence courses. The Winter 1929 issue of the Federal Illustrator said 
Beginner Makes Good
Vernon Greene, upon securing his first position, wrote: “I am not a little conceited that I am the youngest newspaper artist in Portland. For over a year I made trips to Portland every chance I had to get away from the farm.”

Soon he reported progress as follows: “I have just finished my fifth week with the art staff of the Portland Telegram and, believe me, I am developing speed and ability.” A year later he added: 

“Two months ago I made the change from the Portland Telegram to the Beaver Engraving Company. I am doing very well and making twice as much financially as on the newspaper.”

In a recent letter, Mr. Green says: “And now, just a word about the course—anyone who is interested enough in making something of his talent to get in and take a course and put in all the spare time he has, or part of it, will make no mistake in taking the Federal Course.”

The Oregon Journal (Portland, Oregon), June 10, 1929, reported Greene’s move. 
Cartoonist Goes East
Ridgefield, June 10.—Vernon V. Greene, son of A.E. Greene of Battle Ground, a newspaper artist and cartoonist, left last week for Toledo, Ohio, where he will be connected with the art staff of the News-Bee, according to word received here. He was graduated from Battle Creek high school in 1926. He worked on a Portland paper and did art work for a commercial engraving concern in Portland.
According to the 1930 census Greene was a commercial artist working in Toledo, Ohio. He rented a room at 2221 Fulton. 

Federal Illustrator, Summer 1931
Greene attended Toledo University.
Standing: Greene is fifth from left. 1932 Blockhouse yearbook

The Federal Illustrator, Fall 1932, said
Vernon Greene reports from Cleveland that he is meeting the requirements of the Central Press Association and taking a test in various lines of newspaper illustration for the King Feature Service of New York. The acceptance of his syndicate feature illustrations will signalize his entry into the broader field of this affiliated organization. An example of Mr. Greene’s work is to be found on page 18.
The Hackensack Record (New Jersey), June 7, 1965, said Greene was a sports cartoonist at the Toledo Blade and later editorial cartoonist for the Central Press in Cleveland. In the 1930s he moved to New York City and worked for King Features, where he ghosted the strip, Polly and Her Pals, and produced editorial cartoons for Arthur Brisbane. Greene turned down George McManus’ invitation to be his assistant. In The Encyclopedia of American Comics (1990), Ron Goulart said Greene ghosted Polly and Her Pals from 1935 to 1940. 

On June 22, 1938, Greene and Paula T. Converse obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 12655. They married on July 16, 1938. The Toledo News-Bee (Ohio), July 25, 1938, reported their marriage. 
Of interest to Toledoans is the announcement of the marriage of Paula Thompson Converse, daughter of MRs. Harriett M.C. Converse of New York City, to Vernon Van Atta Greene also of New York, formerly of Toledo.
The wedding ceremony was performed Saturday, July 16, in Riverside Church Chapel, New York. The couple now is residing at 235 E. 22nd Street in that city.
Mr. Greene, who came to Toledo from Portland, Ore., attended the University of Toledo, and for a time was a member of The News-Bee art staff.
The couple were recorded in the 1940 census. They lived in Manhattan at 235 East 22nd Street. Greene had one year of college and was self-employed. In 1939 he earned $1,250.

On October 16, 1940, Greene signed his World War II draft card. His address was the same. He was described as five feet ten inches, 150 pounds, with gray eyes and blonde hair.

In The World Encyclopedia of Comics, Volume 1 (1976), Rick Marschall said Greene produced Charlie Conscript for Pic Magazine, and Mac the Med, a comic strip. Ideas submitted to Pic and illustrated by Greene appeared December 24, 1940; February 18, 1941; March 18, 1941; May 27, 1941; November 11, 1941; December 23, 1941; September 1, 1942; September 29, 1942; January 1, 1943; and May 11, 1943
Greene enlisted on January 12, 1943. The Hackensack Record said “he became a medical photographer for the then Army Air Force and was stationed at Kearns, Utah, A. F. Base. He was discharged as a sergeant” on September 28, 1945. 

The Sunday News (Ridgewood, New Jersey), September 19, 1948, reported Greene’s second marriage to Barbara May Bennett in New York City, September 18. His first marriage ended in divorce. The paper said
Mr. Greene was a sports cartoonist and comic strip artist who created the comic strip conception of “The Shadow.”

He was also editorial cartoonist for International News and feature cartoonist for Pic Magazine. He served in the air forces as a medical photographer and artist and is now illustrating while studying for his BA in philosophy at Columbia University. 
The 1950 census counted Greene, his wife and daughter in Manhattan at Stuyvesant Oval, 17th Street, apartment 10 H. He was a freelance artist doing art and photography. 

Greene was one of many cartoonists who visited U.S. military bases around the world. The following June 3, 1956 passenger list included Greene, Marjorie Johnson, Jerry Robinson, Michael Berry and Tony DePrita. 

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Greene drew The Shadow, written by Walter B. Gibson, from June 17, 1940 to June 20, 1942; Dean’s Bible Bee weekly panel, written by Don Orput, from 1945 to June 25, 1949; Bringing Up Father daily from 1955 to December 11, 1965; ghosted on Polly and Her Pals; and was an assistant on Blondie around 1963. Many of Greene’s comic book credits are at the Grand Comics Database. An overview of his career is at Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999

The Pacific Edition of Stars and Stripes, December 11, 1955, explained how Greene took over McManus’s strip Bringing Up Father aka Maggie and Jiggs. McManus passed away in October 22, 1954. 

The Pacific Edition of Stars and Stripes, May 9, 1957, reported the visit of Greene, Al Posen, Don Trachte Roy Crane and Hugh Hutton. 

For the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, Greene did a weekly radio interview series, The Cartoonist’s Art. Some of the interviewees were Tom Johnstone (March 9, 1962), Tom Gill (March 16, 1962), Harvey Kurtzman (March 23, 1962), Gregory D’Allessio and Hilda Terry (March 30, 1962).

The Hackensack Record said Greene was vice president of the National Cartoonist Society, and a member of the Newspaper Comics Council. 


According to Who Was Who in American Art (1998), Greene studied with artists Henry G. Keller, Oronzio Maldarelli, Peppino Mangravite, Dong Kingman, and others. 
Greene passed away on June 5, 1965, in East Orange, New Jersey. He was a resident of Wyckoff, New Jersey. Greene was laid to rest at Lewisville Cemetery

National Cartoonists Society Newsletter 9/1965

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Alden McWilliams

Alden Spurr McWilliams was born on February 2, 1916, in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to his World War II draft card. McWilliams’ parents were John McWilliams and Florence Spurr. 

The 1920 United States Census counted McWilliams and his parents in Greenwich. They lived on Parsonage Road near North Street. His father was a chauffeur and mother a musician and teacher.

In the 1930 census, McWilliams, his parents and sister, Faith, resided on Arch Street near Riverside in Greenwich. His father was a chemist at a laboratory and his mother a piano teacher. 

McWilliams’ National Cartoonists Society profile said he graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art. The 1937 Greenwich, Connecticut city directory listed McWilliams whose occupation was artist. In the late 1930s his first published work appeared in pulp magazines such as Flying Aces

McWilliams was one of several artists who worked at Dell Comics, an early entrant in comic book publishing. The art director was Oskar Lebeck. Many of McWilliams’ credits are at the Grand Comics Database and Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999

According to the 1940 census, McWilliams lived with his widow mother, sister and maternal grandmother at the same address in Greenwich. He had completed four years of high school and, in 1939, earned $1,100. 

On October 16, 1940, McWilliams signed his World War II draft card. He was employed by the Whitman Publishing Company in New York City. McWilliams was described as six feet one inch, 155 pounds, with blue eyes, blonde hair and freckles. 

He enlisted on October 1, 1942. At Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists, Dave Saunders said 

He fought in the Normandy D-Day invasion, for which he received the Bronze Star and French Croix de Guerre.

An obituary in The Comics Journal #158, April 1993 said 

He served throughout Europe and was present at the historic meeting of U.S. and Soviet troops on the banks of the Elbe River.

McWilliams’ veteran’s file said he served in the Army from October 15, 1942 to October 30, 1945.

The Daily Item (Port Chester, New York), December 17, 1945, said Ruth Linea Jensen was engaged to McWilliams. Their marriage was reported in the Standard-Star (New Rochelle, New York), April 12, 1946. 

Miss Ruth Linea Jensen daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Jensen of Greenwich, Conn. to Alden Spurr McWilliams son of Mrs. John McWilliams of Old Greenwich. The ceremony was performed Monday at the Jensen home and a reception followed at Pickwick Arms, Greenwich, Sunday in the rectory of St. Gabriel’s Church.

The 1950 census counted commercial artist McWilliams, his wife and son, Chris, in Darien, Connecticut at 33 Miles Road.

When Oskar Lebeck left Dell, he and McWilliams sold, in 1952, a science fiction comic strip, Twin Earths, to United Feature Syndicate

Editor & Publisher, 6/7/1952

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said the strip ran from June 16, 1952 to May 25, 1963. In John Stanley: Giving Life to Little Lulu (2017), Bill Schelly said 

… Lebeck scripted it until 1957, when McWilliams assumed scripting duties along with the art. 

Twin Earths was featured in Popular Science, January 1953. 

McWilliams and writer John Saunders produced Dateline: Danger for Field Enterprises. The strip ran from November 11, 1968 to March 17, 1974. According to American Newspaper Comics, McWilliams assisted on or ghosted many strips including Dan Flagg, Heart of Juliet Jones, Joe Jinks, Kerry Drake, On Stage, Rip Kirby, Secret Agent X-9, and Tim Tyler’s Luck.

McWilliams passed away on March 19, 1993, in Stamford, Connecticut. He was laid to rest at Putnam Cemetery. Obituaries were published in the Stamford Advocate and The New York Times


Further Reading and Viewing
Heritage Auctions, Twin Earths original art

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Oskar Lebeck


Oskar Albert August Lebeck was born on August 30, 1903, in Mannheim, Germany, according to his naturalization application and World War II draft card. His full name was on a baptism register which was transcribed at Ancestry.com.

At age 23, Lebeck departed from Hamburg, Germany and arrived in New York City on March 8, 1927.


On December 19, 1927, Lebeck and Ruth Seelig obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 35061, and married that day

The 1930 United States Census counted the couple in Forest Hills, Queens County, New York at 67104 Burns Street. He was a self-employed artist.
The 1933 New York, New York city directory had a listing for Lebeck in the Artists category. His address was 47 East 9th Street, apartment 1.

According to the 1940 census, Lebeck, his wife, daughter Letty, in-laws Karl and Gertrude Seelig, and a maid, resided in Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York at 36 Lexington Drive. Lebeck was an illustrator who had three years of college. In 1939 he earned $5,000.
The Citizen Register (Ossining, New York), December 13, 1941, reported Lebeck’s real estate purchase. 
… Oskar Lebeck of New York, art director of the Whitman Publishing Company, has purchased the residence of Mrs. Phillp G. Jessup in Old Post Road. The property includes half an acre of lawns and gardens enclosed by a high stone wall and is improved with a field stone dwelling of nine rooms and three baths with attached garage. Like several other stone houses in the Post oRad [sic] section, both house and boundary lines are overgrown with English ivy and Virginia creeper.

The sale was made by Margaret Lane of New York City in cooperation with her Croton associate, Edward H. Briggs. Mr. Lebeck intends to make this his year-round-residence.
On February 14, 1942, Lebeck signed his World War II draft card. His address was 126 Old Post Road in Croton. Lebeck’s employer was Western Printing & Lithograph Company in Poughkeepsie, New York. His description was six feet, 182 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.

At Dell Comics, Lebeck was the art director who worked with Walt Kelly, John Stanley, Jim Chambers, Bill Ely, Alden McWilliams, Dan Noonan, Morris Gollub, Ray Burley and others.
The Citizen Register, July 9, 1945, reported Lebeck’s sailing win.
Lebeck’s “Letty” Takes 1st Place in Wood Pussy Race at Shattemuc
Guests and members at Shattemuc saw Oscar Lebeck, 126 Old Post Road North, Croton, skipper of the sailboat “Letty,” with his crew, William E. Haley, also of Croton, take first place in the Wood Pussy class, … 
Lebeck’s vacation was noted in the Citizen Register, January 23, 1946.

Mr. and Mrs. Oskar Lebeck, 126 Old Post Rood, North, Croton, are spending an extended vacation in the Virgin Islands, expecting to do a good deal of sailing.

A photograph of Lebeck’s boat (left) appeared in the Citizen Register, July 5, 1946.

Lebeck has not yet been found in the 1950 census.

The 1950, 1951 and 1952 Poughkeepsie city directories listed K K Publications Inc. and its officers, including Lebeck who was one of three vice-presidents. 

After Lebeck left Dell, he and Alden McWilliams sold a science fiction comic strip, Twin Earths, to United Feature Syndicate

Editor & Publisher, 6/7/1952

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said the strip ran from June 16, 1952 to May 25, 1963. In John Stanley: Giving Life to Little Lulu (2017), Bill Schelly said 

… Lebeck scripted it until 1957, when McWilliams assumed scripting duties along with the art. 

Twin Earths was featured in Popular Science, January 1953. 

The Citizen Register, September 10, 1954, reported the sale of Lebeck’s property.
… The property at 126 Old Post Road, North, in Croton, formerly owned by Oskar Lebeck, was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Tamarin, formerly of 66 Cleveland Drive, Croton, and New York City.

Mr. Tamarin is advertising director at United Artists Corp and Mrs. Tamarin is an M. D. with offices in New York City. She specializes in child psychiatry.

The property consists of a seven-room stone colonial on an acre plot with a free-form swimming pool. Featured is a large living room with hand-hewn beamed ceiling, natural stone interior walls, fireplace, two-car garage and a panoramic Hudson River view.

The Tamarins have taken occupancy of their home, which will be their permanent residence. The property had been held at $39,500. Mr. and Mrs. Lebeck have purchased land in Scarborough and have recently completed a new ranch house, designed by Mr. Lebeck, and are presently occupying their new home there. …
At some point Lebeck and his wife moved. They were listed in the 1959 and 1960 Daytona Beach, Florida city directories at 5 Ellsworth Avenue in Ormond Beach. He was an artist. 

The couple moved again. The 1961 San Diego, California city directory listed them at 309 1/2 Bon Air. Lebeck was a salesman with Walden H. Staude, a real estate broker. (She was the girls physical education instructor at Scarborough School where Lebeck’s daughter graduated in 1950.) The San Diego Union, December 3, 1961, said Lebeck was a co-owner with Staude’s husband. 

Another permit, valued at $36,495, was issued to Gustave G. Staude and Oskar Lebeck, owners, for construction of 10 studio unit apartments at 7443 La Jolla Blvd.

The La Jolla Light, from April 5, 1962 to May 23, 1963, published real estate advertisements with Staude and Lebeck’s names. 

The 1962 and 1964 directories said Lebeck’s� address was 8368 Paseo del Ocaso in La Jolla. The 1965 directory is not available. 

The San Diego Union, April 24, 1965, published Lebeck’s letter to the editor. 
The listing in the 1966 directory said Lebeck was retired and resided at 1316 Park Row in La Jolla. 

Lebeck passed away on December 20, 1966, in La Jolla. 

Further Reading and Viewing
Maggie Thompson, Oskar Lebeck of Dell’s Golden Age
Mike Barrier, Oskar Lebeck, John Stanley & Friends 

A selection of books credited to Lebeck.

Chatterbox
Illustrated by Oskar Lebeck
Whitman Publishing Company, 1935

The Story of Terwilliger Jellico (Jelly for Short)
Oskar Lebeck
Grosset & Dunlap, 1935

Big Animal and Bird Paint Book
Drawings by Oskar Lebeck
Whitman Publishing Company, 1936

Birds, Flowers and Animals Coloring Book
Drawings by Oskar Lebeck
Whitman Publishing Company, 1936

Stop–Go: The Story of Automobile City
Oskar Lebeck
Grosset & Dunlap, 1936

Clemintina the Flying Pig
Story and Pictures by Oskar Lebeck
Grosset & Dunlap, 1939

Wizard of Oz
L. Frank Baum
Adaptation by Herbert F. Juergens
Illustrated by Oskar Lebeck
Grosset & Dunlap, 1939

Hurricane Kids on the Lost Islands
Oskar Lebeck and Gaylord DuBois
Illustrated by William Ely
Whitman Publishing Company, 1941

Rex King of the Deep
Oskar Lebeck and Gaylord DuBois
Illustrated by Alden McWilliams
Whitman Publishing Company, 1941

Stratosphere Jim and His Flying Fortress
Oskar Lebeck and Gaylord DuBois
Illustrated by Alden McWilliams
Whitman Publishing Company, 1941

Alice in Wonderland
Story adapted by Oskar Lebeck
Illustrated by Sheila Beckett
Dell Publishing Company, 1950

If I Were a Cowboy
Oskar Lebeck
Illustrated by Mel Crawford
Dell Publishing Company, 1950

Little Black Sambo
Oskar Lebeck
Illustrated by Tony Rivera
Dell Publishing Company, 1950

Strange Happenings at the Zoo
Oskar Lebeck
Illustrated by Louis Myers
Dell Publishing Company, 1950

The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Adapted by Oskar Lebeck
Illustrated by Tony Rivera
Dell Publishing Company, 1950

Teddy B.B.
Oskar Lebeck
Illustrated by Dan Noonan
Dell Publishing Company, 1950

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Frank Robbins

Franklin “Frank” Robbins was born on September 9, 1917, in Boston, Massachusetts, according to his World War II draft card and Social Security application (transcribed at Ancestry.com).

In the 1920 United States Census, Robbins was the only child of Archibald (salesman born in Russia) and Laura (born in Austria). They were Boston residents at 3144 Washington Street. 

… Robbins was a Grade-A prodigy of the drawing board in his native Boston at the age of four, won several art scholarships at 9, painted giant murals for his high school at 13 …

Who’s Who in American Art 1976 said Robbins studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School. 

The 1930 census counted twelve-year-old Robbins and his widow mother in Boston at 121 Chambers Street. 

In Famous Artists Robbins said
“I began life back of the North Station in Boston … precisely on the wrong side of the tracks! At fifteen [around 1933], my family came to New York, lived on the East Side and I began my professional career.”

After kicking around as errand boy in ad agencies, Frank, at the age of sixteen, came under the eagle eye of Edward Trumbull, well-known muralist. Trumbull was then color director of the Radio City project, and through him Frank met the architects and contractors for the buildings being erected. He immediately received commissions to do pencil portraits of all the architects and other personalities connected with the construction project. Upon completion of this lengthy and challenging job, Frank met the Rockefellers and received a grant from them to study and paint. A year later, in a studio given to him in the Graybar building, Frank was busy working on a series of mural sketches for the then proposed Children’s Broadcasting Studio in the RCA building. The sketches were approved when then NBC studios opened for a full schedule of broadcasting. Since the murals were to be painted directly on the walls this gave Frank the choice of working for three months in the wee hours between midnight and early dawn or forgetting the whole deal. Due to his health at the time Frank had to regretfully drop the project.
Art Digest, March 15, 1936, mentioned Robbins’ prize. 

… the Thomas B. Clarke prize of $100 was awarded to Franklin Robbins’ “Sixth Avenue ‘L’.”

In The World Encyclopedia of Comics, Volume 5 (1999), Maurice Horn said “In 1938 he flirted briefly with the comic book medium.” In The Encyclopedia of American Comics from 1897 to the Present (1990), Ron Goulart said Robbins “even put in time in Bert Whitman’s comic book shop.” 

In 1939, Robbins accepted the Associated Press’s offer to produce Scorchy Smith which began in 1930 with John Terry who was followed by Noel Sickles (1934), Bert Christman (1936) and Howell Dodd (1938). American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Robbins did the strip from May 22, 1939 to March 11, 1944 with a small gap in 1943 by other hands

In the Encyclopedia of American Comics, Goulart said 

At about the same time he’d been doing Scorchy Smith, Robbins also drew Lightnin’ and the Lone Rider, a thinly syndicated cowboy strip. This poor man’s Lone Ranger had originally been drawn by Jack Kirby.

According to the 1940 census, Robbins and his mother resided in Manhattan at 840 Third Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets. He was a freelance artist who had four years of high school. 

On August 20, 1940, Robbins, aboard the steamship Mexico, returned from Veracruz, Mexico to the port of New York. The passenger list said his address was 11 West 52nd Street in Manhattan.

Robbins signed his World War II draft card on October 16, 1940. His employer was the Associated Press. Robbins was described as five feet nine inches, 147 pounds, with brown eyes and hair. Apparently he did not serve during the war.

The Artists League of America’s 1943 exhibition, “This Is Our War”, was at the Wildenstein Galleries in New York. Robbins was one of 89 painters and 12 sculptors represented. His painting, “This Is Our War, Too”, was published in the Springfield Sunday Union and Republican (Massachusetts), March 7, 1943. (The painting was sold in 2019.)
American Newspaper Comics said Robbins was a ghost artist on The Green Hornet (1941) for the Bell Syndicate. For the King Features Syndicate, Robbins created the adventure strip Johnny Hazard. The daily and Sunday series ran from June 5, 1944 to August 20, 1977. Alberto Becattini says the strip was ghost written by Howard Liss from 1951 to 1971, and Jack Kirby drew six weeks of dailies in 1956. 

On April 30, 1945, Robbins and Bertha Greenstein obtained, in Manhattan, marriage license number 10025. Robbins’ lettering is evident on the affidavit. They married on May 17.

Famous Artists said

Frank is now married, and his lovely wife, Berta, helps him on research and the more pleasant matters of life. “Frankly,” Frank confided to me, “Any similarity between my comic strip heroines and my wife are pure coincidence!”

National Cartoonists Society

On October 15, 1947, Robbins and his wife flew on American Airlines from Mexico City to San Antonio, Texas. Their address on the passenger list was 418 West 20th Street in Manhattan.

The same address was recorded in the 1950 census. Robbins, his wife and son, Michael, lived on the second floor.  

Robbins and his wife departed New York, January 20, 1951, aboard the steamship Queen of Bermuda for a week’s vacation in Bermuda. Their address was 10 West 86th Street. 

Robbins was one of 239 cartoonists in the 1951 exhibition, “American Cartooning”, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A photograph of Robbins, at the museum, was published in the Daily Bulletin (Endicott, New York), May 29, 1951. 
On September 9, 1953, Robbins took his family on a two-month vacation in Europe. They sailed on the steamship Ile de France bound for Le Havre, France.

Robbins’ 1954 painting “Orchestra” was accepted in the 1955 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The catalog said Robbins lived at 285 Central Park West in Manhattan. Who’s Who said Robbins’ paintings were exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, National Academy of Design, and Audubon Artists in 1957 and 1958. 

Something About the Author, Volume 32 (1983) said Robbins’ magazine illustrations appeared in Life, Look, Cosmopolitan and The Saturday Evening Post

In the 1970s, Johnny Hazard appeared in fewer newspapers which affected Robbins’ income. He found work in comic books, first at DC then Marvel. Johnny Hazard ended in August 1977. Robbins’ final comic book contributions appeared in 1979. He and his second wife, Ida Hecht, whom he married in 1977, moved to Mexico. She passed away on January 27, 1989 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Co-incidentally, Robbins’ first wife passed away the same year on March 4 (Social Security Death Index). 

Robbins’ third wife, Fran, was interviewed in Comic Book Creator #1, Spring 2013.
“I taught English there,” she said. “I met Frank while I was directing a play reading of Amadeus.”

“His wife had died two years before I met him … We were together for about five years. We had a wonderful marriage. It was a big loss when he died, let me tell you.”
In addition to his artistic talent, Robbins was an audiophile according to Fran.

“We had a sound system that was second to none. … He created a single cone speaker that was astonishing. It was very pure sound, very clear. wonderful, wonderful. He knew a lot about sound. He had boxes and boxes of research about sound.”

Robbins passed away on November 28, 1994 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He was laid to rest at Panteón de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe


Further Reading and Viewing
News from ME, About Frank Robbins – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
More Heroes of the Comics: Portraits of the Legends of Comic Books (2016)

Fabulous Fifties, Frank Robbins’ comics and advertising

Art Digest, May 1951, Met Surveys U.S. Cartooning
Invaluableoriginal comics art and paintings

Heritage Auctions, Frank Robbins original art
Syracuse University, Frank Robbins Cartoons

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Burne Hogarth

Burne Hogarth was born Bernard Spinoza Ginsburg in Chicago, Illinois on December 25, 1911, according to a profile at AskArt: “…Burne Hogarth was my father’s brother, thus I am his niece. He was born Bernard Ginsburg in Chicago, Illinois, on December 25, 1911, though he spent most of his life living in Pleasantville, New York…” At Ancestry.com, his full name was found in a Tuley High School yearbook, The Log 1928.

In the 1920 United States Census, he was the youngest  of two sons born to Max and Pauline, both Russian emigrants. They lived in Chicago at 1252 North Campbell Avenue; an older sister, in the 1910 census, had moved out of the household. His father was a carpenter in a cabinet ship. At At BurneHogarth.com Rafael Alvarez posted his biography of Hogarth and said

…Max kept those sketches and took them and his young son to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1924. Burne was accepted as a student at age 12. By age 15, he was an assistant cartoonist at Associated Editors’ Syndicate. He flourished at the Institute and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts….Burne graduated high school at the dawn of the Great Depression….

Comics Scene, #5, September 1982, interviewed Hogarth; here are a few excerpts: 
Comics Scene: Give us a capsule history of your career and early background. You graduated from the Chicago Art Institute?

Burne Hogarth: No, I didn’t, as a matter of fact, I went to the Institute but it was only a kind of supplemental activity while I was really in the process of going to high school and at the same time doing art work.

I went to the Art Institute, started Saturday classes, at the age of 12 [1924]. My father thought that I had sufficient material to be able to enroll in classes like that and so he took down a bundle of stuff one day, on a Saturday, and said “Let’s go see what they will think about this.” And they accepted me—so that’s how my training began. Later I went to the Institute taking special courses, but I didn’t enroll in any formal classes. I couldn’t because we were not an affluent family and [the world] was headed into what was later to be known as the Great Depression.

CS: When did you know you had a talent for cartooning?

BH: Very early, when I was a kid, about four. My father would sit and design furniture and cabinets—he was a carpenter and cabinet maker—and I would ask for my own piece of paper and pencil. And when I would say, “What should I draw?” he would push a cartoon under my nose and say “Here, draw this.” So the cartoon became a kind of focus of attention.

CS: What happened after you left the Art Institute?

BH: I enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago. There I studied further drawing and then cartooning as another side of that. That’s when I met a cartoonist who was working for a syndicate and other people who were working for newspapers, and we used to get heavily into what syndication was all about…deadlines and magazines and doing samples and taking them around. I did gags and editorial cartoons, illustrations and that was all part of my portfolio.

I used to take this around and get some jobs in magazines and at the same time worked at odd jobs like driving a truck, selling newspapers and shoes—nothing was too high, too low, or too intermediate to do, because there was obviously an economic necessity.

One of the people I met at the Academy introduced me to one of the syndicates. I worked (for them) in his studio and I was his assistant. I was just an apprentice. I used to come in and sweep up. I learned lettering and I learned also there’s something about the craft of doing work on deadlines. And more than anything else I learned how to use pen, brush, different media and all sorts of things in a very professional way. Maybe two and a half, three years later I sold my first feature to Bonnet Brown.
Many sources called the studio “Barnet Brown” but there was no such company. The Bonnet-Brown Company was mentioned in The Economist, March 13, 1915; Certified List of Domestic and Foreign Corporations for the Year 1920; and The Miami Daily News, October 12, 1926. 

Hogarth was interviewed in the Comics Journal, #166, February 1994, and at age 15, he produced artwork for Associate Editors’ Syndicate’s panels The Sportiest Act I Ever Saw and Famous Churches of the World. He attended Tuley High School although it’s not clear when he graduated. Chicago Public Schools’ CPSAlumni.org website (currently closed) said he was in the class of 1929. The Log 1929, which is available at Memory Lane’s Classmates.com section, does not list or mention Bernard Spinoza Ginsburg. He was the art editor of the 1928 yearbook but it has no picture of him. He signed his name “Hog III” or “Hogarth”; below are pages with his art, photo of the drawing room, and the yearbook staff credits.

Hogarth has not been found in the 1930 census. According to a family tree at Ancestry.com, his father passed away in 1930. Hogarth tried the correspondence courses of the Federal School. 

Federal Illustrator, Summer 1931

Federal Illustrator, Fall 1931
see second column, Story Illustration
Second Prize, $10

Federal Illustrator, Winter 1931–1932
Second Prize, Story Illustration
A decorative pen-and-ink, by Bernard Ginsburg, apparently
illustrating the “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,” took second prize.
It is somewhat in the manner of Rackham, but does not, however,
appear to be in imitation of that master of the grotesque. 

In the Comics Scene interview, Hogarth said he sold his first series to Bonnet-Brown, a commercial art studio, and it was called

Ivy Hemmanhaw. It was one panel, humorous gags about Americana. I was just 18 [1930]. It lasted about a year and then I went on to teach in the Emergency Educational Program, which came along about the time I was 20–21 [1932–1933], and I went to school, too. I went to Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and studied psychology, anatomy, sectional anatomy, and then things altered. The Depression got worse and under the urging of friends who had relocated to New York, I made my foray into the field in New York, into the syndicate field, very quickly—and that became the start of a whole new and different part of my life.

Around 1934, Hogarth moved to New York City. According to the 1940 census, he had lived there since 1935. In the Comics Journal interview, he said he visited, on a friend’s advice, King Features and found work. He met Lymon Young who offered him an assistant’s position on Tim Tyler’s Luck because his current assistant, Alex Raymond, was leaving. After two summer months of penciling in Greenwich, Connecticut, he quit and returned to New York. At the McNaught Syndicate he met Charles Driscoll who liked his work and considered him for an Albert Payson Terhune dog project. Hogarth got the job but soon was reassigned to Pieces of Eight, which was written by Driscoll. Hogarth recalled the research involved to produce accurate historical drawings: 

…Well, I want to tell you, I started work in February. It was agonizing. I spent 11 hours every day, half the time in the library, and I’d be sitting up nights and working incessantly, and by the end of the week I’d be drained. I’d send this stuff off to the syndicate…I lived the life of a monk in that period….” In the fall, the syndicate decided to end the strip. Hogarth said, “…‘Thank God this thing is over! I’m through with it’. The pirate strip was the heaviest chore I ever carried. And I was glad it as over.

Two weeks of his Pieces of Eight can be viewed here and here

On February 29, 1936. Hogarth and Rhoda Simons were married in Manhattan. 

In the winter of 1937 Hogarth visited United Features and learned that Hal Foster was leaving the Tarzan strip. Hogarth accepted the invitation to submit samples. Later he learned he got the assignment because the United Features general manger could not tell the difference between his and Foster’s work. His first Sunday page appeared May 9, 1937 and the last on November 25, 1945. A dispute with the syndicate led to Hogarth’s departure. After Tarzan, he produced the strip, Drago, for the Robert Hall Syndicate.

#533,10/12/1941; Russ Cochran’s Graphic Gallery #6

#633, 4/25/1943; Russ Cochran’s Comic Art Auction #44

#665, 12/5/1945; Russ Cochran’s Comic Art Auction #42

#666, 12/12/1945; Russ Cochran’s Comic Art Auction #42

#859, 8/24/1947; Russ Cochran’s Comic Art Auction #28

#911, 8/22/1948; Russ Cochran’s Graphic Gallery #6

4/21/1946; Russ Cochran’s Comic Art Auction #36

In the 1940 census, Hogarth lived at 26 West 74th Street in New York City. On October 16, 1940, Hogarth signed his World War II draft card which had his updated address. His description was five feet nine inches, 177 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair.
The Manhattan Telephone Directory 1942 had his home address at 66 West 88th Street. His business address was 2091 Broadway in the 1945 directory. 

In the Comics Journal #167, April 1994, when asked how the School of Visual Arts started, he said around 1945 war veterans began contacting him for cartooning advice. He would invite them to his apartment, on Saturdays, to give advice and do demonstrations. To accommodate the growing number of veterans, he looked around his neighborhood and found space at a private secondary school, which was a high school. There he met Silas Rhodes, an English teacher, who suggested that he open a school. Hogarth asked what was involved and Rhodes explained the procedures. Hogarth recalled that he rented a loft on 72nd Street and Broadway and called it the Academy of Newspaper Art. A search of that name produced nothing, however, a series of small advertisements for the Cartoonists & Illustrators Center appeared in October 1945 issues of the New York Post.

New York Post 10/10/1945

LEARN CARTOONING
With One of the Leading
Cartoonists in the Field
BURNE HOGARTH
OF “TARZAN” FAME
Classes Start October 16th, Eves. & Saturdays
Write for Information NOW!
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
2091 Broadway, New York, 23, N.Y.

New York Post 10/19/1945

PLAN YOUR CAREER NOW
Learn Cartooning with
BURNE HOGARTH
The demand for original cartoonists grows daily.
Comprehensive course in cartooning and illus-
trating. Special courses for advanced students.
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
BURNE HOGARTH (of Tarzan Fame, Dir.)
2091 Broadway at 72nd St.  TRafalgar 4-6616

New York Post 10/26/1945

LEARN CARTOONING With BURNE
HOGARTH of “TARZAN” fame. New complete
intensive course for beginners and ad-
vanced students.
Cartoonist & Illustrators Center
2091 B’way (72nd St. N.Y.C.) TR 4-6616

When the Center outgrew the loft space, Hogarth found space at a secondary school that opened in the evenings. There he could easily add classrooms as needed. In 1946, nearly identical advertisements ran in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 10, and Arts Magazine, February 15. 

Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2/10/1946

LEARN CARTOONING
With A Leading Cartoonist
BURNE HOGARTH
of “TARZAN” fame
Now is the time to get
into the cartooning field!
Learn the technique of
newspaper and magazine
panel gags — sport car-
toons — comic strips —
caricature advertising
comic illustrations.
Classes: SATURDAYS ONLY
(Mornings & Afternoons)
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SCHOOL
246 West 80 N.Y.C. SC 4-3232

The Center was certified by the State Education Department, in 1947, and renamed the Cartoonists and Illustrators School. The New York Times, January 19, 1956, said the school opened August 20, 1947. The school was mentioned in the Post, November 10, 1947.

Classes are still forming at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, 112 W. 89th St., it was announced by Silas H. Rhodes, director. Nationally prominent cartoonists and illustrators, headed by Burne Hogarth, illustrator of “Tarzan,” comprise the faculty and lecturing staff.

During Hogarth’s absence, Ruben Moreira had been drawing the Tarzan Sunday page from December 2, 1945 to August 3, 1947. According to ERBzine Hogarth returned to Tarzan for the next three years, from August 10, 1947 to August 20, 1950. And for about four months, he also worked on the Tarzan daily from September 1, 1947 to January 3, 1948. Miracle Jones was short-lived strip he produced in 1947, a very busy year.

At the Silver Lantern site (currently inaccessible), Sy Barry recalled visiting Hogarth’s apartment: 
…When I got to meet Bernie Hogarth, I went up to his studio, which was in his apartment. My brother [Dan Barry] had an apartment like that later on.

You would go into the main area of the apartment and it was one step down into the living room area, but there was also a staircase at the end of the living room that went upstairs to the bedrooms, in an apartment house, believe it or not. I don’t know how they designed this thing, but it was really remarkable. So you’d go up the staircase and there’d be a landing there and that landing would take you into the bedrooms. Then in one of the upstairs bedrooms was his studio. It was this beautiful, brightly lit studio and it was on Central Park West.

It was a beautiful apartment and of course he was very wealthy. He’d written anatomy books and he taught and of course they paid him very handsomely on the Tarzan daily. Trust me, he was very well paid, especially for those Sunday strips. He was a brilliant guy….
Hogarth and Rhodes were accused of being Communists, as reported January 19, 1956, in the Long Island Star Journal (below) and other papers. Both men invoked the Fifth Amendment. Later that year, the Cartoonists and Illustrators School was renamed the School of Visual Arts
Suburbia Today, June 12, 1983, profiled Hogarth’s second wife, Connie and said:
…By the mid-1950s she had met artist Burne Hogarth, famous as the man who drew the Tarzan comic strip. They soon married and had two children….

…In 1962, the Hogarths moved from their Queens apartment in search of more space for the boys and a studio for Burne. In Mount Pleasant [New York], they found a fortress of a house, resembling something out of Charles Addams…. 

…Her personal life has also become a testing ground. She and Burne were divorced last year….
The University of Chicago Magazine, October 2006, published the following sequence of events:

…In 1953 she married cartoonist Burne Hogarth, who drew the Tarzan comic strip (1937–50) and founded the art school that became New York’s School for the Visual Arts. Soon after son Richard was born in 1956 and son Ross in 1959, the Hogarths moved to suburban Westchester County, which had a reputation for good public schools. (She and Burne divorced in 1981, and nine years ago she married Art Kamell, a longtime activist and former labor lawyer.)

The Dispatch (Lexington, North Carolina), November 9, 1963, published Hogarth’s article, “Our American Art Heritage.” 

In 1970 he retired from the School of Visual Arts due to differences with Rhodes. He continued to teach at Parsons School of Design. 
Hogarth returned to Tarzan by producing two books, Tarzan of the Apes (1972) and Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1976). His first book, Dynamic Anatomy, was published in 1958. Following it were Drawing the Human Head (1965), Dynamic Figure Drawing (1970), Drawing Dynamic Hands (1977), Dynamic Light and Shade (1981), Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery (1988), and The Arcane Eye of Hogarth (1992).

In the early 1980s he settled in Los Angeles, California, where he taught at the Otis School and Art Center College of Design. Hogarth was a guest at the 1984 San Diego Comic-Con (below). 
Souvenir Program Book

After attending the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, Hogarth suffered a heart-attack in Paris and passed away on January 28, 1996. 

In 2017 Hogarth entered the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame. 
(An earlier profile was posted in 2015.)

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: LaVerne Harding

Seattle Daily Times 5/12/1935


Emily LaVerne “Verne” Harding was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 10, 1905, according to Who’s Who in California, Volume 9 (1971). Harding’s full name was found at Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999Women in ComicsFind a Grave, and the California Death Index at Ancestry.com. Her parents were John Burruss Harding of Louisiana and Pearle Wadley of Arkansas. Harding was a descendant of Daniel Boone.

In the 1910 United State Census, Harding and her parents resided in Kensett, Arkansas, at the Doniphan Lumber Camp on Red River. Her father was a bookkeeper for a mill company.

According to the 1920 census, Harding was the oldest of four children. The family of six lived at 1346 89th Street in Gardena, Los Angeles County, California. Her father was a cotton farmer.

Who’s Who in California said Harding graduated in 1924 from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. 

The Harding family was at the same address in the 1930 census. Harding’s father was a desk clerk at the county jail. 

Who’s Who in California said Harding began work at “Walter Lantz Productions” in 1931. However, Who’s Who in Animated Cartoons said she started there in 1932, after attending the Chouinard Art Institute. Harding was an inker, then an in-betweener assisting other animators. In 1934 she was promoted to a full-fledged animator. Some of the characters Harding animated were Woody Woodpecker, Andy Panda, Wally Walrus, Oswald the Rabbit, and Chilly Willy. Later in her career, Harding worked with other animation studios including Hanna-Barbera, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Warner Bros., and Filmation Associations.

According to Who’s Who in California, Harding drew Cynical Susie which began in 1930 in the Los Angeles Daily News. The Daily News, April 18, 1931, published the Cynical Susie panel below.

The Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 4, Works of Art, Etc., New Series, Volume 27, 1932, Number 1, had this entry: 

Sharp (Becky) and Harding (Verne) 2211
Cynical susie. © Jan. 30, 1932; K . 16050.

The Daily News, July 2, 1932, announced new features including Cynical Susie. The July 4, 1932 edition said the new features would begin on July 6. Unfortunately that issue is missing. The earliest available Cynical Susie is July 9, 1932 (below). The last available strip in the Daily News appeared on August 31, 1934. (Over 550 strips are available here.) 

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said United Features Syndicate picked up the strip for national syndication in 1933. Cynical Susie was written by Becky Sharp the pseudonym of Helen Sharp. Harding drew the strip into September 1935. In January 1936, Bernard Dibble did the art and writing chores to August 7, 1937. Apparently, Harding was unable to maintain the workload of producing the strip and her animation duties. She withdrew from the strip. 

The Spring 1994 issue of Animation Journal revealed a contract that named a third person, O. Jean Brittan, who was involved in the ownership of Cynical Susie. It’s not known how or when Harding, Sharp and Brittan met and became partners in the Cynical Susie property. 

The Federal Illustrator was the quarterly publication of the Federal Schools, Inc. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Students studied at the school or through correspondence. Animation was featured in the Spring 1933 issue and said

Another student of outstanding ability specializing in animated art is Miss LaVerne Harding, of the Universal Studio, where she is employed on the Oswald feature. Miss Harding is co-author and artist in the “Cynical Susie Sez” comic distributed by the Los Angeles News. Miss Harding’s feature bids fair to hold an outstanding position among the newspaper comics, as the “Susie” fans protest vigorously if it is omitted from the paper a single issue. The Toronto Star Syndicate is handling the feature in Canada. 

A 1938 Los Angeles city directory listed Harding as an artist at “1346 W 89th”. Her address in the 1940 census was 2340 Lake View Avenue in Los Angeles. The cartoonist’s 1939 income was $3,150. Harding was a motion picture studio cartoonist in the 1950 census which recorded the same address. 

Harding was profiled in the Daily News on January 6, 1954. 

Who’s Who in California said Harding produced material for the Whitman Publishing Company. Some of her comic book credits are hereWho’s Who mentioned Harding’s hobbies of steel guitar and Hawaiian music, and for recreation she traveled to Europe.

Harding passed away September 25, 1984, at her home in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. Her death was reported in the Los Angeles Times on the 29th. 


(An earlier profile was posted in 2017.)

3 comments on “Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: LaVerne Harding

  1. Filmation Productions a defunct animation studio established in 1963 by the late Lou Scheimer Hal Sutherland and company they created animated cartoons and TV shows until its closed in 1989 & now defunct studio was acquired by Universal Studios and Hallmark Media Studios.

  2. Lou Scheimer (1928-2013) American producer director animator and screenwriter founder of now defunct Filmation Productions the former animation studio based in Reseda California USA.

  3. I am the fan of classic animated cartoons and comicbooks in popular media throughout the world.😀🤗😃🙂😎😇⭐🙏🕊👼🎭🎬🎥📽🖥💻📺🇺🇸🇵🇭🇰🇷🇯🇵

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