The First "Tony the Tiger"

Just caught this blog post by Nate Pacheco showing proto 1955-62 Tony the Tiger art.

THE LAND UNKNOWN by Alex Toth

Alex Toth is one of the giants of the comic book business and his career -- whether it was Hanna Barbera character designs, Hot Wheels comic strip ads, or his hand-written postcards to friends -- is always worth paying attention to. Here is the complete THE LAND UNKNOWN via the Hairy Green Eyeball blog. It's a movie adaptation Dell comic book from 1957 and it's full of dinosaurs and helicopters and sweaty men and women in danger. It's also full of great composition, use of black spotting and fearless, clear drawing. In other words: typical great Toth!

Who Drew This?

On May 16, 2008, we had a "Who Drew This?" entry and not only was the artist identified, but the artist's granddaughter wrote in to confirm. My thanks to all who made comments or emailed me.

Now, two months later, we have a lovely color advert for Phillips 66 from 1966 that a Master's Thesis student is trying to ID.

So ... who drew the below cartoons?


One guess is "Buck" Brown, best known for his Playboy cartoon work. But I don't know enough about advertising art to know and I'm hopeful there's someone out there who will either leave a comment or email me so we can help solve the mystery. There's something about that cowboy's profile and expression that looks darn familiar to me. I'm wondering if whoever did this also freelanced for Mad Magazine.

Thanks in advance for your time, everyone ....

Who Drew This?

A colleague is preparing a Masters Thesis on character trademarks and advertising in pioneer tire companies.

While researching Fisk Tires Co., he found the above cartoon ad from 1942.

Can anyone ID the signature? It's there in the lower left hand corner ("Galpert?"), but it's not legible.

Comic Strip Ads

I like Leif Peng's Today's Inspiration blog more and more.

This past week he's showcased comic strips used in advertising. Click away at some of the great art and insights in case you missed this week:

• Comic Strip Ads - Delight of the Morons
• Comic Strip Ads: Something for Everyone?
• Comic Strip Ad Artist Tom Scheuer
• Meanwhile, On the West Coast...
• Smokin' Comic Strip Ads!

1964 Cartoon Booklet THE ART OF LIVING WITH YOURSELF - UPDATED -

Johnny C.'s A Hole in the Head blog presents a 1964 cartoon booklet The Art of Living With Yourself ... and Others.

This booklet is from a series made by The Mental Health Society of Chicago for the Western Electric Company. The cartoon art looks like it came out of any big advertising firm in the early 1960s. Once you rip away the funny art, I agree with Johnny: it's the same good management skills that people are told now -- except with PowerPoint bullet points instead of fun cartoons!

Thanks for sharing this, Johnny!

UPDATE: Dirk Deppey, whose eyes are keener than mine, notes via Journalista! that the book bears the signature of Eisner studio alum Klaus Nordling.