Wednesday, May 13, 2020

From the 1990s: Cartoonists Answer 20 Questions

Here's an oddity. From the 1990s: Cartoonists Answer 20 Questions.
In late 1995 and early 1996 someone named Chris asked cartoonists to fill out a 20 question questionnaire. This is why EVERYONE is asked "O.J. innocent or guilty?" in addition to "who is your favorite cartoonist, etc."
I pulled these off an eBay seller. I have no idea about the background of these pages, but since none look folded to post in the mail, I would guess that they were filled out at an event or two, with "Chris" personally approaching the cartoonists to fill these out.

Bil Keane (1922-2011), who cites Clare Briggs as an inspiration and hopes that his son Jeff will "carry on the ["Family Circus"] feature."


Brad Anderson (1924- 2015), who drew the "Marmaduke" panel from 1954 until he passed away at the of of 91, says his favorite all-time cartoonist is H.T. Webster.


Brian Basset's ("Red and Rover," and "Adam@Home") favorite cartoonist is Bill Watterson and favorite all-time cartoonist is Charles Schulz.


Brian Crane who, when asked about retiring "Pickles," responds "I hope not."



Creator of 9 Chickweed Lane, Brooke McEldowney, went to Juilliard.


Bud Blake (1918 - 2005), creator of the long running "Tiger" comic strip (1965 - 2004), whose favorite movie TV show is one that I cannot make out. Any guesses? (EDIT: Oops. The movie, "Ring of Bright Water," I CAN make out. It's the TV show that I can't fathom. "Cabers?" "Cybers?" I'm lost.)


Dan Piraro, whose newspaper cartoon panel "Bizarro" has been in syndication since 1985. In 2018, Wayno took over the daily duties, with Dan creating the Sunday edition.


Dave Graue (1926 - 2001), who was hired at V.T. Hamlin's assistant on "Alley Oop" in 1950, took the caveman comic strip over in 1971. He was assisted by Jack Bender, and retired in 2001. Tragically, he was killed in a traffic accident four months later.


Editorial cartoonist and "Dick Tracy" artist Dick Locher (1929 - 2017).


The one and only Jeff MacNelly (1947 - 2000).


Jeff Shesol, who drew "Thatch" from 1994 to 1997, is an historian, former speechwriter for President Clinton, and is now a partner in the Washington, DC firm West Wing Writers, a speechwriting and strategy firm.


John McPherson, creator of the long-running "Close to Home" cartoon panel.


Mark O'Hare, who drew a short-lived terrific strip called "Citizen Dog," is now best known as a writer and artist for animated TV shows like "Rocko's Modern Life," "Ren and Stimpy," "Spongebob" and many more. He won Emmys for his work on "Camp Laszlo."


Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich.


Pat Brady has been drawing the comic strip "Rose is Rose" since 1993.


Ray Billinglsey's long-running "Curtis" comic strip has been syndicated by King Features for 31 years.


Reg Smythe (1917 - 1998) whose popular "Andy Capp" (1957 - present) strip was syndicated in the UK and US. The feature continues with Lawrence Goldsmith and Sean Garnett writing, and Roger Mahoney drawing.


Ron Ferdinand draws the Sunday pages of the "Dennis the Menace" panel.


Stan Drake (1921 - 1997) is best known for the soap opera comic strip "The Heart of Juliet Jones," which he created in 1953 with writer Eliot Caplin. He stayed on the strip until 1989, devoting his time to Blondie, which he had done art chores for since 1984. (Sorry for the low res.)


Steve Moore has been drawing the sports comic "In the Bleachers" since 1985, and is also known for the animated movies "Open Season" and the "Alpha and Omega" films.


1 comment:

Bob Buethe said...

Fascinating facts! I'm pretty sure that Bud Blake was trying to write "Cheers," but it looks like his pen was fighting back.