Cartoonist Johnny Hart, Creator of 'B.C., ' Dies

[Brownian Motion]

The New York Times

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April 8, 2007

Cartoonist Hart, Creator of 'B.C., ' Dies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:22 p.m. ET

ENDICOTT, N.Y. (AP) -- Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning ''B.C.'' comic strip appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers worldwide, died at his home on Saturday. He was 76.

''He had a stroke,'' Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. ''He died at his storyboard.''

''B.C.,'' populated by prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs, was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate, Inc., which distributes it.

After he graduated from Union-Endicott High School, Hart met Brant Parker, a young cartoonist who became a prime influence and co-creator with Hart of the ''Wizard of Id'' comic strip.

Hart enlisted in the Air Force and began producing cartoons for Pacific Stars and Stripes. He sold his first freelance cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post after his discharge from the military in 1954.

Later in his career, some of Hart's cartoons had religious themes, a reflection of his own Christian faith. That sometimes led to controversy.

A strip published on Easter Sunday in 2001 drew protests from Jewish groups and led several newspapers to drop the strip. The cartoon depicted a menorah transforming into a cross, with accompanying text quoting some of Jesus Christ's dying words. Critics said it implied that Christianity supersedes Judaism.

Hart said he intended as a tribute to both faiths.

Besides his wife, Hart is survived by two daughters, Patti and Perri. He was a native of Endicott, about 135 miles northwest of New York City, and drew his comic strip at a studio in his home there until the day he died.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

''He had a stroke,'' Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. ''He died at his storyboard.''

wow. RIP.

[paul secor]

''He had a stroke,'' Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. ''He died at his storyboard.''

wow. RIP.

When I read that Johnny Hart died at his storyboard, I thought about Warne Marsh. Both men died while doing what they lived for.

[Big Al]

''He had a stroke,'' Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. ''He died at his storyboard.''

wow. RIP.

When I read that Johnny Hart died at his storyboard, I thought about Warne Marsh. Both men died while doing what they lived for.

Amen to that. RIP, Johnny.

[7/4]

''He had a stroke,'' Hart's wife, Bobby, said on Sunday. ''He died at his storyboard.''

wow. RIP.

When I read that Johnny Hart died at his storyboard, I thought about Warne Marsh. Both men died while doing what they lived for.

Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that...

[Alexander]

Sorry to hear that he's dead. Not sorry to hear that there won't be any more "B.C." comics. That comic SUCKED. It was bad enough in its earlier incarnation, but when the serious Christian commentary came in, it became intolerable (of course, I read it every day in order to get pissed off at it). Glad his work made him happy. Glad I won't have to look at it any more.

[7/4]

Sorry to hear that he's dead. Not sorry to hear that there won't be any more "B.C." comics. That comic SUCKED. It was bad enough in its earlier incarnation, but when the serious Christian commentary came in, it became intolerable (of course, I read it every day in order to get pissed off at it). Glad his work made him happy. Glad I won't have to look at it any more.

Dance on his grave Alexander.

[Alexander]

Sorry to hear that he's dead. Not sorry to hear that there won't be any more "B.C." comics. That comic SUCKED. It was bad enough in its earlier incarnation, but when the serious Christian commentary came in, it became intolerable (of course, I read it every day in order to get pissed off at it). Glad his work made him happy. Glad I won't have to look at it any more.

Dance on his grave Alexander.

You need to understand the depth of my loathing for that strip. I wasn't indifferent to it, as I am to "Hi and Lois," for example. I actively HATED it. When my local paper pulled the brilliant "Pearls Before Swine" in order to introduce a new strip called "Grand Avenue" a few years back, I wrote in and angrily campaigned for the return of "Pearls" (which is wonderfully offensive, the very reason they pulled it) and demanded that "B.C." be yanked in its stead. They did bring back "Pearls," but only dropped "B.C." on Sundays (an irony that I relished). I guess I can understand people who have some sort of nostalgiac fondness for a strip, but I've always thought that "B.C." was a SERIOUS waste of space (other strips I can't stand, but read anyway: "The Wizard of Id," "Grin and Bear It," "The Lockhorns," "Miss Peach," "Momma," "Andy Capp," and "Beetle Bailey" plus any strip that employs golf humor, canned political humor (generic jokes about taxes and/or the incompitence of congress), wife humor, and especially any strip whose original creator has died and is being carried on by assistants or family members). I've also seriously advocated for the retirement of "Peanuts." I loved that strip as much as anybody, but come on. Its hard enough for new cartoonists to compete for space without having to compete with REPRINTS by a dead guy. Let "Peanuts" rest in peace. We have the books and our memories.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Alexander

[7/4]

I don't read comic strips I don't like.

[Brownian Motion]

Sorry to hear that he's dead. Not sorry to hear that there won't be any more "B.C." comics. That comic SUCKED. It was bad enough in its earlier incarnation, but when the serious Christian commentary came in, it became intolerable (of course, I read it every day in order to get pissed off at it). Glad his work made him happy. Glad I won't have to look at it any more.

Dance on his grave Alexander.

You need to understand the depth of my loathing for that strip. I wasn't indifferent to it, as I am to "Hi and Lois," for example. I actively HATED it. When my local paper pulled the brilliant "Pearls Before Swine" in order to introduce a new strip called "Grand Avenue" a few years back, I wrote in and angrily campaigned for the return of "Pearls" (which is wonderfully offensive, the very reason they pulled it) and demanded that "B.C." be yanked in its stead. They did bring back "Pearls," but only dropped "B.C." on Sundays (an irony that I relished). I guess I can understand people who have some sort of nostalgiac fondness for a strip, but I've always thought that "B.C." was a SERIOUS waste of space (other strips I can't stand, but read anyway: "The Wizard of Id," "Grin and Bear It," "The Lockhorns," "Miss Peach," "Momma," "Andy Capp," and "Beetle Bailey" plus any strip that employs golf humor, canned political humor (generic jokes about taxes and/or the incompitence of congress), wife humor, and especially any strip whose original creator has died and is being carried on by assistants or family members). I've also seriously advocated for the retirement of "Peanuts." I loved that strip as much as anybody, but come on. Its hard enough for new cartoonists to compete for space without having to compete with REPRINTS by a dead guy. Let "Peanuts" rest in peace. We have the books and our memories.

[Alexander]

Sorry to hear that he's dead. Not sorry to hear that there won't be any more "B.C." comics. That comic SUCKED. It was bad enough in its earlier incarnation, but when the serious Christian commentary came in, it became intolerable (of course, I read it every day in order to get pissed off at it). Glad his work made him happy. Glad I won't have to look at it any more.

Dance on his grave Alexander.

You need to understand the depth of my loathing for that strip. I wasn't indifferent to it, as I am to "Hi and Lois," for example. I actively HATED it. When my local paper pulled the brilliant "Pearls Before Swine" in order to introduce a new strip called "Grand Avenue" a few years back, I wrote in and angrily campaigned for the return of "Pearls" (which is wonderfully offensive, the very reason they pulled it) and demanded that "B.C." be yanked in its stead. They did bring back "Pearls," but only dropped "B.C." on Sundays (an irony that I relished). I guess I can understand people who have some sort of nostalgiac fondness for a strip, but I've always thought that "B.C." was a SERIOUS waste of space (other strips I can't stand, but read anyway: "The Wizard of Id," "Grin and Bear It," "The Lockhorns," "Miss Peach," "Momma," "Andy Capp," and "Beetle Bailey" plus any strip that employs golf humor, canned political humor (generic jokes about taxes and/or the incompitence of congress), wife humor, and especially any strip whose original creator has died and is being carried on by assistants or family members). I've also seriously advocated for the retirement of "Peanuts." I loved that strip as much as anybody, but come on. Its hard enough for new cartoonists to compete for space without having to compete with REPRINTS by a dead guy. Let "Peanuts" rest in peace. We have the books and our memories.

Oh, yeah. Won't be sorry to see THAT go.

[Alexander]

I don't read comic strips I don't like.

I read the whole paper, cover to cover. Can't help it. I read everything, down to the obits and the classified ads.

[sal]

Yeah, that's the worst one.

[Dave Garrett]

Yeah, that's the worst one.

I take it y'all haven't seen the Dysfunctional Family Circus before?

Wikipedia - Dysfunctional Family Circus

The Free-Floating Dysfunctional Family Circus Archive

[7/4]

I don't read comic strips I don't like.

I read the whole paper, cover to cover. Can't help it. I read everything, down to the obits and the classified ads.

Do you send letters to the editor commenting on the obits?

[Alexander]

I don't read comic strips I don't like.

I read the whole paper, cover to cover. Can't help it. I read everything, down to the obits and the classified ads.

Do you send letters to the editor commenting on the obits?

Only the ones that REALLY suck.

[Hot Ptah]

This death is nearly as devastating for the cultural health of the nation as when Ernie Bushmiller died.

[7/4]

This death is nearly as devastating for the cultural health of the nation as when Ernie Bushmiller died.

or Anna Nicole Smith.

[7/4]

or Mark St. John.

[Big Al]

Nice tribute from Wiley Miller (Non-Sequitur):

I'm surprised no other strip has offered a tribute to Hart, and I think it says a lot about Miller that he gives props to someone in his common field, despite huge differences in their style and content.

Edited April 23, 2007 by Big Al

[BFrank]

Nice tribute from Wiley Miller (Non-Sequitur):

I'm surprised no other strip has offered a tribute to Hart, and I think it says a lot about Miller that he gives props to someone in his common field, despite huge differences in their style and content.

That is good.

No mention here of the death of Brant Parker - Hart's partner in the creation of "Wizard of Id". He died 8 days after Hart. Amazing.

[Brownian Motion]

Nice tribute from Wiley Miller (Non-Sequitur):

I'm surprised no other strip has offered a tribute to Hart, and I think it says a lot about Miller that he gives props to someone in his common field, despite huge differences in their style and content.

That is good.

No mention here of the death of Brant Parker - Hart's partner in the creation of "Wizard of Id". He died 8 days after Hart. Amazing.

The New York Times

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April 18, 2007

Brant Parker, 86, Co-Creator of ‘The Wizard of Id’ Comics, Dies

By DENNIS HEVESI

Brant Parker, a co-creator of “The Wizard of Id,” an award-winning comic strip that is set in medieval times and has poked fun at politics and cultural follies for more than 40 years, died on Sunday at his home in Lynchburg, Va. He was 86.

The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to an announcement by the Creators Syndicate, which distributes “The Wizard of Id.”

Mr. Parker’s death came eight days after the death of his collaborator, Johnny Hart, who was best known as the creator of the comic strip “B.C.”

With Mr. Parker doing the drawing and Mr. Hart coming up with the gags, “The Wizard of Id” began its run in 1965 and eventually appeared in more than 1,000 newspapers. It has won six awards from the National Cartoonists Society. Since 1997, “The Wizard” has been produced by Mr. Parker’s son Jeff.

The strip takes place in the Kingdom of Id, where a greedy, diminutive tyrant known simply as the King rules over an oppressed people who are still able to find humor in the situation. Its cast includes the Wizard; Lackey, the King’s servant; Bung, the alcoholic jester; and Turnkey, a dungeon guard.

In one “Wizard” strip, a bare-chested Turnkey climbs down a staircase into the torture chamber, walks past a victim being halved by a scythe, another dangling over a pot of boiling water and a third being whipped — then hangs a sign saying, “No smoking!”

Brant Julius Parker was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 26, 1920. He attended the Otis Art Institute in the late 1930s, then worked at the Disney Studios until 1942, when he joined the Navy. After World War II, he returned to Disney, where he worked on Donald Duck cartoons and the half-hour animated film “Mickey and the Beanstalk.”

Mr. Parker married Mary Louise Sweet in 1947 and moved to Binghamton, N.Y., where he was a political cartoonist for The Binghamton Press.

In 1950, while judging a high school art contest, Mr. Parker met and befriended a contestant, Mr. Hart. Fifteen years later, Mr. Hart asked Mr. Parker to collaborate on “The Wizard.” They worked together until 1997, when Mr. Parker handed his pen to his son.

In addition to his wife and his son Jeff, Mr. Parker is survived by another son, James; three daughters, Julie Shackleton, Laurie Tannenbaum and Kathie Borkowski; a brother, John; 13 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

On Monday, on the Creators Syndicate Web site, Jeff Parker posted a cartoon showing the King and the Wizard peering at the stars through a telescope. “Hey!” the Wizard says. “There’s cartoons up there!”