Many people think they will be ‘shushed’ upon entering a library, but at Wilton Library this month, people will find themselves chuckling as they move through the gallery and beyond – and that will be the expected response. The National Cartoonists Society Connecticut Chapter will be exhibiting noteworthy cartoons from recognized artists with the opening of its show on Friday, October 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The group exhibition features original cartoons created for newspapers, greeting cards, licensing, children’s books, magazines and other popular media.
The noted cartoonists include Chance Browne of Wilton, the family dynasty of Mort, Greg, and Brian Walker (of Wilton), Mary Anne Case, from New Canaan, Jerry Dumas, of Greenwich, Bob Englehart, from Middletown, the late Dick Hodgins of Wilton, Bill Janocha, from Stamford, Sean Kelly of Southport, Maria Scrivan of Stamford, and Rick Stromoski, from Suffield. The reception is free and open to the public.
According to Ed MacEwen, Wilton Library’s volunteer art chairman, “We’re always looking for fresh ideas for our monthly art exhibitions. We’ve never had a full exhibition of cartoonists, so this is a first and we’re happy to have the opportunity to show this genre of work by such an extremely talented group.”
The cartoonists who will be exhibiting are:
• Chance Browne (Wilton) attended The School of Visual Arts and Park College and distinguished himself as an illustrator, art director and musician before eventually going to work for his father. After Dik Browne launched “Hagar the Horrible” in 1973, Chance stepped in to help with “Hi and Lois” and has been the primary artist on the strip since the mid-1980s. He also serves as the editor for “Hagar the Horribl,” which is drawn by his brother, Chris. A true renaissance man, Chance still finds time to paint, do freelance graphic design and play guitar with a variety of blues bands and jazz ensembles.
• Brian Walker (Wilton) graduated from Tufts University and has a diverse background in professional cartooning and cartoon scholarship. He was one of the founders of the Museum of Cartoon Art and has served as the curator for 70 cartoon exhibitions. He taught cartoon history at the School of Visual Arts and was editor-in-chief of Collectors’ Showcase magazine. He has written and edited 40 cartoon-related books, including the definitive history The Comics – The Complete Collection for Harry N. Abrams, Inc. He has been contributing to both “Beetle Bailey” and “Hi and Lois” since the early 1980s.
The veteran cartoonist Mort Walker was born in Kansas in 1923 and is probably best known for his “Beetle Bailey” comic strip. “Beetle Bailey” debuted inauspiciously in twelve newspapers on Sept. 4. 1950. After six months it had signed on only twenty-five clients. King Features considered dropping “Beetle Bailey” after the first year’s contract was over. The Korean War was heating up at the time, so Mort decided to have Beetle enlist in the army. He quickly picked up a hundred papers. After the Korean War was over, the strip was banned in the Tokyo Stars and Stripes because army brass thought it disrespected officers. The sympathetic publicity enhanced the strip’s circulation status, and provided Mort with the National Cartoonist Society’s award as the best cartoonist of the year in 1954, the year that he started “Hi and Lois.” By 1968, the circulation of “Beetle Bailey” grew from 200 to 1,100 newspapers. “Beetle Bailey” was the second feature in comics history, after “Blondie,” to appear in over 1,000 newspapers when it passed that milestone in 1965. The award-winning cartoonist also founded the International Museum of Cartoon Art in 1974.
• Greg Walker studied liberal arts and journalism at Syracuse University and has worked in film, commercial photography, newspapers and graphic arts. He started his cartooning career writing and drawing comic books, including such well-known titles as “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “Barney and Betty Rubble,” “Underdog,” “Sarge Snorkel” and “Beetle Bailey.” He began providing gags to his father’s strips in the early 1970s and, in addition to writing, currently does the inking and lettering on “Beetle Bailey.” In the 1980s, Greg also collaborated with Guy and Brad Gilchrist on the Rock Channel comic strip and with brothers Brian, Neal and Morgan on “Betty Boop and Felix.”
• Mary Anne Case has been a digital cartoonist for more than 20 years. Her work has included daily panels, weekly editorial cartoons for Hartford Business Journal and humor cards for American Greetings. She has created freelance editorial cartoons, advertising, and book and magazine illustrations and is an Artist Member of the Society of Illustrators. Mary Anne’s other passions include fine art and poetry. She graduated from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. She is a Connecticut cartoonists having lived in Silvermine for twenty-three years, and now resides in New Canaan.
• Jerry Dumas was born in Detroit in 1930, went to Arizona State College and received a degree in English Literature on the GI Bill after the Korean War. He now calls Greenwich, CT home where he “writes, plays, naps and gardens.” He has written and drawn Sam and Silo for 26 years and has written “Beetle Bailey” gags for 47 years. He has created cartoons, spreads and spots for The New Yorker for 20 years and has written articles and poetry for The Atlantic Monthly, Connoisseur, Smithsonian, Cricket, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He has been married to his wife Gail for 56 years and has three grown sons.
• Dick Hodgins, Jr. (May 9, 1931 – April 3, 2016) was an American cartoonist whose work included illustration, comic strips, and political cartoons. Dick, the son of Orlando Sentinel cartoonist, Dick Hodgins, Sr., was twelve years old when a sale to the now defunct New York Mirror for one dollar spurred him to a cartoon career. After attending the School of Visual Arts and military Service (editing and drawing for a base newspaper in Osaka, Japan and contributing to Pacific Stars and Stripes) Hodgins returned to the educational film industry. He then joined the Associated Press illustrating feature news stories. Hank Ketcham, creator of Dennis the Menace, selected Hodgins to draw his second comic strip “Half Hitch” for King Features Syndicate. Hodgins also created editorial cartoons for the New York Daily News. After cancellation of “Half Hitch” he took on the production of King Features’ iconic comic strip “Henry.” Hodgins worked full-time preparing and renovating the end-product art of Dik Browne's popular comic strip “Hagar the Horrible” and continued to create editorial cartoons for several Connecticut newspapers along with the occasional advertising assignment. He lived in Wilton. (Source: Wikipedia)
• Bill Janocha was born in Pennsylvania and grew up “loving the great selection of comic strips in the Philly papers and animation on TV.” He drew a daily strip while at Syracuse University from which he graduated in 1981 with a BFA. Having worked in Walt Disney Productions and Broad Arts animation studio on commercials, he then became Mort Walker’s assistant in 1987 on “Gamin and Patches,” “Beetle Bailey” and got involved in licensing, books, special art and more. He also created some SPY vs SPY gags for MAD Magazine, Slingo e-greetings cards, book illustration and editorial cartoons for CT’s Greenwich Time and Stamford Advocate. He was the Membership Chair for two terms for the NCS and has illustrated Hooked on Hopium and A Most Unusual Farm.
• Sean Kelly lives in Southport and is an illustrator whose clients include The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Businessweek, Rolling Stone and The Atlantic. His visual commentaries on politics have appeared on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. Kelly also presents seminars on creativity and innovation and is a consultant to corporations and media companies. He has won awards from The Society for Illustrators and was named Best Newspaper Illustrator in 2007 by the National Cartoonists Society.
• Maria Scrivan is a syndicated cartoonist and creator of panel comic “Half Full,” which appears daily in newspapers across the U.S. including the Los Angeles Times. Her work is published in many publications including MAD Magazine, Parade Magazine, Highlights and has been featured in Ted Talks and on national television. Maria licenses her work for greeting cards in the US and UK. She grew up in Greenwich and currently resides in Stamford, CT.
• Rick Stromoski is a Suffield, CT cartoonist whose syndicated feature “Soup to Nutz” appears in over 150 newspapers nationally including the New York Daily News and The Hartford Courant. Rick’s award-winning illustrations have appeared in children's publishing, magazines, advertising, licensing and network television. He is a member of the Society of Illustrators and the National Cartoonists Society and served on the board of directors for fifteen years, two years as NCS President.
According to the National Cartoonists Society website, “the group is the world's largest and most prestigious organization of professional cartoonists. It was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops. They found that they enjoyed each other's company and decided to get together on a regular basis. Today, the NCS membership roster includes over 500 of the world's major cartoonists, working in many branches of the profession, including newspaper comic strips and panels, comic books, editorial cartoons, animation, gag cartoons, greeting cards, advertising, magazine and book illustration and more.” The representatives in the exhibition are from the Connecticut Chapter.
The exhibition runs through Friday, November 11. Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center. Library hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. For information and directions, visit www.wiltonlibrary.org or call 203-762-6334.