National Cartoonist Society Profile: Milton Caniff

I might as well start off the new year right with the brief biography of one of the top cartoonist's of all time, and an inspiration to many, the multi-talented National Cartoonist Society member, Milt Caniff. Born in Hillsboro, Ohio February 28th, 1907 ... my first job plus office boy duties for Dayton Journal Herald ... Art Staffs at Miami News, Columbus Dispatch, Associated Press Features Service, New York - "Dickie Dare" and "Gay Thirties" for A. P. 1932 - 34 ... "Terry and the Pirates" for Chicago Tribune, New York News Syndicate 1934 -46 (Did Male Call for Camp Newspaper Service 1942-46) "Steve Canyon" for Field Enterprises 1947 - now King Features Syndicate ... Many pleasantries along the way... friendships in and out of cartooning ... awareness of how deeply the daily newspaper feature probes and reflects life in the United States ... and my constant surprise that a single drawing on the board may reach out and touch so many people ... the gag strips are rising in favor! Better get back to work!

Foreign Favorites: Tiffany Jones

The Daily Sketch's unprecedented two page center spread debut on Wednesday November 11, 1964 of Tiffany Jones, not only introduced their dynamic new character, but the feature's creators as well. Billed as the first all-girl comic strip team in history, Pat Tourret provided her delicate fine-line drawings while Jenny Butterworth wrote the polished well written scripts, which started in a daily format that following Monday. This nineteen year old fashion model was a sunny, real switched-on, with-it girl of the swinging sixties which developed an instant fan following. Readers loved this pert, lively bachelor girl, who was portrayed as every man's dream date, and every girl's best friend next door.

Tiffany Jones was conceived by a strip editor at the Associated Newspaper group who teamed Butterworth, who was a wife of a comic page editor with a degree in English, and Tourrett an accomplished artist and colorist on the various girl British weeklies they produced. By the time Tiffany had reached her one hundredth paper in May 1967 with the Chicago Sun Times, she was already a syndication smash! This beautiful feature eventually reached twenty three countries on five continents, with fifty five newspaper outlets in Canada and America. When the Daily Sketch unfortunately folded, Tiffany Jones quickly moved to the Daily Mail continuing her adventures into the seventies and even inspiring a feature film in 1973 starring actress Anouska Hempel in the title role.

National Cartoonist Society Profile: Doug Wildey

Born in Yonkers, New York. I have always liked to draw. I started my art career drawing comic books for Street and Smith Publishing in 1947. Civilian Navy attachment: Barber's Point Naval Air, Hawaii, during World War II. Served briefly as cartoonist on my base paper. After illustrating several hundred comic books, I was offered "The Saint" strip, daily and Sunday for the New York Herald Tribune Syndicate (1959-1962). I moved my family (wife Ellen, two daughters, Debbie and Lee) West in 1952 and we settled in Tucson, Arizona. Migrated to Hollywood in 1962 where I put in a spell as a layout artist in an animation studio. Joined Hanna-Barbera Studios as a staff art director where I created television's "Jonny Quest". At present I reside in Van Nuys, California, where I write T.V. and screen treatments. I am a member of the Writer's Guild, America. Hobbies: ping pong, poker, and pool. I like the promise that films hold for the adventure strip style of cartooning - both for television and for motion pictures. Upcoming more T.V. series.

My Greatest Adventure: Adam Strange

From his debut appearance in DC Comics' Showcase #17, archaeologist Adam Strange was used to being in difficult spots, but when fleeing from savages in a hostile South American jungle, he found himself struck by the transporting Zeta Beam sending him to the planet Rann. Little did they know that the first city of that alien world, Ranagar, initial attempt to communicate with humans unexpectedly brought them Earth's first interstellar spaceman! Strange quickly learned the language and customs from his beautiful girlfriend Alana, and her scientist-father Sardeth. Our hero soon becomes Rann's first citizen and savior protecting Rann from all types of alien invasions... often using some bizarre weapons like huge magnifying glasses to burn their futuristic cities, or weird space vacuums to suck up their inhabitants. From natural disasters to internal warfare, nothing was too complicated for Adam to solve with his quick analytical mind, flying rocket-pack, and handy ray gun. But despite Strange's love for Alana, he cannot remain on his adopted planet for long since the Zeta Beams effect soon wear off sending him back to Earth, where he must calculate when the next beam with strike, to be there for his next transport before it's gone.