In Memoriam: John Lewis "Johnny" Hart, 1931-2007

[thatcrazycajun]

It is with sadness that I report that Johnny Hart, creator of the comic strips B.C. and The Wizard of Id, died of a stroke over the weekend at 76. He literally died at his drawing board, working to the last. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the story in full here.

While I occasionally got irritated when he started overtly preaching Christianity in his strips (which seemed especially out of place in a strip whose name derives from the initials for "Before Christ"), it was his strip and he was as entitled to present his views therein as Garry Trudeau or Aaron McGruder are to espouse theirs. In any case, there is no denying his talent or his work ethic. He inspired many others to take up his craft, and provided many hours of entertainment for fans of this uniquely American art form. Besides, I can't be too put out with anyone who, like Your Humble Correspondent, was the son of a firefighter. He will be sorely missed.

Comments

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I was very sad to hear this too. I really liked BC and The Wizard of Id, especially when I was small and reading them in the funny pages on Sundays.

I discovered daily strips later in life. ;)

At least we have years and years of his work to read and chuckle over and remember him by.