Comic Strips

2026 Harvey Awards Hall of Fame Inductees Comic Strip Credits

A baker’s dozen of cartoonists were inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame last Friday. As far as I know the four living inductees – David Mazzuchelli, Jenette Kahn, Klaus Janson, and Frank Miller – have not worked on newspaper comic strips. But 7 of the 9 posthumous honorees do have comic strip bona fides (Denny O’Neil and Tim Sale are the 2 comic book but not comic strip creators).

Stern Wheeler by Ralph Kanna and Jim Aparo – April 10-12, 1963

Before Jim Aparo became an artist for Charlton and DC comic books he had a short run as the artist for the Stern Wheeler daily comic strip that ran in The Hartford Times.

Friday Foster by Jim Lawrence and Dick Giordano(?) – January 21, 1974

Another veteran of Charlton and DC comic books. When Jorge Longaron gave up the Friday Foster comic strip in December 1973 an unknown artist took on the comic until Gray Morrow drawing the strip. Morrow soon left and again the last artists (the strip ended in February 1974) didn’t sign the strip. It is said that Giordano was one of those last ghosts. If so it looks to me as if the week of January 21, 1974 could be the work of Giordano.

The Phantom by Lee Falk and Carmine Infantino – Sept. 24, 1961
Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder by Whitney Ellsworth and Carmine Infantino – Sept. 4, 1966
Batman by William Messner-Loebs and Carmine Infantino/John Nyberg – June 11-12, 1990

Carmine Infantino had worked for most of the major comic book companies and had worked every job in the business from art assistant to artist to art director to publisher and back again. In 1961 he drew a Sunday Phantom page. Five years later he drew a half dozen Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder Sunday pages and then a quarter of a century later he again drew Batman for the daily newspapers.

Scorchy Smith by Frank Robbins – May 8, 1943
Johnny Hazard by Frank Robbins – July 12, 1944

After getting the hang of the daily newspaper comic strip with Scorchy Smith Frank Robbins created Johnny Hazard which ran for 3 decades.

Jet Scott by Sheldon Scott and Jerry Robinson – Nov. 15, 1953
Still Life by Jerry Robinson – Oct. 3, 1963
Life With Robinson by Jerry Robinson – Sept. 19, 1978
Flubs and Fluffs by Jerry Robinson – Oct. 30, 1983

Jerry Robinson started in comic books but gave that up to run an international syndicate. He did make time to create some newspaper panels along the way.

Batman by Max Allan Collins and Marshall Rogers – Nov. 1989

Marshall Rogers’ art caused a sensation when he did Batman for Detective Comics. Later he was drafted for the first story of the 1989 Batman comic strip.

The Lone Ranger by Maryland and Ed Kressy with Dick Sprang and Norman Fallon – Sept. 12, 1938
Batman and Robin by Jack Schiff and Dick Sprang – Feb. 25, 1946

Before Dick Sprang joined the Bob Kane Studio he had partnered with Ed Kressy and Norman Fallon.

It is worth noting that every 2026 Harvey Awards Hall of Fame inductee has connections to the Batman comic book either as the publisher (Kahn) or as writers (O’Neil, Robbins, and Miller) or artists (all but O’Neil and Kahn).

Joe Grunenwald at The Beat has the entire 2026 Harvey Award nominees and winners.

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