This is an installment of 2021 Newspaper Comics: Debuts, Departures, and the Dearly Departed.
(part 1: Debuts – – part 2: Departures – – part 3: Dearly Departed – – part 4: Detours/Deviations)
2021 – The Dearly Departed
These U. S. newspaper and magazine cartoonists died in 2021.
WILLIAM BRYAN (W.B.)(BILL) PARK
June 12, 1936 – January 2, 2021
author, illustrator
magazine cartoonist: The New Yorker, Smithsinian Magazine, Harpers,
The Nation, The N. Y. Times, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Litigation
comic panel: Off The Leash
RICHARD ALLEN (DICK) KULPA
January 12, 1953 – January 3, 2021
cartoonist, caricaturist
editor: Cracked; Weekly World News
comic strip: Double Eagle and Company
comic strip: The Legend of Bruce Lee
comic strip: Star Trek
comic strip: Ghost Story Club
ELIZABETH SAFIAN (LIZ) BERUBE
January 7, 1943 – January 15, 2021
comic book cartoonist
comic strip: Karen
DANIEL BRIAN (DAN) GOLA
September 27, 1944 – January 25, 2021
marketing director
comic strip: Claude & Ernie
GERALD LIP
May 12, 1929 – January 28, 2021
cartoon editor, comic strip letterer/colourer
Daily Express; Daily Mirror; Daily Mail; London Evening Standard
comic strips: Modesty Blaise, Rubert Bear, James Bond, Garfield, Hagar
ALLAN PENNINGTON BURNS
May 18, 1935 – January 30, 2021
television writer
comic panel: The Younger Set
BRIAN WILLIAM TURNER
December 15, 1949 – January 31, 2021
writer, researcher, educator
cartoonist
STEVEN CLAY (S. CLAY) WILSON
July 25, 1941 – February 7, 2021
underground comix cartoonist, artist
ALAN HOWARD KING
September 16, 1947 – February 8, 2021
editorial cartoonist: Ottawa Citizen
GEORGE MIKALI MANDEL (né Louis George Rothschild)
February 11, 1920 – February 13, 2021
comic book artist 1940-43, author
gag cartoonist
WILLIAM WILLARD (BILL) SANDERS
October 14, 1930 – February 27, 2021
cartoonist: Pacific Stars and Stripes
editorial cartoonist: Greensboro Daily News
editorial cartoonist: Kansas City Star
editorial cartoonist: Milwaukee Journal
WILLIAM EDWARDS (BILL) MORGAN, JR.
December 13, 1931 – February 9, 2021
newspaperman, sports promoter
comic panel: Sports Day
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (FRANK) THORNE
June 16, 1930 – March 7, 2021
comic book cartoonist
comic strip: The Illustrated History of Union County
comic strip: Perry Mason
comic strip: Dr. Guy Bennett/Dr. Duncan
RONALD MABURN (RON) RICE
January 31, 1933 – March 15, 2021
illustrator, graphic artist, cartoonist
Shreveport Journal; Shreveport Times
comic panel: By The Bayou
comic panel: Sports Dictionary
GERALD JOHN (JERRY) LAZARE
September 25, 1927 – March 23, 2021
Canadian comic book cartoonist
newspaper/magazine/book illustrator
NEWTON CLAY (BUD) BURCH III
October 5, 1925 – March 24, 2021
illustrator, art director, cartoonist
RODERICK (ROD) MCKIE
November 28, 1957 – March 26, 2021
magazine cartoonist
Playboy, Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal,
Reader’s Digest, National Lampoon, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, +
CHRIS YAMBAR
July 4, 1961 – March 27, 2021
comic artist, writer, publisher
RAMON WARD (RAY) COLLINS
March 17, 1931 – March 28, 2021
cartoonist
comic strip: Cecil and Dipstick (aka Cecil C. Addle)
MOIRA ANNA MCDONOUGH
March 18, 1961 – April 1, 2021
illustrator, cartoonist (The Penvy Pages)
FRANK JACOBS
May 30, 1929 – April 5, 2021
humorist
MAD Magazine 1957-2014
JOYE HUMMEL MURCHISON KELLY
April 4, 1924 – April 5, 2021
comic book writer (Wonder Woman 1945-47)
KATHLEEN WHALEN ANDREWS
March 12, 1937 – April 16, 2021
co-founder Andrews McMeel
AMU Vice Chairman, AMP CEO
LOYD BRUCE HOLMAN
January 30, 1939 – April 24, 2021
comic strip: Down on the Farm
MICHAEL ELMER (MIKE) MUNDT
September 6, 1953 – May 7, 2021
comic strip: Macklin
JOHN ALLEN FURLOW
July 23, 1921 – May 8, 2021
freelance artist; art director Duke University
sports cartoonist (Nashville Banner. Chicago Sun-Times)
MILTON THOMAS INGE
March 18, 1936 – May 15, 2021
comics and literature historian
ALAN MARTIN (AL) GOTTLIEB
June 1927 – May 2021
gag writer for comediennes
magazine and comic strip gag writer
RICHARD F. (RICK) KOLLINGER
December 30, 1949 – May 31, 2021
columnist
Easton Star Democrat editorial cartoonist
WILL BUNN (BUNNY) MATTHEWS III
February 15, 1951 – June 1, 2021
comic panel: F’Sure
comic panel: Vic and Nat’ly
REINHOLD C. REITBERGER
December 25, 1946 – June 25, 2021
cartoonist
comic historian: Anatomy of a Mass Medium
DANIEL P. (DANNY) SHANAHAN
July 11, 1957 – July 5, 2021
magazine cartoonist
The New Yorker (1988-2020), Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Playboy, Esquire,
New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune
JOHN PAUL McMEEL
January 26, 1936 – July 7, 2021
co-founder Universal Press Syndicate/Andrews McMeel
LOUIS JAMES TRAKIS
June 22, 1927 – July 7, 2021
cartoonist (comic books), sculptor
REYNOLD DASH RUFFINS
August 5, 1930 – July 11, 2021
illustrator, graphic designer
CHRISTOPHER BAILEY (CHRIS) FOOTE
August 4, 1958 – July 11, 2021
cartoonist, illustrator
comic: Doodles
ERNEST DONALD (ERNIE) POIGNANT
February 4, 1919 – July 15, 2021
editorial cartoonist: Swedish Press (Vancouver)
editorial cartoonist: Quesnel’s Cariboo Observer
editorial cartoonist: Haney Gazette
CLAES GOREN REIMERTHI
January 12, 1955 – July 23, 2021
Fantomen comic book writer
comic strip: The Phantom
DONALD EUGENE (DON) MARGOLIS
September, 1932 – August 3, 2021
magazine cartoonist
BARRY WAYNE McWILLIAMS
February 17, 1942 – August 14, 2021
editorial cartoonist: The Madisonian
comic: J. P Doodles
SAMUEL TARSHIS (SAM) ANSELL
May 25, 1922 – August 1, 2021
gag cartoonist
DAVID C. SIMONSON
May 9, 1927 – August 27, 2021
journalist, artist
gag cartoonist
FRANCIS JOHN (FRAN) FRISCH, JR
August 18, 1948 – August 29, 2021
cartoonist, illustrator
comic: Beartoons
JEFFREY R. (JEFF) PHILCRANTZ
July 26, 1946 – September 6, 2021
gag cartoonist
RUSSELL CHARLES (RUSS) KICK III
July 20, 1969 – September 12, 2021
editor: The Graphic Canon
MARGARET ACKERMAN SHULOCK
September 27, 1949 – October 17, 2021
cartoonist
comic panel: The New Breed
comic panel: Six Chix
comic strip: Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
comic panel: Sticks
comic panel: Rhymes With Orange
comic strip: Apartment 3-G
GENE D’ANGELO
ca. 1924 – 2021
King Features Syndicate and DC Comics staff cartoonist
SHARON SMITH KANE
February 18, 1932 – November 3, 2021
children’s book author/illustrator
comic strip: Buttons An’ Beaux
PIERRE GERARD (PETER) PEREIRA
May 15, 1962 – November 10, 2021
artist, illustrator, photographer, cartoonist
comic strip: The Daily Nib
KEVIN GLENN ROBINETTE
June 1949 – November 19, 2021
History of Comics professor
LOUIS (LOU) BROOKS
September 5, 1944 – November 21, 2021
cartoonist, illustrator, graphic artist
JERRY JOSEPH PALEN
July 9, 1943 – November 25, 2021
ranch hand, painter, sculptor, cartoonist
comic panel: Stampede
DONALD ALAN (DON) ASMUSSEN
October 31, 1962 – December 9, 2021
newspaper artist, cartoonist
comic strip: San Francisco Comic Strip
comic strip: Republican Convention Comic Strip
comic strip: Super Average Joe
comic strip: Bad Reporter
comic strip: Stanton
KEITH J. TAYLOR
October 21, 1949 – December 16, 2021
Chicago cartoonist
GÉRARD MARCEL FORTON
April 10, 1931 – December 18, 2021
European and American comic book artist
animated storyboard artist
comic strip: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
MORTON WAYNE THIEBAUD
November 15, 1920 – December 25, 2021
painter, art teacher
comic strip: Aleck (Wing Tips)
comic strip: Fergus (Rexall Drugs in-house newsmagazine)
CLYDE STOKES WELLS
May 18, 1934 – December 27, 2021
editorial cartoonist: Augusta Chronicle
Corrections Encouraged
Additions sadly accepted
images © respective copyright owners
Many thanks for the work that went into compiling this list and spotlighting those in our industry who sadly left us this year.
Comic art and cartooning deaths in 2021 at Comics DC is a much more inclusive list than what we have here. It includes cartoonists from the animation and comic book fields and is international in scope. The, sadly very long list, can be read here:
http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2022/01/comic-art-and-cartooning-deaths-in-2021.html