Fay Barbara King (March 1889 – presumed dead fter 1954 was an American illustrator, journalist, and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. Some of her work represents an early example of

autobiographical comics An autobiographical comic (also autobio, graphic memoir, or autobiocomic) is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It i ...

. King worked for newspapers and magazines in the early twentieth century (at least from 1912 to 1937), moving to New York City in 1918. She was one of the popular

Jazz Age The Jazz Age was a period from 1920 to the early 1930s in which jazz music and dance styles gained worldwide popularity. The Jazz Age's cultural repercussions were primarily felt in the United States, the birthplace of jazz. Originating in New O ...

cartoonists appearing in the 1924 comedy ''

The Great White Way Broadway () is a street and major thoroughfare in the U.S. state of New York. The street runs from Battery Place at Bowling Green in the south of Manhattan for through the borough, over the Broadway Bridge, and through the Bronx, exiting n ...

''.

Biography

King was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

in March 1889, to John and Ella King. She was raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, and went to college at

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

. The young King was adventurous, being one of the first women in the Portland area to own an automobile, and in 1912 had announced plans for a balloon ascension with noted early parachutist Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick, before the plan was rejected by her parents, according to an article in ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

''. King's father had been an employee at a

Turkish bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

, as well a trainer of athletes, and she seems to have had a deep affinity for sport. King married boxer Oscar "Battling" Nelson in 1913, in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago. Their 1916 divorce was widely covered by the press. The Veteran Boxing Association paid for part of the cost of Nelson's 1954 funeral; King paid the remainder, in addition to purchasing "beautiful arrangements" for the ceremony. King worked for ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'' from April 1912 to 1918, leaving for ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the H ...

''. She later became feature writer and cartoonist for the ''

New York Evening Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

''. In 1924, she appeared as herself in the comedy ''

'' (alongside other cartoonists, such as

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–1914; 1924–1927) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

and

George McManus George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated comic strip, ''Bringing Up Father''. Biography B ...

Work

King's cartoons are recalled as an early example of

within the genre of newspaper cartooning. She frequently depicted herself in her comics, using a spindly, gangly caricature that bore a strong resemblance to the character of

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...

, who would later be created by E.C. Segar for his '' Thimble Theater'' strip. In addition to her autobiographical reporting, she is known to have created two strips, both of which ran in the ''

New-York Mirror The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from ''1823 to 1842''. Founded by George Pope Morris and Samuel Woodworth, it was a prominent publication that focused on literature, the fine arts, and local news. It pla ...

'': "Mazie" (which ran briefly in 1924) and "Girls Will Be Girls" (which ran between 1924 and 1925).

References

External links

Scrapbook, compiled by cartoonist and journalist, Fay King, 1916–1919
(from Digital Library@Villanova University) ;Articles about Fay King

by Marilyn Slater, ''Looking for Mabel''

by

Allan Holtz Allan Holtz () is an American comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to h ...

, ''Stripper's Guide''
2017 profile
by Dick Kreck, ''

'' ;Databases about Fay King
Fay King
at

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

(minibio) * (for ''A Century of Women Cartoonists'') * (for ''The Great White Way'') ;Articles by Fay King
"Fay King Says Chop Sticks Should Have Hooks on Ends"
(text and scan), '' Syracuse Evening Telegram'', December 16, 1922 {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Fay 1889 births American women illustrators American illustrators American comic strip cartoonists American female comics artists American female comics writers Artists from Portland, Oregon Seattle University alumni Date of birth missing Year of death missing Place of death missing Artists from Seattle

Biography

Work

References

Further reading

External links