Richard Arthur Allan Browne (August 11, 1917 – June 4, 1989) was an American cartoonist, best known for writing and drawing ''

Hägar the Horrible ''Hägar the Horrible'' is the title and main character of an American comic strip created by cartoonist Dik Browne and syndicated by King Features Syndicate. It first appeared in February 1973 and was an immediate success. Since Browne's retirem ...

'' and ''

Hi and Lois ''Hi and Lois'' is an American comic strip about a suburban family. Created by Mort Walker and illustrated by Dik Browne, both of whose offspring currently work on the strip, it debuted on October 18, 1954, distributed by King Features Syndicate.R ...

''.

Biography

Browne attended Cooper Union and got his start at the '' New York Journal-American'' as a copy boy and later worked in the art department. He also worked as a

courtroom sketch A courtroom sketch is an artistic depiction of the proceedings in a court of law. In many jurisdictions, cameras are not allowed in courtrooms in order to prevent distractions and preserve privacy. This requires news media to rely on sketch a ...

artist for the paper, covering the Lucky Luciano trial. He joined the army, producing work for the engineering unit and created ''Ginny Jeep'', a comic strip about the

Women's Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States ...

. During World War II, he was assigned to draw maps and charts for an Army engineering unit, eventually rising to staff sergeant. In his spare time, he created the comic "Ginny Jeep", appearing in Army and Air Force newspapers. In the 1940s, he worked as an illustrator for ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' as well as for an advertising company, where he created the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

for

Chiquita Chiquita Brands International Sàrl (), formerly known as Chiquita Brands International Inc. and United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce. The company operates under a number of ...

. In 1954, Browne and cartoonist

Mort Walker Addison Morton Walker (September 3, 1923 – January 27, 2018) was an American comic strip writer, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips ''Beetle Bailey'' in 1950 and ''Hi and Lois'' in 1954. He signed Addison to some of his strips. ...

co-created the comic strip ''

'', a spin-off of Walker's popular ''

Beetle Bailey ''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...

'' strip, featuring Beetle's sister, brother-in-law and their family. Walker wrote the strip, which Browne illustrated until his death. The series is now drawn by his son

Chance Chance may refer to: Mathematics and Science * In mathematics, likelihood of something (by way of the Likelihood function and/or Probability density function). * ''Chance'' (statistics magazine) Places * Chance, Kentucky, US * Chance, Mary ...

and written by Walker's sons. In 1973, Browne created ''

'' about an ill-mannered red-bearded medieval

viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. The comic is now produced by his son

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

. Both strips have been successful, appearing in hundreds of newspapers for decades. Browne died of cancer on June 4, 1989, at the age of 71, in Sarasota, Florida.

Awards

Browne was recognized for his work by the National Cartoonists Society with their Humor Comics Strip Award in 1959, 1960, 1972 and 1977 for ''Hi and Lois'', and again in 1984 and 1986 for ''Hägar the Horrible''. He received their Reuben Award for ''

'' in 1962 and for ''

'' in 1973. That same year the NCS honored him with their Elzie Segar Award.

References

Sources

* Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995.
Social Security Death Index

External links

a
Lambiek.net

NCS Awards
*
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Dik 1917 births 1989 deaths American people of Norwegian descent American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists Courtroom sketch artists Reuben Award winners Artists from New York City Cooper Union alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers