Actors Benefit for Crippled Children, Winsor McCay sketching 1908

Robert Winsor McCay (21 June 1896 – 21 April 1962) was an American

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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

during the

golden age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known cha ...

. He worked professionally under the names R. Winsor McCay, Winsor McCay Jr., and Bob McCay. He was the son of cartoonist and animator

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worke ...

Early life

Robert McCay was born to Winsor and Maude McCay on 21 June 1896. A sister, Marion, was born the following year. In 1903 Winsor moved the family from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in order to work for the

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the ''New York Herald Tribune''. Hist ...

. Bob was enrolled in Erasmus High School but failed to graduate when he ran away at the age of 17. page #? At age 19, McCay was enrolled as an art student at the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was founded in 1887 ...

when he and friend William “Thorp” Adams enlisted with the

New York National Guard The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs (NYS DMNA) is responsible for the state's New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard, New York Guard and the New York Naval Militia. It is headed by Adjutant General of Ne ...

, 1st New York Cavalry. They were stationed in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

as part of the border patrol during the

Pancho Villa Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the ...

. Following the withdrawal in 1917, both men were discharged and returned home, and Bob became engaged to Theresa “Tedda” Munchausen. Three weeks after their discharge, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

entered the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, and the 1st Cavalry, now under the 27th Division, recalled both men back into service with the American Expeditionary Force. The 27th Division was sent to the Western Front in 1918, and was involved in the

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Central Powers ...

which successfully broke the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...

. During that period, McCay was shot and gassed, and eventually suffered from

shell shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a rea ...

. For his service, he was awarded the British Imperial Military Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross. Having attained the rank of sergeant, McCay returned home and was honorably discharged in spring 1919, marrying Tedda in 1921. A daughter, Janet, was born in 1922, and a son, Winsor Robert, in 1928. McCay worked as an art assistant for his father, doing the inking, lettering and detailing work on a number of cartoons. He received sole credit for several, including an animated film. He continued working as an assistant on various projects until his father's death in 1934.

Golden Age of Comic Books

Illustrator

In 1935, McCay signed with

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

to produce ''Nemo in Adventureland'', which featured the characters of his father's work ''

Little Nemo Little Nemo is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. He originated in an early comic strip by McCay, '' Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'', before receiving his own spin-off series, ''Little Nemo in Slumberland''. The ...

'' as adults and ran until 1936. He also made political cartoons for the syndicate during the 1930s, and again during the early 1950s. In 1937,

Harry "A" Chesler Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ) – December 1981),Harr ...

created a newspaper syndicate, signing McCay to produce a new version of ''Little Nemo'', as well as a daily featuring Impie. Production continued on both after the syndicate was closed in 1938, being utilized in various comic books including Cocomalt Comics and

Blue Ribbon The blue ribbon is a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Cordon Bleu, which referred to the blue ribbon wo ...

, published by MLJ Publications (later Archie Publications). Chesler closed his shop (the first of several times) around 1940. Street & Smith ran Little Nemo in 1942 in Shadow Comics. In 1945, McCay was again with Chesler’s shop, producing Little Nemo in Adventureland for Red Seal and Punch Comics until 1947, when the shop closed down for the final time.Bob McCay
at the

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

Inker/colorist

Around 1939, McCay began working for DC Comics as a

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it i ...

, and would continue until about 1945. He was a background illustrator and

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a penc ...

at the Jack Binder Studio, working on the Fawcett character

Bulletman Bulletman and Bulletgirl are fictional superheros originally published by Fawcett Comics. Publication history Created by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle, Bulletman first appeared in ''Nickel Comics'' #1 (May 1940). This comic was distinct from other ...

, and Street & Smith’s Ajax the Sun Man and Blackstone the Magician.

McCay-Richardson Syndicate

In 1947, McCay attempted to release a modernized version of his father's Little Nemo and formed the McCay-Richardson Features Syndicate with distributor Duke Richardson. McCay took his father’s original drawings and cut individual frames out, pasting them to fit into a half-broadsheet page format, providing new dialogue and colours. The McCay-Richardson Syndicate distributed this version from approximately March to December 1947. Bob eventually worked as an illustrator in Training Aids/Special Services for

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, m ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. He died of cancer 21 April 1962.

References

External links

McCay, Bob
at Bails, Jerry, and Hames Ware, Who's Who in American Comic Books 1929–1999
Women of Ward
(Bill Ward official site)
WebCitation archive
*Amash, Jim

''

Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differe ...

'' vol. 3, #12, January 2002

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccay, Bob 1896 births 1962 deaths American animators American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists Comics colorists Comics inkers Golden Age comics creators