Richard Earl Locher (June 4, 1929 – August 6, 2017) was an American

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

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 ...

Early life and career

Locher was born in

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. After high school, he began studying art at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

and the

Chicago Academy of Fine Arts The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum an ...

. While in

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, he became an assistant to Rick Yager, who was drawing ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

'' at the time. However, he left the job after a few months to enlist in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

, where he became a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

. While at the Air Force, he began freelancing for the '' Stars and Stripes''. In 1957, he began assisting Chester Gould on ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (character), Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''De ...

'', where he inked the figures and colored the Sunday strips. He also contributed to a story that was cited in Gould's 1959

Reuben award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

. He left the strip in 1961 to work on other areas, including starting an advertising company, where he worked on designing characters for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...

. Locher kept in touch with Chester Gould even after leaving the strip. In 1973, an editorial cartoonist position at the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' opened up and Gould recommended Locher to take the position. Despite having no experience in editorial cartooning, the ''Tribune'' hired Locher. Locher retired May 1, 2013. Locher, working with his son John, returned to work on ''Dick Tracy'' in 1983, when its previous cartoonist, Rick Fletcher, died. That same year, he won the Pulitzer Prize for

Editorial Cartooning An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...

. In 2009, Jim Brozman took over the drawing of ''Dick Tracy''; however Locher continued to write the storylines and contributed sketches. In 2011, Locher retired from ''Dick Tracy'' and handed the reins to the new creative team of Mike Curtis and Joe Staton. Locher's last ''Dick Tracy'' strip was published Sunday, March 13, 2011. In 2006, Locher was inducted into the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma by Michael Vance. The Oklahoma Cartoonists Collection, created by Vance, is located in the Toy and Action Figure Museum. In 2013, Locher helped design and make a 9.5-foot bronze statue of Naperville's founding father, Capt. Joseph Naper.

Personal life

Locher lived in Naperville, Illinois, with his wife, Mary, at the time of his passing. Locher had three children: Stephen, who lives in the Chicago area; John, who died in 1986; and Jana, who lives in Colorado. The new

Land of Lincoln Trophy Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various i ...

designed by Dick Locher goes to the winner of the Northwestern-Illinois college football game. Locher died on August 6, 2017, in Naperville, Illinois, aged 88. His death was caused by complications from Parkinson's disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Locher, Dick 1929 births 2017 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American editorial cartoonists Artists from Iowa Chicago Tribune people Dick Tracy People from Dubuque, Iowa Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni United States Air Force officers University of Iowa alumni