Howard Post (November 2, 1926 – May 21, 2010) Alternate source: "'Dropouts' cartoonist Howard Post dies in NJ at 83", Associated Press via ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', May 24, 2010 was an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

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 ...

, and

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

and

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

writer-artist. Post is known for his syndicated newspaper comic strip ''The Dropouts'' which had a 13-year run and for creating

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

' '' Anthro''.

Early life and career

Born in New York City, Post grew up in the

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

and Sheepshead Bay neighborhoods of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and then in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

.Howard Post interview
"Country Boy from the City"
''

Comic Book Artist 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 literary ...

'' #5 (Summer 1999) In a 1999 interview, he recalled his start in drawing and his father's influence: As a teenager, Post attended the Hastings School of Animation, in New York City. When he was age 16 or 17, his father was stricken with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and hospitalized, making Post the primary breadwinner for a family of four. At

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

' animation studio,

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...

he earned $24 a week as an in-betweener.

Comic books

To supplement what even then was considered a meager income, Post broke into

s—first being rejected by the L. B. Cole studio on 42nd Street and then successfully selling work to artist

Bernard Baily Bernard Baily (April 5, 1916 – January 19, 1996)
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
Prize Comics A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

' ''Wonderland Comics'' #2, and the five-page "3-Alarm Fire!", starring Hopeless Henry, in Cambridge House Publishers' ''Gold Medal Comics'' #1. Credited as Howie Post, he soon began drawing for the company that would become

, including the features "Jimminy and the Magic Book" in ''

More Fun Comics ''More Fun Comics'', originally titled ''New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine'',''New Fun'' #v1#1 (Feb. 1935 ...

'', "Rodeo Rick" in ''

Western Comics Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic bo ...

'', "Presto Pete" in ''Animal Antics'', "Chick 'n Gumbo" in ''Funny Folks'', and "J. Rufus Lion" in ''Comic Cavalcade'', among other work. During the 1950s, he drew many humorous stories for the satirical comics ''Crazy'', ''Wild'', and ''Riot'', from

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics, as well as occasional stories in that publishers

horror comics Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the ...

, including ''

Journey into Mystery ''Journey into Mystery'' is an American comic book series initially published by Atlas Comics, then by its successor, Marvel Comics. Initially a horror comics anthology, it changed to giant-monster and science fiction stories in the late 1950s ...

'', '' Uncanny Tales'', and '' Mystery Tales''. As Howie Post, he drew the three-issue run of Atlas' ''The Monkey and the Bear'' (Sept. 1953 - Jan. 1954).

Harvey Comics and later career at Famous Studios

By 1961, Post was drawing adventures of such

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

’ characters as Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost,

Wendy the Good Little Witch Wendy the Good Little Witch is a fictional comic book Character (arts), character from Harvey Comics. Like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Wendy is an opposite-type character, a girl witch who does good deeds. Publicatio ...

, and the Ghostly Trio in such comics books as ''Casper's Ghostland'' and ''TV Casper & Company'', starring

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...

. Post was the head of Paramount Cartoon Studios, as well as a key director, succeeding Seymour Kneitel from 1964 through 1965. He later went up to director and writer position at Famous Studios, and created and designed a character named Honey Halfwitch (voiced by

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody awards, Peabody-winning American Ventriloquism, ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, a ...

), who is half- wizard, half-girl. Post pitched the character to the highest brass at Paramount. In June 1966,

Shamus Culhane James H. "Shamus" Culhane (November 12, 1908 – February 2, 1996) was an American animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for his work in the Golden age of American animation. Career Shamus Culhane worked for a number of ...

, the last head of Famous Studios, took over the series, and the character was given a new design and voice in the last 4 cartoons. The final cartoon, ''Brother Bat'', was the last cartoon with Post's involvement as a writer. The series would continue until August of 1967, 4 months before the studio shut down.

''Anthro''

In the late 1960s, as Howie Post, he created, wrote and drew the prehistoric-teen comic book '' Anthro'' for

, which ran six issues (Aug. 1968 - Aug. 1969) after debuting in '' ''Showcase'''', with the last issue in the series inked by

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

and Ralph Reese.

''The Dropouts''

''The Dropouts'' was a comic strip created by Post and was syndicated by

United Features Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media ( ...

from 1968 to 1981. Post began the strip at the same time his comic book '' Anthro'' was canceled. The premise of ''The Dropouts'' was a variation on the "stranded on a desert island" gag. The two main characters, Alf and Sandy, were indeed castaways, but the island is hardly deserted: One of the strip's

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

s was how closely the natives' society resembled

Western civilization Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompasses the social no ...

. Other characters, all natives, included a one-man police force, a doctor, and a chef running a cafe with inedible food. There were other Western characters, including a religious zealot, an angry feminist and a disheveled alcoholic, Chugalug.

Later life and career

In the mid-to-late 1980s, Post drew for the

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

imprint of

, on titles such as '' Heathcliff'' and ''

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. They were turned into plush teddy bears and featured in ''The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings'' (1983) and ...

''. He was also an editor on ''Looney Tunes Magazine'' and ''Tiny Toons Magazine'' for

.''Tiny Toon Adventures Magazine'' #6
at the Grand Comics Database. In later years, Post taught art and illustration privately and at New York's

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

. A long-time resident of

Leonia, New Jersey Leonia is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,304, an increase of 367 (+4.1%) from the 2010 United Sta ...

, he was survived by his companion of 24 years, Pamela Rutt, and two daughters, Andee Post and Glynnis Doda. His wife Bobbee predeceased him in 1980.

References

External links

* *
''Post Scripts'' by Mark Evanier
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Post, Howard 1926 births 2010 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American animators American comics writers American comics artists Artists from Brooklyn People from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn Artists from Leonia, New Jersey Famous Studios people Inkpot Award winners