James Frederick Unger (21 January 1937 – 26 May 2012) was a British-born Canadian

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 ...

, best known for his syndicated

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 ...

'' Herman'' which ran for 18 years in 600 newspapers in 25 countries.

Early life

Unger was born in London, England, to Lillian Maud and James Unger. Unger served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, was enrolled as a London bobby, and worked as an insurance clerk and a repo man before emigrating to Canada in 1968 at the suggestion of one of his sisters. In Mississauga, Ontario he began his career as a

at the ''Mississauga Times'' newspaper. In 1974, as ''Herman'' became popular, Unger moved from Mississauga to

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, bringing his parents and brother from Britain.

Retirement and return

Unger moved to the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

in 1984 and retired as a cartoonist in 1992. Unger's friends encouraged him to give up retirement. He said he would not have suggested it himself, but he liked the idea. On 2 June 1997, ''Herman'' made a comeback under the United Media umbrella. "It gives me the opportunity to bring them up to date and to introduce Herman to a new generation," he said in , edition of the '' Detroit News''. He did not expect to return to full-time cartooning but planned to add new material. Unger signed a long-term contract to bring ten years of classic ''Herman'' back to newspapers.''Detroit News'', 31 May 1997. He returned to Canada in his last years, settling in Saanich, British Columbia.

Intraca

Unger was a co-founder of Intraca with David Waisglass, creator of ''Farcus''. Intraca uses the humour of popular cartoons and motivational quotes to inform and boost employees with "positive daily business messages" on their computers. ''Herman'' characters are also found on workplace posters promoting safety and improved production.

Books

In 1990, ''Herman'' became the first newspaper cartoon syndicated in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Shortly afterward, Unger produced a new book, ''Herman: Over the Wall''. He joked, "Six months later the (Berlin) Wall came down; I think that's what did it."

Awards

Unger received the National Cartoonists Society's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award twice (1982, 1987).

Death

Unger died in his sleep at his residence in Saanich, British Columbia after a period of ill health. He was predeceased by his brother Bob, who was a major influence for the ''Herman'' comic. Unger was survived by his two daughters, Karen Gooda and Jenny Hopkins, and four grandchildren as well as two sisters, Deborah and Shirley who were living in Canada, and brother Steve who was living in the UK.

References

External links

NCS Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unger, Jim 1937 births 2012 deaths Artists from London Artists from Ontario British Army soldiers Military personnel from London 20th-century British Army personnel British comic strip cartoonists British comics artists British emigrants Canadian comic strip cartoonists Canadian comics artists English male writers Immigrants to Canada Immigrants to the Bahamas Naturalized citizens of Canada Writers from London