Stanley Albert Drake (November 9, 1921 – March 10, 1997) 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 ...

best known as the founding artist of the comic strip '' The Heart of Juliet Jones''. Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, Drake worked in the back of a Dugan's Donut truck for a dollar-a-day salary while he was in high school. At the age of 17, he contributed art to ''Popular Detective'', ''Popular Sports'' and other pulps. Entering the comic book field as artist, letterer and writer, he became friends with cartoonist Bob Lubbers, who later suggested he draw newspaper comics.Stan Drake official site
He studied for two years at New York's

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stud ...

. In the Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he did PR work for '' Stars and Stripes''. Returning to civilian life, he went into advertising, eventually heading a studio of 12 illustrators.

Comic strips

''Juliet Jones'', created in 1953 by Drake and writer Elliot Caplin, was a dramatic comic drawn by Drake in a naturalistic style. Drake, whose assistants included

Tex Blaisdell Philip Eustice Blaisdell (March 30, 1920 – March 14, 1999), better known as Tex Blaisdell, was an American comic-strip artist and comic-book editor. He worked on 22 syndicated features, including ''Little Orphan Annie'', which he drew for f ...

and Frank McLaughlin, stayed on the strip until 1989, when he was succeeded by

Frank Bolle Frank W. Bolle (June 23, 1924 – May 12, 2020) was an American comic-strip artist, comic book artist and illustrator, best known as the longtime artist of the newspaper strips '' Winnie Winkle'' and '' The Heart of Juliet Jones''; for stints on ...

. Comic strip artist

Larry Lieber Lawrence D. Lieber (; born October 26, 1931) (Scroll down) is an American comic book artist and writer best known as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superheroes Iron Man, Thor, and Ant-Man; for his long stint both writing and drawing the Marvel W ...

has said Drake was the biggest influence on his work. In 1984, Drake replaced

Mike Gersher Mike Gersher was formerly an artist on the Blondie comic strip. He started being credited as the head artist in late December 1981, after the death of the long serving Jim Raymond. Gersher had assisted Raymond for about seventeen years, origin ...

as the artist on '' Blondie'' (written by Dean Young), and he continued drawing the strip until his death. His assistant on ''Blondie'' was Denis Lebrun.

Fine art

He was a prolific painter and created portraits of more than 40 cartoonists, work displayed at the Comic Artist's Museum in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

Graphic novels

Drake drew comic books for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

such as ''

The Pitt ''The Pitt'' is a 1987 one-shot comic book written by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald, and illustrated by Sal Buscema and Stan Drake. It was published by Marvel Comics as part of its New Universe line. The story depicts the total destruction ...

''. Internationally, he is known for the artwork on the ''Kelly Green'' series of graphic novels about a young widow who fights crime in the manner of an

action hero An action hero (sometimes action heroine for women) is the protagonist of an action film or other form of entertainment which portrays action, adventure, and often violence. Other media in which such heroes appear include swashbuckler films, We ...

. This series was written by

Leonard Starr Leonard Starr (October 28, 1925 – June 30, 2015) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist, and advertising artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strip ''Mary Perkins, On Stage, On Stage'' and reviving ''Little Orphan Annie''. ...

. It was serialized in ''

Pilote Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0 ''Pilote'' () was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as '' Astérix'', ' ...

'' magazine in black and white before being collected in color albums by the French firm Dargaud International Publishing. An avid golfer, Drake created illustrations for ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's compet ...

'' and the book ''The Touch System for Better Golf''.

Awards

He was recognized by the

National Cartoonists Society 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 ...

with their Story Comic Strip Award (1969, 1970, 1972) for ''The Heart of Juliet Jones'', and was awarded the

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual co ...

in 1984.Inkpot Award
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Health

Drake was a passenger during the September 1956 automobile accident that killed his fellow cartoonist

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...

, and was badly injured, with a broken shoulder which stopped him from cartooning during his recovery, and both his ears having been ripped off and needing to be surgically reattached. As well, Drake had a congenital condition such that the bones of his

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, t ...

did not properly fuse in infancy.

References

External links

NCS Awards
*Frank McLaughlin interview, ''

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

'' #9 (August 2000), pp 84–88
Stan Drake Papers 1954-1971
at Syracuse University (primary source material) {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Stan 1921 births 1997 deaths American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists Blondie (comic strip) Inkpot Award winners American military personnel of World War II