Philip Eustice Blaisdell (March 30, 1920 – March 14, 1999), better known as Tex Blaisdell, was an American

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 ...

artist 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 panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, ...

editor. He worked on 22 syndicated features, including ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and print syndication#Comic strip syndication, syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James ...

'', which he drew for five years.Lambiek: Tex Blaisdell
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Biography

Born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Blaisdell studied at New York's

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

Comic strips

After four years in the Air Force, Blaisdell worked for 13 years on strips by

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (w ...

Stan Drake Stanley Albert Drake (November 9, 1921 – March 10, 1997) was an American cartoonist best known as the founding artist of the comic strip '' The Heart of Juliet Jones''. Born in Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of N ...

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

Irwin Hasen Irwin Hasen (; July 8, 1918 – March 13, 2015) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator (with Gus Edson) of the ''Dondi'' comic strip. He also had a significant run on DC Comics' original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, in the 1940s as we ...

John Cullen Murphy John Cullen Murphy (May 3, 1919 – July 2, 2004) was an American illustrator best known for his three decades of work on the ''Prince Valiant'' comic strip. Early life and education Born in New York City, Murphy spent his childhood in Chicago a ...

Bud Sagendorf Forrest Cowles Sagendorf (March 22, 1915 – September 22, 1994), better known as Bud Sagendorf, was an American cartoonist, notable for his work on King Features Syndicate's '' Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye'' comic strip. Personal life Born in ...

, Dick Wingert, and others. In the early 1960s, he helped

Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship ...

on ''

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full s ...

'', originally doing backgrounds, but eventually his contribution escalated to finishing everything but the faces while his assistant

Lee Marrs Lee Marrs (born September 5, 1945) is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series ''The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp'', which lasted ...

inked the backgrounds. After

Harold Gray Harold Lincoln Gray (January 20, 1894 – May 9, 1968) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the newspaper comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie''. Early life Harold Gray was born in Kankakee, Illinois on January 20, 1894, to Este ...

's death in 1968, Blaisdell stepped in as the artist on ''Little Orphan Annie'', which he continued until 1973, with assists from Paul Kirchner. For

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'' ...

, he handled the backgrounds for ''

Mary Perkins, On Stage ''Mary Perkins, On Stage'' (originally titled simply ''On Stage'') is an American newspaper comic strip by Leonard Starr for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. It ran from February 10, 1957, to September 9, 1979, with the switch to the ...

''. At this time, Blaisdell worked at a studio on the fourth floor at 144 West 57th Street, overlooking dance studios and the rear of Carnegie Hall, a studio space he shared with artists Tom Sawyer and Carl Anderson, letterer

Ben Oda Ben Oda (December 21, 1915 – November 28, 1984) was a Japanese-American letterer for comic books and comic strips. He graduated from Chouinard Art Institute and began his career as an apprentice at Walt Disney Studios.''DC Profiles Number 56: ...

, and scriptwriter John Augustin.Today's Inspiration: "Luminaries of the NCS"
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Comic books

Blaisdell also inked numerous DC Comics, including ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'', ''

Adam Strange Adam Strange is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by editor Julius Schwartz and designed by Murphy Anderson, he first appeared in '' Showcase'' #17 (November 1958). Adam Strange made his live-action de ...

'', ''

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

'', ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

'', and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

''. Blaisdell taught for years at the

Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, commonly known as The Kubert School or Joe Kubert School, is a private for-profit art school focused on cartooning and graphic art located in Madison, New Jersey. It teaches the principles of se ...

Personal life

Blaisdell married Elaine French, and the couple lived in

Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

, where he died in 1999. They had two children, Barbara F. and Bruce F. Blaisdell. Elaine Blaisdell died September 7, 2002, at the age of 81.

Awards

Blaisdell won 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 ...

Comic Book (story) Award in 1976.National Cartoonists Society Division Awards
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaisdell, Tex American comic strip cartoonists 1920 births 1999 deaths Place of death missing Artists from Houston People from Flushing, Queens

Biography

Comic strips

Comic books

Personal life

Awards

References

Further reading

External links