Wesley Morse was an American comic artist and advertising illustrator.

History

Born Wesley Cherry Morse in Chicago in 1897, the son of Charles and Fanny Cherry (1870–1946), Wesley Morse eventually settled in New York City. In 1918, Morse joined the Army, spending a year in France in a field artillery battery. Following his experience overseas Morse returned to New York, where, starting in 1921, he became a regular contributor of sketches to magazines like ''Film Fun'', ''Snappy Stories'', ''

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

'', and '' Shadowland''. Chorus girls and

flappers Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee length was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their d ...

were frequent subjects of his. For a couple of years in the early 1920s he worked alongside

Alberto Vargas Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists, and as one of the pioneers of airbrush art. Numerous ...

as one of the artists for the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

, while living in the fashionable Hotel des Artistes near Central Park. He also contributed art to magazine advertisements in ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', and ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

''. Morse was one of only two known authors of underground "

Tijuana Bible Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, Tillie-and-Mac books, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, Jo-Jo books, bluesies, blue-bibles, gray-backs, and two-by-fours) were palm-sized erotic comics produced in the United States from the 1920s to the early ...

" comics in the 1930s ( Doc Rankin is believed to be another), and memorably created a series of them that used the 1939 World's Fair as their setting and were, according to legend, clandestinely sold at the fair itself. Morse drew 60 of the little booklets, as well as four of the larger, more expensive 16-page books from the same publishers. Morse collaborated with H. C. Witwer on the comic strip ''Switchboard Sally'' in 1925, and drew Victor E. Pazmiño's newspaper strip ''Frolicky Fables'' in 1926. He drew the strips ''Kitty of the Chorus'' in the ''

New York Daily Mirror The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and '' ...

'' in 1925, ''May and June'' for the '' New York Graphic'' in 1927, and ''Beau Gus'' with Bud Wiley (rejected 1933 trial strips for a "Tillie and Mac" style newspaper comic) which appeared in the early comic book ''Circus: The Comic Riot'' in 1938. For a few months in 1925 he was probably the anonymous ghost who drew ''

Polly and Her Pals ''Polly and Her Pals'' is an American comic strip, created by cartoonist Cliff Sterrett, which ran from December 4, 1912, until December 7, 1958. It is regarded as one of the most graphically innovative strips of the 20th century. It debuted as ...

'' for

Cliff Sterrett Clifford Sterrett (; December 12, 1883 – December 28, 1964) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Polly and Her Pals''. Biography Born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where his father was a druggist, Cliff Sterr ...

while he was on sabbatical. During World War II he drew hundreds of unsigned gag cartoons for newsstand joke books issued by Louis Shomer's Larch Publications; he also worked for the Blackstone Company, an advertising agency where his friend Monte Proser, the owner of the Copacabana, had been an account executive. One of his World's Fair themed Tijuana bibles even shows the night club Proser was operating at the Fair, The Zombie, and its namesake signature drink.''New York Times'', April 20, 1940, pg. 17. Before marrying Lucy Olsen (1910–1951) in 1944, Morse dated extensively, including relationships with

Ruby Keeler Ethel Ruby Keeler (August 25, 1909 – February 28, 1993) was a Canadian and American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly '' 42nd Street'' ( ...

, Avonne Taylor, and

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career, she was known for her strong, realistic screen p ...

. He had a son, Talley Morse, who was the inspiration for many of the ''Bazooka Joe'' strips.

References

Bibliography

* ''Bazooka Joe and His Gang: 60th Anniversary Collection''. Abrams Books. (2013). . * ''The Life and Art of Wesley Morse'', by Nancy Morse and Kirk Taylor. (2015). . * ''Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930s–1950s''. Simon & Schuster. (1997). .

External links

Profile of Morse on Lambiek.netTaylor-Morse Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Wesley American comics artists 1897 births 1963 deaths American advertising artists and illustrators American erotic artists American comic strip cartoonists American humorists American character designers