Cartoonist Johnny Hart's birthday!

John Lewis Hart (February 18, 1931 – April 7, 2007) was an American cartoonist noted as the creator of the comic strips B.C. and The Wizard of Id. Brant Parker co-produced and illustrated The Wizard of Id. Hart was recognized with several awards, including the Swedish Adamson Award and five from the National Cartoonists Society. In his later years, he was known (and sometimes criticized) for incorporating Christian themes and messages into his strips. (WIKIPEDIA)

Johnny Hart's HARMON, a caveman done for Dr. Pepper ads was a forerunner to his B.C. 

Johnny Hart and Brant Parker were two of my earliest influences in the cartoon world. Their style, while very similar, differed in several ways and it was comparatively easy to recognize each other's work. 

                                                    

Their way of drawing very minimalistic images with just a few sparse lines caught my attention from the very moment I first saw their strips in the local newspaper and I must confess, I began to copy their style, carefully trying not to look exactly the same so as not to be accused of copyright infringement. 

                   

But their style can be seen in my first attempt at doing a comic book, with a character called EL MAFIOSO NICK (Mobster Nick), which ran in a few magazines before becoming a short lived comic book.    

                                         

I abandoned the Johnny Hart-Brant Parker school of cartooning and went on to develop a very different style myself although I still followed their work and never lost my admiration for them.

Of course, drawing style is one thing and the humor and ability to get a smile or a laugh in three or four panels is something else and not every cartoonist can achieve it the way Hart and Parker did. The humor in these strips was brilliant, sharp, witty and unexpected which is a testimony to their superb talent.

Their strips are still being kept alive by their respective collaborators with some degree of success but the heyday of B.C. and The Wizard of Id, rightfully belongs to the first era, when their creators were active and churning out their strips much to the acclaim of their millions of followers.

Brant Parker's WIZARD OF ID

Brant Parker

Johnny Hart

Johnny Hart passed away on April 7, 2007 and Brant Parker followed on April 15, 2007, only 8 days apart!