Just a reminder of those long gone days when I used to write and draw comic book stories featuring
The Inspector for Novaro publishers. Thought it'd be a nice touch to include him in my Xmas card. I think Inspector Clouseau was my favorite comic book character, even on top of The Pink Panther during my time working in the comics business.
I spent most of my professional years as a cartoonist, drawing and writing stories for The Pink Panther comics that were designed for the overseas market. Thanks to The Pink Panther (and Beep Beep, the Road Runner), I managed to make a living and raise a family, and consequently, I will always feel a certain amount of indebtedness to this character.
Over the years, I've tried to keep him alive in my life by doing some new little illustration featuring this funny feline every once in a while.
Thank you, Friz Freleng, David H DePatie and Blake Edwards for creating him!
As a bonus, I'm sharing the classic Pink Panther Christmas TV Special, which first aired on ABC on December 7, 1978. It was directed by Bill Perez and produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.
(Another special, "A Very Pink Christmas", was produced in 2011 but the less said about it, the better).
On September 6, 1969, Friz Freleng and David H. DePatie produced THE PINK PANTHER SHOW, which was a half-hour compilation of the Pink Panther theatrical cartoons and later became a showcase for subsequent made-for-TV cartoons.
It ran on NBC until September 2, 1978 when it changed networks and became THE ALL NEW PINK PANTHER SHOW. Today, we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the series' debut.
I enjoyed this first series a lot and, since I began doing the PINK PANTHER comic books for overseas distribution in Spanish, I felt I had a special bond with the character.
In celebration of THE PINK PANTHER SHOW's 50th Anniversary, I'd like to remember some of my Pink Panther covers during that period.
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You can read all about the Pink Panther story in this excellent book by Mark Arnold:
This was the last PINK PANTHER comic book cover I ever did for Editorial VID, which never saw the light of day. Late in 1992, I was informed that the comic book branch was closing up shop and all artists and writers were being let go. However, VID kept publishing and reprinting the same stories for several years more, without paying any royalties.
This is the original pen and ink artwork. I always signed my drawings even when I knew they would be white-washed out by the editors.
The cover was a reworking of my original NOVARO cover for DOMINGOS ALEGRES No. 2-1202, published in September 30, 1977. I substituted the Inspector for the generic little guy.
And here we have four of my covers for the PINK PANTHER comic books published in Sweden between 1983 and 1985. The Grand Comics Database has all the information but there is no way of knowing if the inside stories and artwork were mine. Bummer!
Thanks to Peter Croome from the Grand Comics Database™ (GCD) for sharing this information with me. I was not aware my work had also been published in Norway!!!
