Illustrators
Carol Hager
Waddles was a very fortunate duck. One that was cared for and passed down generation after generation. In 1912, the year his grandaughter Carol was born, the artist Dok Hager created Dok’s Dippy Duck, which enjoyed a run in The Seattle Daily Times. When Dok lost his...
Edwina Dumm
She was known simply as “Edwina,” and she was the first full-time cartoonist in America. Her full name was Edwina Drumm and, in 1915, she took her first job as a cartoonist working for the short-lived Columbus Daily Monitor. During her time with the Monitor, she was...
Grace Drayton
If you’ve ever been to an antique shop and seen posters, postcards, or old ads of little, cherubic-faced children standing around Campbell Soup cans, then you’ve seen the work of Grace Drayton. Ms. Drayton actually created the Campbell Soup Kids in 1904, which kicked...
Fanny Cory
If you see this signature on a piece of art, it can only mean one thing - Fanny Cory. Fanny Cory began her career as a comic strip artist. Early works include Sonnysayings and Little Miss Muffet. Sonnysaying - about life through a five-year-old's eyes enjoyed...
Ramona Fradon
When Ramona Fradon started illustrating comics, she had no idea she was one of a very small handful of female artists in the industry. A pitifully small handful. This didn't stop her from making a splash, however. Ms. Fradon is one of the most prolific, long-standing,...
Nina Albright
What does Black Venus, Miss Victory, and Dr. Doom (not that Dr. Doom Marvelites!) have in common? Answer: They were all drawn by artist Nina Albricht. Ms. Albricht was born in 1907 and spent nine years illustrating comics. Even so, her body of work, as well as the...
Dot Cochran
Many early comic strips at the turn of the century featured society girls and their adventures. A perfect example of this is "Me and My Boyfriend", illustrated by Dot Cochran. Dot was born in 1901. By her twenties, she illustrated her first strip, "Dot and Dodo"...
Mildred Burleigh
Not a whole lot is known about the life of Mildred Burleigh. What is known is that she was born in 1887 as Mildred E. Burley and lived in Indiana. In April 1908, the Grand Rapids Press published a staff change at a school in Carson City, Oregon. “…Miss Mildred...
Nell Brinkley – the “Queen of Comics”
Nell is standing in the doorway with an envelope in her hand. It is 1907 and she is wearing a hat and coat in the style of that era. PANEL 2 We can see over her shoulder as she holds the letter from the envelope. Its salutation reads: “Dear Ms. Brinkley,” PANEL 3...