Art Nugent
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arthur William Nugent (1891 - March 25, 1975), better known as Art Nugent, was an American cartoonist notable for his long-running syndicated puzzle feature, ''Funland'' (aka '' Uncle Art's Funland''), which he drew for four decades. He sometimes used the signature A. W. Nugent.


Biography


Early life

Born in
Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in En ...
, he began his career as an
acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...
. From 1911 to 1918, he was the National AAU Tumbling Champion. In 1916, he made the Olympic team, but the event was canceled. He joined the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and began doing artwork while in the service. Nugent was friends with illusionist
Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...
, and the pair would play cards regularly.


''Puzzlers'' and ''Uncle Art's Funland''

Returning after World War I, Nugent worked as the ''
New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...
s puzzle cartoonist for eight years."Arthur Nugent, 84, Who Drew 'Funland' Puzzle Page, Is Dead,"
''The New York Times'' (March 27, 1975).
For the ''World'', Nugent created a feature called ''Puzzlers'' in 1927, which was syndicated until c. 1931 by the ''World'''s Press Publishing Co. ''Puzzlers'' featured the same games, riddles,
connect-the-dots Connect the dots (also known as connect-the-dots, dot to dot, or join the dots) is a form of puzzle containing a sequence of numbered dots. When a line is drawn connecting the dots the outline of an object is revealed. The puzzles frequently c ...
art,
crossword puzzles A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the ans ...
and
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...
s that characterized '' Uncle Art's Funland'' (alternately known as ''Uncle Nugent's Funland''), launched in 1933. This feature introduced his autobiographical character, Uncle Nugent (aka Uncle Art). From 1934 to around 1955, Nugent created a variety of single-page puzzle and game features — essentially the same concept as ''Uncle Art's Funland'' — for many Golden Age comics: * ''
Famous Funnies ''Famous Funnies'' is an American comic strip anthology series published from 1934 to 1955. Published by Eastern Color Printing, ''Famous Funnies'' is considered by popular culture historians as the first true American comic book, following sem ...
'' #1–162 (
Eastern Color Printing The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 1928 ...
, 1934–1948) — as ''Funland'' and occasionally ''Funland Everybody's Playmate'' * ''Popular Comics'' #1–35 (Dell Comics, 1936–1938) — as ''Nugent's Originals'' or ''Real Magic'' * ''The Comics'' (
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
, 1938) — as ''Comics Puzzles'' or ''A Page for Little Artists'' * ''
The Funnies ''The Funnies'' was the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing (Dell Comics), the first of these a seminal 1920s precursor of comic books, and the second a standard 1930s comic book. ''The Funnies'' (1929–1930) In 1929, George ...
'' #1-27 (Dell Comics, 1936–1938) — as ''Home Magic'' or ''Everybody's Playmate'' *
All-American Comics ''All-American Comics'' was a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Green ...
#1–24 (
All-American Publications All-American PublicationsThe name is spelled with a hyphen per its logo (pictured) and sources includinat Don Markstein's ToonopediaArchivedfrom the original on April 15, 2012. was one of two American comic book companies that merged to form the ...
, 1939–1941) — as ''Real Magic to Mystify Your Friends'' or ''Nugent's Original Puzzles, Games, Tricks & Comics'' * ''Champ Comics'' (
Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfr ...
, 1940–1943) — as ''Champ Puzzlers'' * ''Victory Puzzles'' ran in ''All-American Comics'', ''
Sensation Comics ''Sensation Comics'' is the title of an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues between 1942 and 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman, a character which had been introduced in ''Al ...
'', and ''
Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
'' (1943–1944) * ''Detective Puzzles'' ran in ''
All-Flash ''All-Flash'', originally published as ''All-Flash Quarterly'', was a comic book magazine series published by All-American Publications and later National Periodicals (DC Comics) featuring superhero Jay Garrick, the original Flash. The series was t ...
'', ''All-American Comics'', and ''
Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...
'' (1943–1945) * ''Sparkling Stars'' #13–33 (
Holyoke Publishing The Holyoke Publishing Company was an American magazine and comic-book publisher with offices in Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York City, Its best-known comics characters were Blue Beetle and the superhero duo Cat-Man (later r ...
, 1946–1948) — as ''Puzzle Page'' * ''
Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon charac ...
'' (
Toby Press Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Founded by Elliott Caplin, brother of cartoonist Al Capp and himself an established comic strip writer, the company published reprints of Capp's '' Li'l Abner'' s ...
, 1953–1955) — as ''Play Fun'' or ''Puzzle Page'' Beginning in 1950, ''Uncle Nugent's Funland'' was regularly syndicated.Nugent entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Jan. 1, 2019.
Originally with the
Bell-McClure Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...
, it became part of
United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...
in 1972. Nugent's son Art Nugent, Jr. took over ''Uncle Art's Funland'' in the early 1970s with occasional contributions by the elder Nugent until 1974. ''Uncle Art's Funland'' ended in 1991 but was revived circa 2009 by
United Media United Media was a large Column (periodical), editorial column and comic strip newspaper print syndication, syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comi ...
. It is now produced by N.A. Nugent (hypothesized by some to be "Not A Nugent"). and distributed by
Andrews McMeel Syndication Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other c ...
under the
United Features United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...
brand.


Comic books

In the 1940s, Nugent created
talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...
stories for ''Popular Comics'' and other
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s, including "Pint-Size Pete" for '' The Big All-American Comics'' (1944). From 1945 to 1947, Nugent operated the A.W. Nugent Publishing Company, which only published two titles, both of which featured his signature puzzle pages: * ''Cavalier Comics'' (2 issues, 1945) * ''Circus of Fun Comics'' (3 issues, 1945–1947)


Later life

Living in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...
. The senior Nugent was 84 when he died at St. Mary's Hospital in
Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was original ...
in 1975.


Art Nugent, Jr.

Arthur William Nugent, Jr. (February 6, 1926 - November 23, 1997) studied at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
and the Newark School of Art. Beginning as his father's assistant, Art Nugent, Jr. was partnering with his father as early as 1953."Connect the Dots by A. W. Nugent and A. W. Nugent, Jr.,"
''Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series: 1953: July–December'' (Copyright Office, Library of Congress, 1954), p. 474.
The junior Nugent was 71 when he died in 1997.


Books

''Funland: Super-packed with Puzzles, Jokes, Amazing Facts and Lots more Exciting Fun!'', by Art Nugent and Leo White, is a 132-page paperback collection published by Playmore in 1982.


References


External links


Uncle Art's Funland''
at GoComics * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent, Art American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American illustrators 1891 births 1975 deaths People from Wallingford, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut