Clare Victor Dwiggins (June 16, 1874 – October 26, 1958) was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

who signed his work Dwig. Dwiggins created a number of

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

and single-panel cartoons for various American newspapers and newspaper syndicates from 1897 until 1945, including his best-known strip, the long-running ''School Days'' (which appeared under a number of different titles).

Biography

Born in

Wilmington, Ohio Wilmington is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 12,660 at the 2020 census. At city entrances from state routes, county roads, and U.S. highways, the city slogan of "We Honor Our Champions" is ...

,Rath, Jay (May 1985). "Dwig, A Pen-and-Ink Poet". ''

Nemo, the Classic Comics Library ''Nemo, the Classic Comics Library'' was a magazine devoted to the history and creators of vintage comic strips. Created by comics historian Rick Marschall, it was published between 1983 and 1990 by Fantagraphics. ''Nemo'' ran for 31 issues (th ...

'', No. 11. Dwiggins was on a path toward a career in architecture but detoured into cartooning when his artwork was published in the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'' and 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 ...

'' in 1897. He created a wide variety of gag panels, including ''J. Filliken Wilberfloss'', ''Leap Year Lizzie'', ''Them Was the Happy Days'', ''Uncle Jim and Tad and Tim'', ''Mrs. Bump's Boarding House'', ''Ophelia and Her Slate'' and ''Bill's Diary''. Dwiggins died in a North Hollywood rest home on October 26, 1958, after a long illness.

Comics

Dwig's first comic strip was ''Home Wanted for Tags'', a daily/Sunday strip for the

McClure Newspaper Syndicate McClure Newspaper Syndicate, the first American newspaper syndicate, introduced many American and British writers to the masses. Launched in 1884 by publisher Samuel S. McClure, it was the first successful company of its kind. It turned the marke ...

, which ran from 1910–1919. His longest-running strip was ''Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn'' (1918–1931), which used more than a half dozen of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

's characters but employed very little content from his novels. Dwig began ''School Days'' circa 1909 as a single panel,Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics, 1977, page 26 and it eventually evolved into a

Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

with a storyline about school kids that continued until c. 1932 (including under the titles ''Ophelia's Slate'', ''The School Days of Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn'', and ''Golden Days'')."Clare Victor Dwiggins: Dwig"
''Lambiek Comiclopedia'' (lambiek.net). Retrieved 2016-09-01.
''Don Markstein's Toonopedia'' (toonpedia.com). Retrieved 2016-09-01. Dwig drew ''Nipper'' (1931–37) for the

Ledger Syndicate The Public Ledger Syndicate (known simply as the Ledger Syndicate) was a syndication company operated by the Philadelphia '' Public Ledger'' that was in business from 1915 to circa 1950 (outlasting the newspaper itself, which ceased publishing in ...

. During that same period, he did ''Footprints on the Sands of Time'' for the Ledger Syndicate.Dwiggins entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Nov. 23, 2017. In 1940, he returned to ''Huckleberry Finn'' (also for the Ledger Syndicate), which was reprinted in the pages of ''

Doc Savage Comics Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

'' and '' Supersnipe Comics'' (both published by Street & Smith Comics). He also drew ''Bobby Crusoe'' in 1945 for ''Supersnipe Comics''.

Comic strips and panels chronology

1897-1899

* ''Adventures of Bobby Crusoe'' * ''J. Filliken Wilberfloss'' * ''Leap Year Lizzie'' * ''Them Was the Happy Days''

1900s

* ''Ophelia and her Slate'' (Sunday gag panel for the ''

'', 1900–1911) * ''In the Jungle'' (Sunday gag panel, 1900–1901) * ''Pinochle Twins'' (for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' (1900-1901) * ''Child Book of Jungle Lore in Limericks'' (Sunday gag panel for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', 1900) * ''Bolivar'' (Sunday gag panel for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 1901) * ''Gallant Cholly'' (Sunday gag panel for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 1901) * ''The Nabobs'' (Sunday gag panel for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 1901) * ''Professor Gesla'' (Sunday gag panel for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 1901) * ''Little Roland'' (Sunday gag panel for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 1901–1902) * ''School Days / Ophelia's Slate'' (Sunday strip, 1909-1911)

1910s

* ''Day by Day with the Deys'' (1910-1919) * ''Home Wanted for Tags'' (Daily/Sunday, for the

McClure Syndicate McClure Newspaper Syndicate, the first American newspaper syndicate, introduced many American and British writers to the masses. Launched in 1884 by publisher Samuel S. McClure, it was the first successful company of its kind. It turned the marke ...

, 1910–1919) * ''Pip Gint'' (Sunday strip for the ''New York World'', 1911) * ''White Fibb'' (Sunday strip, 1911) * ''Willie Fibb'' (Sunday strip, 1911) * ''Wunst Upon a Time'' (Sunday, 1911) * ''Makin' Believe'' (Sunday strip for the ''New York World'', 1912–1913) * ''Uncle Jim and Tad and Tim'' (Sunday gag panel for the McClure Syndicate, 1913–1914) * ''Mrs. Bumps Boarding House'' (Sunday gag panel for the McClure Syndicate, 1913) * ''The District School'' (Sunday strip for the McClure Syndicate, 1914) * ''Kidsburg'' (1915–1916) * ''School Days'' (for the McClure Syndicate, 1917) — also known as ''The School Days of Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn'' * ''Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn'' (Daily/Sunday for the McClure Syndicate, 1918–1931)

1920s

* ''A Dog's Life'' (Sunday strip for the McClure Syndicate, 1926–1929) * ''Ophelia's Slate'' (Daily gag panel for the McClure Syndicate, 1927–1929) * ''School Days'' (McClure Syndicate, 1927-1929) * ''Footprints on the Sands of Time'' (Sunday strip; topper for the Mcclure Syndicate in 1929; for the

1931-1937)

1930s

* ''Golden Days'' (Daily strip for the

McNaught Syndicate The McNaught Syndicate was an American newspaper syndicate founded in 1922. It was established by Virgil Venice McNitt (who gave it his name) and Charles V. McAdam. Its best known contents were the columns by Will Rogers and O. O. McIntyre, the ' ...

, 1930–1931) * ''Nipper'' (Daily/Sunday strip for the Ledger Syndicate, 1931–1937) * ''Bill's Diary'' (Daily gag panel, 1938)

1940s

* ''Huckleberry Finn'' (Daily strip for the Ledger Syndicate, 1940–1942)

Books

''Toasts'' (1907) published by John C. Winston Co., was a hardcover collection of bawdy and intemperate

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

poems and

limericks A limerick ( ) is a form of verse, usually humorous and frequently rude, in five-line, predominantly trimeter with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA, in which the first, second and fifth line rhyme, while the third and fourth lines are shorter and ...

, illustrated with line drawings. After 1945, Dwig focused on illustration, including five books published with

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dwiggins, Clare Victor American comic strip cartoonists 1958 deaths 1874 births People from Wilmington, Ohio 20th-century American artists Artists from Ohio