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Frank M. Borth III (April 1, 1918 – August 9, 2009) was an American
comic book artist 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 ...
.


Biography

Borth was born and raised in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, eventually graduating in 1940 from the
Cleveland School of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at fir ...
, where he majored in illustration."New Sea Adventure Strip Will Appear in Times," ''
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
'' (Sept. 6, 1947)
Archived at Stripper's Guide
Moving to New York City, Frank Borth rose to prominence during the so-called "
Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...
", where he first (in 1941) worked on the feature "Pat Patriot, America's Joan of Arc," for
Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''Boy Comics''. Backgr ...
' '' Daredevil Comics''. After freelance jobs with
Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...
,
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 ...
, and Picture Scoop, Borth found a home at
Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...
, where he was responsible for characters such as Spider Widow and (for a time)
Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a Fictional character, fictional Superhero#Female superheroes and villains, superheroine, one of the first such characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was ...
. Borth served in the military during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, ending up in 1946 on
Montauk Point Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The ...
, Long Island. It was there that he was inspired to create the sea adventure
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
''Ken Stuart'', which was syndicated by the
Frank J. Markey Syndicate The Frank Jay Markey Syndicate was a small print syndication service that distributed comic strips and columns from the mid-1930s to c. 1950. Although small in size, the syndicate distributed strips by a number of notable cartoonists, including ...
from September 8, 1947, to 1950.Borth entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Book Artists, 1928–1999''. Accessed Jan. 5, 2018.
The Markey syndicate also attempted to syndicate Borth's strip ''Bouford'' in 1949.
Columbia Comics Columbia Comics Corporation was a comic book publisher active in the 1940s whose best-known title was ''Big Shot Comics''. Comics creators who worked for Columbia included Fred Guardineer, on ''Marvelo, the Monarch of Magicians''; and Ogden Whitne ...
published one issue of a ''Ken Stuart'' comic book in 1948. Following the demise of ''Ken Stuart'', Borth worked on features for a few
Ziff-Davis Comics Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...
titles, including "Skypilot" and "Captain Fleet." From the late 1940s onward, Borth worked extensively for the Ohio-based
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
-oriented comic book publisher George A. Pflaum, whose most well-known title was ''
Treasure Chest Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...
''. Borth worked on such ''Treasure Chest'' features as "Chuck White," "Frumson Wooters," and many others. Beginning in 1963, and lasting until the title's cancellation in 1972, ''Treasure Chest'' also serialized a drawing course called "Draw-Along with Frank Borth." In the mid-to-late 1960s, Borth became active in the Montauk community, eventually becoming councilman on the East Hampton town board in 1968, a position which lasted until 1972. From 1970 to 1983, Borth wrote the syndicated gag panel ''
There Oughta Be a Law! ''There Oughta Be a Law!'', or ''TOBAL!'', was a single-panel newspaper comic strip, created by Harry Shorten and Al Fagaly, which was syndicated for four decades from 1944 to 1985. The gags illustrated minor absurdities, frustrations, hypocrisies ...
'', taking over from co-creator
Harry Shorten Harry Shorten (1914–1991) was an American writer, editor, and book publisher best known for the Comic strip syndication, syndicated gag cartoon ''There Oughta Be a Law!'', as well as his work with Archie Comics, and his long association with Arch ...
."GREEN SHEET, THROWBACK THURSDAY — COMICS EDITION: 'There Oughta Be a Law!' tapped readers for material,"
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (May 05, 2016).
Despite retiring in 1983, Borth did occasional assignments for ''
Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...
'' magazine, as well as ''
Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...
'', ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...
'', and ''Monsters Attack'', in the following years. Borth died in
Newville, Pennsylvania Newville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The borough is located west of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle. The population was 1,376 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Har ...
, on August 9, 2009, aged 91.Artist Frank Borth III, Of Montauk, Dies At 91
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Notes


References

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External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Borth, Frank 1918 births 2009 deaths American comics artists Golden Age comics creators Artists from Cleveland