Horace T. Elmo (3 April 1903 – October 23, 1992) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

particularly active in the 1930s and 1940s; he also ran a comic strip syndication service whose main claim to fame was that it employed Jack Kirby in the late 1930s.

Biography

He was born Arazio Theodore Elmo in Manhattan (later moving to Brooklyn and then the Bronx),Jay, Alex
"Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: H.T. Elmo,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (April 25, 2017). the sixth of seven children of Italian immigrants Joseph and Josephine Elmo. It is not known if or where Elmo received art training, but early cartoons were published on the "amateur pages" in ''

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

'' magazine. After starting out as a stock clerk in the export business, he worked as a cartoonist with the local tabloid the '' New York Evening Graphic''. Elmo's first recorded comic strip was the daily strip ''Little Otto'', "which was to be syndicated beginning in 1926 by Wheeler-Nicholson, Inc. It’s unclear if the strip was ever published." His first professionally published work were six episodes of the recurring one-page feature ''Did You Know That'' for the film magazine '' Picture Play'' in 1932–1933. He started the weekly syndication service Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate (also known as Lincoln Features Syndicate and Lincoln News Syndicate) in 1935, beginning with Larry Antonette's ''Dash Dixon'', and followed by ''Biff Baxter’s Adventures'', ''Detective Riley'', ''Little Buddy'', ''Your Health Comes First!!!'', and ''Socko the Sea Dog'' (a takeoff on '' Popeye''). In the period 1935–1939, Elmo worked on a number of strips of his own, including ''Facts You Never Knew'', ''The Fizzle Family'', ''Goofus Family'', and ''Laughs from Today's News''. He also ghosted some Lincoln service strips, including ''Socko the Seadog'' and ''Your Health Comes First!!!''. Jack Kirby joined Elmo's syndicate in 1936, working on strips and single-panel advice cartoons such as ''Your Health Comes First!!!'' (under the pseudonym Jack Curtiss), as well as ''Abdul Jones'', ''The Black Buccaneer'', ''Cyclone Burke'', ''Detective Riley'', and ''Socko the Seadog''. While with the syndicate, Kirby also did the artwork for a 24-page pamphlet produced for the banking industry, called ''The Romance of Money''. Kirby remained with the syndicate until late 1939, when he began working for the theatrical

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

company

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

. at Cartoon Research.com. After a two-year hiatus, from 1941 to 1946 Elmo worked on some new weekly strips, including ''It's Amazing'', ''Sally Snickers'', and ''Useless Eustace''.Holtz, Allen
"Obscurity of the Day: Useless Eustace,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (April 24, 2017). Elmo's Lincoln service operated until c. 1945, when he restarted it as Elmo Features Syndicate, sometimes employing the talents of the Roche-Iger Studio; but that syndicate also didn't last.Holtz, Allan
"Obscurity of the Day: Detective Riley,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (May 09, 2011). After the demise of his syndication service, Elmo did some work in the comic book industry, for both National Comics Publications and Timely Comics. In the late 1950s/early 1960s,

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

published three Elmo cartoon collections; he also

packaged Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

books sold in the United Kingdom, including ''150 Games to Play'', ''The Complete Book of Space'', and ''101 Things to Make and Play''.Elmo entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved Jan. 8, 2022. Elmo's later strips included ''The Rhyming Romeos'', which ran exclusively in the African-American newspaper the '' Arkansas State Press'' in the 1950s; and ''Puggy'' and ''Tell Me'', which ran exclusively in the Hubbard, Ohio, ''News Reporter'' in the 1960s and in the '' Spirit Lake Beacon'' in the mid-1970s.

Personal life and death

Elmo was married twice; first to Martha Oliver, and then to Vilma A. Molnar. He and Vilma had two children — Elaine and Horace Jr. Horace T. Elmo died in the Bronx in 1992.

Bibliography

Strips and panels

* ''Detective Riley'' (1935–c. 1943) * ''Facts You Never Knew'' (1935-1939) * ''The Fizzle Family'' (1935–1939) * ''Goofus Family'' (1935-1939) * ''It's Amazing'' (1941–1946) * ''Laughs from Today's News'' (1935–1939) * ''Our Puzzle Corner'' (1936) * ''Puggy'' (1960–mid-1970s) * ''The Rhyming Romeos'' (1950s) — copyrighted by Famous Funnies; ran exclusively in the '' Arkansas State Press'' * ''Sally Snickers'' (1941–1946) * ''Socko the Seadog'' (1935–1939) * ''Tell Me'' (1960–mid-1970s) * ''Useless Eustace'' (1941-1946) * ''Your Health Comes First'' (1935–1939)

Comics

* ''Quick Quizzes'' ( National Periodicals, 1951–1955) — filler * ''It's Amazing'' ( Timely Comics, 1949) * ''Oscar Comics'' (Timely Comics, 1949) — the feature ''Little Aspirin''

Books

* ''Modern Casanova's Handbook'' (

S-093, 1955) * ''Hollywood Humor'' (Ace Books S-140, 1957) * ''Mad. Ave.'' (Ace Books D-533, 1961)

Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate/Elmo Features Syndicate strips and panels

* ''Abdul Jones'' (c. 1936–1939) by Jack Kirby * ''Biff Baxter’s Adventures'' (1935–?) by "Bob Dart" (a.k.a. Larry Antonette) * ''The Black Buccaneer''Holtz, Allan
"Stripper's Guide Bookshelf: The Comic Strip Jack Kirby,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (September 30, 2006). by Jack Kirby * ''Cyclone Burke'' (ghosted by Jack Kirby) * ''Dash Dixon'' (1930–1939) by "Dean Carr"Carr entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2022. (a.k.a. Larry Antonette) * ''Detective Riley'' (1935–c. 1943) by "Richard Lee" (ghosted by Jack Kirby, H. T. Elmo, and others) * ''Did You Know'' by Topps (1939–1944) * ''Little Buddy'' by "Bruce Stuart" (1935–?) * ''Nappy'' by Irv Tirman (1939–1944) * ''Socko the Sea Dog'' (1935–1944) by H. T. Elmo (1935–1939) and then "Teddy" (1939–1944) — at some point ghosted by Jack Kirby * ''Useless Eustace'' (1941–1946) * ''Your Health Comes First!!!'' by Jack Kirby (under the pseudonym "Jack Curtis") (1935–1939)

References

External links

''Socko the Seadog'' strips
at Kleefeld on Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmo, Horace T. 1903 births 1992 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American people of Italian descent Artists from New York City Comic strip syndicates