Hal Forrest (

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, July 22, 1895 - 1959) was an American comic strip artist best known for his work on ''

Tailspin Tommy ''Tailspin Tommy'' was an air adventure comic strip about a youthful pilot, "Tailspin" Tommy Tomkins (sometimes spelled Tompkins). Originally illustrated by Hal Forrest and initially distributed by John Neville Wheeler's Bell Syndicate and the ...

''.

Biography

When he was 16, he drew a comic strip, ''Percy the Boy Scout'', for the ''Philadelphia Telegraph'', and a year later he became the youngest scoutmaster in the country, heading the 13th troop established in America. From 1911 to 1915, while attending the Art Institute of Chicago, he was a member of the ''Chicago Tribune'' staff and of Troop A, First Illinois Cavalry. In 1915–17, Forrest was a member of Headquarters Troop, Third New Jersey Infantry, and during that period, he collaborated with Lee Pape, author of ''Little Benn's Notebook'', on a color Sunday page of comics for ''

The Philadelphia Record ''The Philadelphia Record'' was a daily newspaper published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1877 until 1947. It became among the most circulated papers in the city and was at some points the circulation leader. History ''The Public Record'' ...

''. On the day war was declared, he enlisted and was assigned to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, Texas, where he became Sergeant-Major of 144th Pursuit Squadron, Kelly Field. He created Liberty Loan posters and war cartoons for the Bureau of Public Information. At Kelly Field, he drew cartoons for the camp newspaper, the ''Kelly Field Eagle'', and also was art editor of ''The Set-up'', a camp newspaper in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

. While he was with the 479th Pursuit Squadron, U.S. Air Corps Reserve, at Clover Field in Santa Monica, Forrest drew ''Artie the Ace'', the first aviation comic strip, which led him to develop, in 1928, the popular ''Tailspin Tommy'', syndicated in more than 200 newspapers as both a Sunday and daily strip.

References

External links

Lambiek Comiclopedia article.
American comics artists 1895 births 1959 deaths {{comic-strip-creator-stub