Vernon Van Atta Greene (September 12, 1908 – June 5, 1965) was a prolific cartoonist and illustrator who worked on several comic strips and was best known for his artwork on ''

Bringing Up Father ''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000. The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or ''M ...

''. Born Vernon Van Atta Green in

Battle Ground, Washington Battle Ground is a city in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 20,743 at the 2020 census. Between 2000 and 2005, Battle Ground ranked fourth in the state for population growth, out of 279 eligible incorporated communitie ...

, he later added an "e" to his last name so it would be more distinctive. One of seven children of Albert and Letha Green (née Van Atta), he grew up on a 650-acre ranch where he worked as a logger and blacksmith. He attended Toledo University in the 1930s.

Cartoon cavalcade

Greene started his cartoon career drawing sports cartoons for Oregon's ''Portland Telegram'' (1927–29), the ''Toledo Blade'' (1930–32) and the ''

New York Mirror The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, succeeded by ''The New Mirror'' in 1843 and 1844. Its producers then launched a daily newspaper named ''The Evening Mirror'', which published from 1844 ...

'' (1934–37). He was working for

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

in 1935. During that time, Greene was an active freelancer, creating advertising cartoons and illustrations for books and magazines. He illustrated for several Street & Smith pulps, including '' The Shadow'', ''The Masked Lady'' and '' Perry Mason''.

Comic strips

On June 17, 1940, Greene began drawing '' The Shadow'' daily comic strip, distributed by the Ledger Syndicate. He continued to draw the ''Shadow'' daily until 1942 (June 13) when it and other strips were canceled due to the growing need to run more and more war news coming in from the European and Pacific fronts 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 ...

. Greene served with the medical division of the Air Corps as a photographer at Kearns Air Base in Utah. For ''Pic'' magazine, he drew ''Mac the Medic'' and ''Charlie Conscript'' cartoons. After World War II, he attended Columbia University and was active in traveling with USO cartoonists tours. For many years, he was the ghost artist on the daily version of

Cliff Sterrett Clifford Sterrett (; December 12, 1883 – December 28, 1964) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Polly and Her Pals''. Biography Born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where his father was a druggist, Cliff Ste ...

's '' Polly and Her Pals'' strip. After the death of

George McManus George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated comic strip, ''Bringing Up Father''. Biography ...

in 1954, Greene took over ''Bringing Up Father''.

Comic books

He also did ''The Shadow'' comic book, beginning in 1940 as the sole artist for all issues until March 1942. For most of the remaining issues of Volume Two, he shared the artist credit with others, usually Jack Binder, until his last appearance in the issue of May 1943.

Awards

Greene was an active member of the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, serving two years as their vice president. In 1964, he was awarded their Silver T-Square Award. Greene also served as host of WRVR's syndicated radio program, ''The Cartoonist's Art''. Greene was married to Barbara M. Bennett in 1948, and they had five children. He lived in Wyckoff, New Jersey, from 1952 until his death from cancer in 1965.Wood, Art
''Great Cartoonists and Their Art''
p. 112.

Pelican Publishing Company Pelican Publishing Company is a book publisher based in Gretna, a suburb of New Orleans. Formed in 1926, Pelican is the largest independent trade book publisher located in the U.S. South. Pelican publishes approximately 60 titles per year and ...

. . Accessed November 13, 2017. "Vernon Greene, a former political cartoonist for the ''Portland Oregonian'', had ghosted a number of top King strips-including ''The Shadow'' and ''Polly and Her Pals''.... Vernon lived in a farmhouse in Wyckoff, New Jersey."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Vernon 1908 births 1965 deaths American comic strip cartoonists People from Battle Ground, Washington Bringing Up Father People from Wyckoff, New Jersey

Cartoon cavalcade

Comic strips

Comic books

Awards

Archives

References