Charles Augustus Mager (1878–1956), better known as Gus Mager, was an American painter, illustrator and cartoonist during the first half of the 20th century. He was the creator of several comic strips, notably ''

Hawkshaw the Detective Hawkshaw the Detective was a comic strip character featured in an eponymous cartoon serial by Gus Mager from February 23, 1913, to November 12, 1922, and again from December 13, 1931, to 1952. (The revival was a topper to '' The Captain and the ...

'' and '' Sherlocko the Monk''.Lambiek
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Early life

Mager was the son of German immigrants, and comics sent to his parents by their European relatives prompted his interest in cartooning. He began drawing sports cartoons which he sold to newspapers. By the age of 20, he already had a following when he expanded his repertoire to include clownish animals, and his cartoons soon appeared daily as ''In Jungle Land'', or occasionally, ''In Jungle Society''.

''Monk'' series

In 1904, he created the first of his successful ''Monk'' comic strips featuring monkey-like characters. '' Knocko the Monk'' was soon followed by new figures such as ''Rhymo the Monk'', ''Mufti the Monk'', ''Freshy the Monk'', ''Henpecko the Monk'', '' Groucho the Monk'' and the most popular, ''Sherlocko the Monk''.

''Hawkshaw the Detective''

In 1913, Mager humanized Sherlocko into his ''Hawkshaw the Detective'' strip, which appeared in ''

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 pub ...

''. During the 1920s, Mager worked as an assistant on

Rudolph Dirks Rudolph Dirks (February 26, 1877 – April 20, 1968) was one of the earliest and most noted comic strip artists, well known for ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' (later known as '' The Captain and the Kids''). Dirks was born in Heide, Germany, to Jo ...

' '' Captain and the Kids''. Other comics by Mager included ''And Then Papa Came'' (1904), ''Main Street'', ''Oliver's Adventures'' (1926), ''Obliging Otto'' (1913) and ''Millionbucks'' (1913). Mager continued ''Sherlocko'' and ''Hawkshaw'' until his retirement in the late 1940s.

Paintings

Mager's paintings are in many collections, including the Whitney Museum and the Newark Museum of Art. He was widely exhibited during his lifetime, showing at the Whitney, the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Desig ...

and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He was a member of the Salon of Independent Artists and the Salons of America. In 1913, he was included in the famous Armory Show. Mager said: "I try to paint with my heart and with my senses without worrying about style." Mager, his wife Matilda and his son Robert lived for years in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, with a summer home in SandBrook, New Jersey, where he loved to hunt with his hound dog, Sport. Eventually, they moved from Newark to

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...

. SandBrook storeowner Clint Wilson recalled: :Gus Mager loved the countryside and he bought a farm in SandBrook for a summer home. The farm was the site of an old mill many years before, and the house was constructed of stone and obviously was of early structure. A caretaker (I remember the name, Louis Suto) lived in half the house the year round and farmed the place. The Magers would spend part of the summer months there. Later, his father and mother purchased the next property at the foot of the hill... Every few months, the Magers would visit my store. His wife Matilda visited with my Mother, and he enjoyed seeing the people come in the store. It was very easy for him to find something to chat about with anyone. Little did these people know that they were chatting with a great, talented artist. He especially enjoyed talking about old times with the old-timers that would often hang around the store. Back in the cracker barrel days, he used to join the group each evening at the SandBrook store. After continuous invitations to visit the Magers, my Mother, sister and I finally arranged to visit them in Milburn, N.J., where they lived after moving from Newark. Their home was not in the town but far out in the outskirts surrounded by the nature of the countryside. When he took us into the basement of his beautiful home, it was almost a museum, with piles of paintings on the wall and on tables. Actually, his work was his enjoyment. He told me that each morning, he would take a long walk through the fields and woods, that he would get some idea of nature for a painting, and he would come back and spend the day perfecting that idea. You can't conceive what a pile of paintings he had turned out, all of them beautiful, painted for enjoyment. After his wife's death, Mager went to live with his son in Pennsylvania. At age 77, he died of cancer in 1956.

References

External links