Henry Boltinoff
Encyclopedia
Henry Boltinoff was an American cartoonist
who worked for both comic strip
s and comic book
s. He drew many of the humor and filler strips that appeared in DC Comics
from the 1940s through the 1960s.
Born in New York City
, Boltinoff created numerous humor features for DC Comics, where his brother Murray Boltinoff was an editor. These include Abdul the Fire Eater, Bebe, Billy, Buck Skinner, Cap's Hobby Center, Cap's Hobby Hints, Casey the Cop, Charlie Cannonball, Chief Hot Foot, Cora the Carhop, Dexter, Doctor Floogle, Doctor Rocket, Dover & Clover, Elvin, Freddie the Frogman, Hamid the Hypnotist, Homer, Honey in Hollywood, Hy the Spy, Hy Wire, Jail Jests, Jerry the Jitterbug, King Kale, Lefty Looie, Lem 'n' Lime, Lionel and His Lions, Little Pete, Little Pocahontas, Lucky, The Magic Genie, Moolah the Mystic, No-Chance Charley, Ollie, On the Set, Peg, Peter Puptent, Prehistoric Fun, Professor Eureka, Sagebrush Sam, Shorty, Stan, Super-Turtle, Tricksy the World's Greatest Stunt Man and Warden Willis. These were usually lettered
by Gaspar Saladino
.
(1960) and Hocus-Focus (through 2001). He received the National Cartoonists Society
's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award in 1981 and also received their Humor Comic Book Award for 1970.
Hocus-Focus may have been Boltinoff's best-known work. The King Features Syndicate
feature includes two similar panels with six differences between them. It continues to run in over 300 newspapers.
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
who worked for both comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
s and comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s. He drew many of the humor and filler strips that appeared in DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
from the 1940s through the 1960s.
Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Boltinoff created numerous humor features for DC Comics, where his brother Murray Boltinoff was an editor. These include Abdul the Fire Eater, Bebe, Billy, Buck Skinner, Cap's Hobby Center, Cap's Hobby Hints, Casey the Cop, Charlie Cannonball, Chief Hot Foot, Cora the Carhop, Dexter, Doctor Floogle, Doctor Rocket, Dover & Clover, Elvin, Freddie the Frogman, Hamid the Hypnotist, Homer, Honey in Hollywood, Hy the Spy, Hy Wire, Jail Jests, Jerry the Jitterbug, King Kale, Lefty Looie, Lem 'n' Lime, Lionel and His Lions, Little Pete, Little Pocahontas, Lucky, The Magic Genie, Moolah the Mystic, No-Chance Charley, Ollie, On the Set, Peg, Peter Puptent, Prehistoric Fun, Professor Eureka, Sagebrush Sam, Shorty, Stan, Super-Turtle, Tricksy the World's Greatest Stunt Man and Warden Willis. These were usually lettered
Letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
by Gaspar Saladino
Gaspar Saladino
Gaspar Saladino is an award-winning letterer and logo designer who worked for over 50 years in the comic book industry, mostly for DC Comics. He has over 3,000 credits on the Grand Comics Database. Eventually Saladino went by one name, "Gaspar," which he wrote in his trademark calligraphy...
.
Comic strips
Boltinoff worked on the comic strips This and That (1946), Woody Forrest (1960), Stoker the BrokerStoker the Broker
Stoker the Broker is a cartoon gag panel by Henry Boltinoff which was distributed to newspapers from 1960 to 1985 by Columbia Features and the Washington Star Syndicate.-Characters and stories:...
(1960) and Hocus-Focus (through 2001). He received the National Cartoonists Society
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society 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 troops...
's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award in 1981 and also received their Humor Comic Book Award for 1970.
Hocus-Focus may have been Boltinoff's best-known work. The King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
feature includes two similar panels with six differences between them. It continues to run in over 300 newspapers.