Seymour "Sy" Barry, born in 1928, is an American
comic stripA comic strip is a sequence of cartoons that tells a story, often humorous, though adventures and soap opera-like dramas are also prevalent. They are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet.In the UK and the...
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
, best known for his work on
The PhantomThe Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many forms of media, including television and film, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the African jungle...
comic strip, which he drew for over 30 years.
In junior high school a teacher encouraged him to try out for admission to the renowned School of Industrial Art in New York City. Among thousands of candidates, Sy was one of 100 who was accepted to the school in 1943.
After he completed his studies Sy got to work as an assistant for his older brother, Dan Barry.
Seymour "Sy" Barry, born in 1928, is an American
comic stripA comic strip is a sequence of cartoons that tells a story, often humorous, though adventures and soap opera-like dramas are also prevalent. They are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet.In the UK and the...
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
, best known for his work on
The PhantomThe Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many forms of media, including television and film, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the African jungle...
comic strip, which he drew for over 30 years.
Career
In junior high school a teacher encouraged him to try out for admission to the renowned School of Industrial Art in New York City. Among thousands of candidates, Sy was one of 100 who was accepted to the school in 1943.
After he completed his studies Sy got to work as an assistant for his older brother, Dan Barry. Dan was responsible for the
Flash GordonSteven "Flash" Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, which was first published on January 7, 1934. The strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were...
comic strip, and Sy worked on the strip as an inker. After having this job for a while, he was even to allowed to pencil the strips from time to time, and he often did uncredited stand-in jobs for Dan.
The Phantom
Having worked on both
TarzanTarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by fictional great apes, who later returns to civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
and
Flash Gordon, he went on to draw the world's most successful adventure comic strip,
The PhantomThe Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many forms of media, including television and film, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the African jungle...
for 33 years from 1962 to 1994, succeeding
Ray MooreRay Moore may refer to:*Ray Moore , comic strip artist and co-creator of The Phantom*Ray Moore , British broadcaster*Raymond Moore , former South African tennis player...
and
Wilson McCoyR. Wilson McCoy was the second artist on the The Phantom comic strip. He started out as Ray Moore's assistant, but when Moore retired from the strip after a war-injury, McCoy took over the entire strip ....
.
Sy is credited for giving the Phantom his modern look, which has not changed since he took over the strip. Creator
Lee FalkLeon Harrison Gross, more known by the alias of Lee Falk , was an American writer, director and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity secured him over a hundred million readers every...
liked his drawing style so much that he quickly decided to modernize the entire comic strip, giving Bengalla a black President and the Jungle Patrol a black colonel.
Sy frequently used pencil artists on the strip, working primarily as an inker (although he often drew entire stories when time permitted). Pencilers included
George OlesenGeorge Olesen is best known for his work as a penciller on popular comic strip The Phantom. He worked with the character for around 40 years, although he did not get any official credit for it until penciler Sy Barry retired and Keith Williams took over as the new inker.George has also illustrated...
,
Joe GiellaJoe Giella is an American comic book artist best known as a DC Comics inker during the Silver Age of comic books. For a picture of him and his work, see his biography card at the , of which he is a member.-Early life and career:...
, Bob Forgione,
Andre LeBlancAndré LeBlanc is a fictional character in DC Comics.-Fictional character biography:The self-styled "world's greatest jewel thief," arrogant André LeBlanc made the international most wanted list. André LeBlanc often clashed with the Russian super-hero Leonid Kovar...
, and
Carmine InfantinoCarmine Infantino is an American comic book artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age of Comic Books. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.-Early life and career:...
.
At the height of their popularity, Lee Falk and Sy Barry's Phantom stories were read by over a 100 million people every day, in newspapers as well as comic books. His stories are still irregularly published in countries such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Australia, in comic books or hardcover collections.
Personal life
Tired with the stressing deadlines he constantly had to face, Barry retired from the newspaper strip in 1994. He now uses most of his time to develop his painting skills, and likes to do landscape painting. He has also painted the Phantom several times, and some of his sketches have been used as covers for
Phantom comics around the world.
He currently resides in Long Island with his wife Simmy. The couple have three children together.
Among his recent appearances and meeting with fans, was his trip to
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
in 2001, where he met Norwegian and Swedish fans at several comic book conventions, and an appearance at the 2005 San Diego Comic Con.
Sources
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.