Warren Tufts
Encyclopedia
Warren Tufts born Chester Tufts, was an American
comic strip
and comic book
artist-writer best known for his syndicated Western
adventure strip Casey Ruggles
which ran from 1949 to 1954.
Tufts entered the comic strip industry when the story strip, his preferred form, was already in decline. As a result of that and his eventual falling out with United Features Syndicate, he never enjoyed the fame and fortune of the more successful comic strip creators, such as Hal Foster and Milton Caniff
. Nonetheless, his work has received considerable praise from critics such as Bill Blackbeard
.
, set against the backdrop of the Old West. Distributed by United Features, it initially appeared only in the Sunday comics
, but when the lushly illustrated story became popular, a daily strip was added. Because Tufts was a perfectionist
who often worked 80-hour weeks, he had trouble meeting deadlines, even though he had help from numerous assistants and ghosts: Nick Cardy
, Ruben Moreira
, Al Plastino
and Alex Toth
.
As Casey Ruggles popularity grew, Tufts received an offer from a major television
studio to produce a Casey Ruggles TV show. However, United Features nixed the offer on the grounds that a TV show would make the strip less popular. In anger, Tufts left United Features in 1954, and Casey Ruggles ended shortly afterward, as the replacement artist, Al Carreño, apparently could not maintain reader interest. Tufts' contract with the syndicate required that they be given first refusal on his next strip, so he created The Lone Spaceman, which he was sure they would refuse. They did. He then created, wrote, drew and self-syndicated one of the last and, in the judgment of many critics, one of the most beautiful full-page comic strips, Lance
.
, including Korak, Son of Tarzan
, The Pink Panther
, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
and Wagon Train
, but the fast pace and low pay of the comic book industry at that time kept him from doing his best work.
He also drew an adult comic book, Jack and the Beanstalk, and wrote and illustrated a serialized story for Sports Flying magazine.
' production of the Syncro-Vox
series Captain Fathom
(1965), and is credited as story director on Hanna-Barbera
's ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972) and Challenge of the Super Friends
(1978). He also played the character Gator in the "Dos Pinos" episode of the TV series The Westerner (1960).
Tufts' hobby was building and flying private airplanes. He was killed when one of his airplanes crashed in 1982.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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....
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...
artist-writer best known for his syndicated Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
adventure strip Casey Ruggles
Casey Ruggles
Casey Ruggles is a Western comic strip written and drawn by Warren Tufts. The Sunday strip was launched 22 May 1949. Four months later, the daily strip began September 19, 1949.-Characters and story:...
which ran from 1949 to 1954.
Tufts entered the comic strip industry when the story strip, his preferred form, was already in decline. As a result of that and his eventual falling out with United Features Syndicate, he never enjoyed the fame and fortune of the more successful comic strip creators, such as Hal Foster and Milton Caniff
Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
. Nonetheless, his work has received considerable praise from critics such as Bill Blackbeard
Bill Blackbeard
William Elsworth Blackbeard , better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art from American newspapers...
.
Comic strips
In 1949, Warren Tufts created the comic strip Casey RugglesCasey Ruggles
Casey Ruggles is a Western comic strip written and drawn by Warren Tufts. The Sunday strip was launched 22 May 1949. Four months later, the daily strip began September 19, 1949.-Characters and story:...
, set against the backdrop of the Old West. Distributed by United Features, it initially appeared only in the Sunday comics
Sunday comics
Sunday comics is the commonly accepted term for the full-color comic strip section carried in most American newspapers. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies....
, but when the lushly illustrated story became popular, a daily strip was added. Because Tufts was a perfectionist
Perfectionism (psychology)
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that a state of completeness and flawlessness can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable...
who often worked 80-hour weeks, he had trouble meeting deadlines, even though he had help from numerous assistants and ghosts: Nick Cardy
Nick Cardy
Nick Cardy , a.k.a. Nick Cardi, is an American comic book artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters....
, Ruben Moreira
Ruben Moreira
Ruben Moreira was a Puerto Rican comic book artist and writer best known for his work on Tarzan and as a DC Comics artist.-Biography:...
, Al Plastino
Al Plastino
Al Plastino is an American comic book artist best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, along with his DC Comics colleague Wayne Boring...
and Alex Toth
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...
.
As Casey Ruggles popularity grew, Tufts received an offer from a major television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
studio to produce a Casey Ruggles TV show. However, United Features nixed the offer on the grounds that a TV show would make the strip less popular. In anger, Tufts left United Features in 1954, and Casey Ruggles ended shortly afterward, as the replacement artist, Al Carreño, apparently could not maintain reader interest. Tufts' contract with the syndicate required that they be given first refusal on his next strip, so he created The Lone Spaceman, which he was sure they would refuse. They did. He then created, wrote, drew and self-syndicated one of the last and, in the judgment of many critics, one of the most beautiful full-page comic strips, Lance
Lance (comic strip)
Lance, one of the last of the full-page comic strips, was self-syndicated by the artist, Warren Tufts. Comic strip historians regard Lance as one of the great adventure strips. It had an impressive five-year run through the late 1950s....
.
Comic books
However, the job of not only writing and drawing but also traveling around the country from city to city to sell the strip proved daunting, and in 1960, Tufts left the comic strip field. He drew some comic books for Gold Key ComicsGold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
, including Korak, Son of Tarzan
Korak
Korak [long "O"] is the ape name of John 'Jack' Clayton, the son of Tarzan and Jane.-History:Jack first appeared in the original Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was introduced as an infant in the non-Tarzan novel The Eternal Lover , in which the Ape Man and his family played supporting...
, The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther (character)
The Pink Panther is the main and title character in the opening and closing credit sequences of every film in The Pink Panther series except for A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau. His popularity spawned a series of theatrical shorts, merchandise, a comic book, and television cartoons...
, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan The voice of Mr...
and Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, but the fast pace and low pay of the comic book industry at that time kept him from doing his best work.
He also drew an adult comic book, Jack and the Beanstalk, and wrote and illustrated a serialized story for Sports Flying magazine.
Television
On TV, he lent his voice, lips and artistic talents to Cambria StudiosCambria Productions
Cambria Productions was the West Hollywood, California animation production studio most famous for its wide usage of the Syncro-Vox technique of animation developed by Edwin Gillette, who was a co-partner in the studio.Owned by Clark S. Haas, Jr...
' production of the Syncro-Vox
Syncro-Vox
Syncro-Vox is a filming method which combines static images with moving images, the most common use of which is to superimpose talking lips on a photograph of a celebrity or a cartoon drawing. It is one of the most extreme examples of the cost-cutting strategy of limited animation...
series Captain Fathom
Captain Fathom
Captain Fathom was an animated television series produced in 1965 by Cambria Studios. Like Cambria's other productions, Clutch Cargo and Space Angel, it was produced in Synchro-Vox. 18 30-minute episodes, all in color, were filmed. The episodes could be broken down into 5 6-minute segments in...
(1965), and is credited as story director on Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
's ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972) and Challenge of the Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
(1978). He also played the character Gator in the "Dos Pinos" episode of the TV series The Westerner (1960).
Tufts' hobby was building and flying private airplanes. He was killed when one of his airplanes crashed in 1982.