Brumsic Brandon Jr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brumsic Brandon Jr. |
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Brumsic Brandon Jr.
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| Born | April 10, 1927 Washington, D.C., United States |
| Died | November 28, 2014 (aged 87) Cocoa Beach, Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Penciller, Inker |
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Notable works
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Luther |
Brumsic Brandon Jr. (born April 10, 1927 – died November 28, 2014) was an important African-American cartoonist. He created the famous comic strip Luther. This comic strip was very special because it was one of the first big comic strips to have an African-American main character. It was published from 1969 to 1986.
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About Brumsic Brandon Jr.
Brumsic Brandon Jr. was a talented artist who used his cartoons to share important messages. He is best known for his comic strip Luther, which showed the lives of inner-city African-American children. The strip often used gentle humor to talk about the struggle for racial equality.
Early Life and Artistic Journey
Brumsic Brandon Jr. was born in Washington, D.C.. He was the second of five children. Even when he was a teenager, he loved art. His family and high school art teacher supported his dream of becoming an artist. He started sending his comic strip ideas to newspapers.
After studying art at New York University, he joined the U.S. Army. He served for two years in Germany after World War II. When he returned to New York City, he worked different jobs. But he always kept drawing comics in his free time. He even worked as an animator for companies like RCA.
He published his first cartoon in 1945. He also drew editorial cartoons and caricatures. Some of his drawings were put into a book in 1966. This book was called Damned If We Do, and Damned If We Don't.
Creating Luther and TV Appearances
Later, Brumsic Brandon Jr. came up with the idea for Luther. It was a comic strip about African-American children living in the city. The strip had a clever, funny way of talking about racial equality. He named the main character, a third-grader, after the Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..
In 1968, a newspaper called Newsday started sharing Luther with other newspapers. This helped the comic strip become widely known. By 1970, it was shared by a much larger company, reaching many more readers.
In the early 1970s, Brandon even appeared on a children's TV show in New York City. The show was called Joya's Fun School. On the show, he was known as Mr. B.B. He would draw and give simple art lessons to kids.
Luther stopped being published in June 1986 when Brandon retired. After that, he still drew political cartoons and wrote opinion pieces for a newspaper in Florida called Florida Today.
His Family and Legacy
Brumsic Brandon Jr. moved with his family to Westbury, New York, in 1959. Later, he lived in Florida for over 25 years. He was married to his wife Rita for 64 years. They had two daughters, Barbara and Linda, and a son, Brumsic Brandon III.
His daughter, Barbara Brandon, who is also known as Barbara Brandon-Croft, became very famous. She was the first nationally syndicated African-American female cartoonist. This means her cartoons were published in many newspapers across the country.
Brumsic Brandon Jr. passed away in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in 2014. He had complications from Parkinson's disease.
Exhibitions
- 2020 "Still... Racism in America: A Retrospective in Cartoons" (Medialia Gallery, New York City) — This was an exhibition after his death, where his work was shown alongside his daughter Barbara Brandon-Croft's art.
See also
