Johnny Hart facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Johnny Hart |
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| Born | John Lewis Hart February 18, 1931 Endicott, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 7, 2007 (aged 76) Nineveh, New York, U.S. |
| Area(s) | artist, writer |
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Notable works
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B.C. The Wizard of Id |
| Awards | full list |
| Spouse(s) | Ida Jane "Bobby" Hatcher (1932 – 2018) |
John Lewis Hart (born February 18, 1931 – died April 7, 2007) was an American cartoonist. He was famous for creating the popular comic strips B.C. and The Wizard of Id. Brant Parker worked with him on The Wizard of Id.
Hart won many awards for his work, including the Swedish Adamson Award. He also received five awards from the National Cartoonists Society. Later in his life, he started including Christian ideas and messages in his comic strips. Some people praised this, while others did not agree with it.
Contents
About Johnny Hart
Early Life and Career
Johnny Hart was born in Endicott, New York. He first published his drawings in Stars and Stripes while serving in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. After returning home in 1953, he drew cartoons for magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's Weekly. Before becoming a cartoonist, he worked in a barbecue restaurant and painted signs.
His Famous Comic Strips
Hart's biggest success was B.C., which he created in 1957. This comic strip started appearing in daily newspapers across the country on February 17, 1958.
He also helped create and write another comic strip called The Wizard of Id. This strip was drawn by Brant Parker and began on November 9, 1964.
In 1960, a famous animation studio, Hanna-Barbera, wanted to make a TV show based on B.C.. However, their talks didn't work out. Hanna-Barbera then changed their idea, and it became the cartoon show The Flintstones.
His Passing
Johnny Hart passed away from a stroke on April 7, 2007. His wife, Bobby, said he was working at his drawing table when it happened. Interestingly, his co-creator for The Wizard of Id, Brant Parker, died just eight days later, on April 15, 2007.
Religious Beliefs and Controversies
Hart grew up in a family that was somewhat religious, and he went to Christian Sunday School regularly. Even though he only finished high school, he was very interested in the Bible from a young age.
In 1984, Hart's religious beliefs became much stronger. He and his wife, Bobby, started going to a Presbyterian Church in Nineveh, New York. Hart said his deeper faith began after some contractors installed a satellite dish at his home.
As his religious faith grew, along with strong political views, it sometimes caused disagreements later in his life. He started putting his religious and political ideas into his comic strips, especially B.C.. Some newspapers chose not to print strips that were too religious. Others, like the Los Angeles Times, moved them to the religious section of the newspaper.
Controversial Comic Strips
Two B.C. comic strips caused a lot of discussion. One strip, published on April 15, 2001, which was Easter, showed a Jewish menorah. Its candles slowly went out as the words of Jesus Christ were written in the captions. At the end, the menorah changed into a Christian cross, and the last picture showed the empty tomb of Christ. Some groups felt this strip suggested that Christianity replaced Judaism. Hart apologized if he had upset anyone, but he still believed the strip could help people learn more about religion.
Another B.C. strip, from November 10, 2003, showed an outhouse with a traditional crescent moon shape. A character went inside, and the words "SLAM" appeared vertically. The character then asked, "Is it just me, or does it stink in here?" Some critics thought the vertical "SLAM" and the crescent moons meant the strip was making fun of Islam. Hart said it was just a simple outhouse joke.
Helping His Community
Johnny Hart was very involved in his local community in Greater Binghamton in Broome County, New York. This area is often called "B.C." for short, just like his comic strip. Hart freely gave his B.C.-themed drawings and logos to many local groups and organizations.
For example, he designed logos for:
- B.C. Transit (a caveman on a wheel)
- Broome County Parks (a dinosaur)
- Broome County Meals on Wheels (a caveman on a wheel with food)
- B.C. Open PGA Tour Event (a caveman golfing)
Hart was involved with the B.C. Open golf tournament since the early 1970s. Characters from B.C. were used a lot in the event's ads. The winner's trophy was even a bronze statue of a B.C. caveman golfing. Players on the golf tour voted it the "best trophy on Tour."
Hart also donated original B.C. comic panels for charity auctions. He created album cover art for the jazz group The Four Freshmen. His B.C. strips also inspired the mascot for UC Irvine, which is an anteater.
Tributes and Legacy
After Johnny Hart passed away, other cartoonists honored him in their own comic strips.
- On May 14, 2007, the comic strip Mother Goose & Grimm paid tribute to him.
- In the June 20, 2007, Blondie strip, a character mentioned how great Johnny Hart was.
- Bruce Tinsley honored Hart in his Mallard Fillmore strip on July 10, 2007.
There was also a tribute in The Wizard of Id strip. On February 14, 2008, two characters were talking. One said, "How come you don't celebrate Valentine's Day?" and the other replied, "My Hart isn't in it this year." This was a clever way to remember Johnny Hart.
Continuing a Tradition
Every December 3, Johnny Hart would draw a B.C. cartoon featuring his wife, Ida "Bobby" Hart, as the queen of the ant colony. This was to celebrate her birthday. After his death, his grandson, Mason Mastroianni, continued this tradition every year until 2019, which was the year after Bobby Hart passed away.
Awards and Achievements
When The Wizard of Id was released in 1964, Hart became one of only four cartoonists to have two comic strips appearing in over 1000 newspapers each. He won many awards for his work, including the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for B.C. in 1968 and for Wizard of Id in 1984.
Here are some of his notable awards:
- 1967 – National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Comic Strip (Humor) Award for B.C.
- 1968 – Reuben Award – Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (for B.C.)
- 1970 – The Yellow Kid Award – Best Cartoonist of the Year (for B.C.) from The International Congress of Comics in Lucca, Italy. He was the first American cartoonist to receive this award.
- 1972 – NASA Public Service Award (for contributions to NASA)
- 1973 – Best Animation Feature (for "B.C. The First Thanksgiving")
- 1976 – Adamson Award ("The Sam" Adamson Award) – Best International Comic Strip Cartoonist (for B.C.) from The Swedish Academy of Comic Art.
- 1976 – Inkpot Award
- 1981 – The Elzie Segar Award – Outstanding Contribution to the Profession of Cartooning (for B.C.)
- 1984 – Reuben Award – Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year (for Wizard of Id with Brant Parker)
- 1992 – Max and Moritz Award – Best Comic Strip (for B.C.) from The Comic Salon in Erlangen, Germany.
- 1995 – Wilbur Award – Editorial Cartoon / Comic Strip Category (for an Easter 1995 cartoon)
See also
In Spanish: Johnny Hart para niños
