april november better known american cartoonist famous creator comic strip later retitled smith strip especially popular 1920s 1930s featured number known characters including title character race horse merchandising phenomenon called 1920s drew line big foot style characters giant feet strips reflected love sports inaugurated billy memorial awards award life career early life born april south chicago father employed elder french originally spelled mother lived farm early career graduating park high school attended sold cartoon drawings time finance models drew attention fellow students intended painter flemish tradition quit academy years got job weekly paper world cartoons showed influence admired youth skill draw cross hatched style copies drawings sold originals soon left world better opportunities telegram ohio editorial cartoonist pittsburgh gazette time late august later contributed cartoons new_york_city humor magazines life judge living pittsburgh traveled new_york comic strip samples editor working newspaper empire brisbane rejected work later stated examples terrible political cartoons comics new returned married time later divorced remarried eventually divorced partner named carter launched newspaper syndicate correspondence course advice correspondence students learn draw good art school firm foundation arts school success returned chicago joined december worked strip called finn december immediately starting herald began strip called married life caught attention legend says acquire bought herald merged refused join empire raised monthly salary creations adapted film animated version appeared created number features especially sports section antics local celebrity july new comic strip vein married life sports page instance differed sports obsessed husband wife google interested non fictional sports stories heavyweight championship long tall thin google short character remembered title soon shortened popular google acquire race horse named nicknamed strip dated july dilapidated blanket covered horse marketing merchandising phenomenon character called 1920s toys balloons games popular items adorned image introduced horse introduced little technique strip continuity went gag day strip humor suspense kept readers coming day google desperately tried horse win race sequence introduced strip republished october issue likely earliest comics periodical kept readers edges seats uncertain suspense actually won race resisted demanded pretty girl introduced strip brought initially created stir certain papers dropped strip phrase swept nation strip popularity increased years credited introducing balls fire time penned tin pop hit called google eyes series live action films starring appeared included called signed google main strip soon handed assistant replaced bedroom sink starring strip popular survive according later google smith highest paid america point early 1920s moved riverside drive new_york_city remarried couple spent years europe settled new_york active lifestyle caused miss enjoyed traveling deep sea fishing golf playing bridge spent time courses bridge authority acquainted celebrities best friend cartoonist attended smith popularity persisted depression era fortune magazine reported weekly earnings spring hired year old assistant seeing work poster wanted lettering impressed started taking lettering duties strip undertook having attend schools copy works masters like gibson copy line line artwork comics moved tag moved mentor strip death continue 21st century gained growing interest culture 1930s amassed library subject later donated books admired featuring inside produced sketch character grew talking locals strip circulation starting flag introduced storyline inherited estate mountains north_carolina bullets fast friends strip eventually renamed central character country roots provided inspiration environment especially provided source locals dialect culture enjoyed popularity 1930s appeared year strip appeared newspapers combined circulation million studios produced color animated smith shorts series live action adaptations starred private smith starred later life death studio apartment park avenue new_york homes new_york florida early 1940s developed cancer found increasingly difficult work sensing end near special trip signed daily strip appeared july sunday following august contributing war effort strip continued assistant november died age new_york_city wife children appeared newspapers time continued strip took time time faded strip title contracted donated husband art supplies including drawing tables drawing paper hundreds colored lamps drawing boards drawing artist plates press mary remarried died february aboard gulf_of_mexico thunderstorm flight tampa florida new_orleans style drawing style falls big foot tradition american comic strips kids horrible line characters giant feet work quickly time great changes year run strip changing situations characters frequently storylines reflected outlook 1920s boom years great depression world war legacy main strip continued hands long creator death number newspaper carried years leading passing partly dialect dialogue difficult read syndicate informed newspapers dropped strip canceled dropped dialect moved away continuity gag day format strip popularity increased running newspapers countries continued different hands death depictions distorted higher degree accuracy contemporary painted better light included authentic expressions blank exactly lavish lot included explanations dialect unfamiliar readers country singer objected strip stereotypes culture credited introducing number including balls fire time touched head creator comic strip nicknamed character drawing style influence contemporary popular culture later google sunday page september placed time capsule world fair annual award originally named billy memorial award created known annual presentation engraved silver cigarette cases characters cover winners hank death award renamed earlier winners awarded list comic strips finn married life inc google later smith soon taken assistant bedroom sink later
Billy DeBeck