Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning BC comic strip appeared in more than 1300 newspapers worldwide, died at his New York state home on Saturday. He was 76. | "He had a stroke," Hart's wife, Bobby, said yesterday. "He died at his storyboard." |
BC, populated by prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs, was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate Inc, which distributes the strip. After he graduated from Union-Endicott High School, Hart met Brant Parker, a young cartoonist who became a prime influence and co-creator with Hart of the internationally popular Wizard of Id comic strip.
Hart enlisted in the US air force and began producing cartoons for Pacific Stars and Stripes military newspaper. He sold his first freelance cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post magazine after his discharge from the military in 1954.