Rip Kirby

Rip Kirby, drawn by Alex Raymond.

Rip Kirby was a comic strip character created by Alex Raymond.

Upon returning from World War II, Raymond did not return to work on any of his old successful comic strips (Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, Secret Agent X-9). Instead he began to work on a new strip starring ex-marine private detective Rip Kirby. The daily strip started on March 4, 1946 and was immediately a huge hit. Raymond was given the Reuben Award for his work on the strip in 1949.

During Raymond’s years on the strip, the stories were created by King Features editor Ward Greene and writer Fred Dickenson.

In 1956, Alex Raymond was killed in a car crash. The syndicate quickly needed a replacement and found it in John Prentice. Dickenson continued to write until the mid-1980s when he was forced to retire for health reasons. Prentice then took over the writing along with others. Prentice kept the strip going until his own death in 1999. The strip ended with Rip’s retirement on June 26, 1999. Prentice received the National Cartoonist Society Story Comic Strip Award for 1966, 1967, and 1986 for his work on the strip.

The last Rip Kirby daily strip, drawn by Frank Bolle.

Over the years, the strip was ghosted and assisted by many artists and writers, including Frank Bolle (who finished the last episode), Al Williamson, Gray Morrow, and Neal Adams.

External links

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