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| Tom Wilson and his world-famous creation, Ziggy. |
I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute to Tom Wilson, creator of Ziggy, who passed away last Friday at the age of 80. Wilson's son, Tom Wilson II, has been drawing the strip since 1987, but it was the elder Wilson who created the feature back in 1971.
There's a nice obituary for Tom Wilson here, for those who are interested in the man and his career.
One thing the obituary doesn't mention, though, is that when Tom Wilson was an executive at American Greetings, he was among the first to note the talent of a young, up-and-coming cartoonist named... Robert Crumb! Crumb worked for American Greetings back in the old days as an artist before he was able to support himself with his comic book work, and it was Wilson who promoted Crumb from lowly assistant to a more creative position as a lead artist for a line of cards.
Strange but true.