Tom K. Ryan

Tom K. Ryan started his career as a commercial artist, designing football helmets. Out of boredom, he started reading Western Literature. This resulted in the creation of an innovative newspaper strip called 'Tumbleweeds', which combined the Old West with a hip approach. It appeared in 1965 and is still running in over 300 newspapers. It has inspired many comic artists, including Jim Davis, creator of 'Garfield', who assisted Ryan from 1969 until 1978.