Tom Armstrong is a Florida-based cartoonist, known for creating 'Marvin'. When at University in Evansville, Indiana, Armstrong was already the staff cartoonist of the campus newspaper, for which he drew the weekly strip 'Two-S'. After getting his degree in Fine Arts, Armstrong worked as a freelance illustrator for a while. He worked with advertising agencies, and his drawings appeared in such magazines as the Saturday Evening Post and The National Review. He developed animated cartoons, multimedia slide presentations, television spots and print advertising for companies, such as RCA and Sears.
In 1979, he teamed up with fellow artist Tom Batiuk to create the comic about talk show host 'John Darling'. Armstrong left the comic in 1985, in order to spend all his time on his own comic, 'Marvin'. This comic is written and drawn by Armstrong since 1982, and centers around a young baby boy.In November 1980 an episode of 'John Darling' congratulated presidential candidates Ronald Reagan on the left side and upside down on the right side Jimmy Carter with their election. This idea was very similar to Bob Clarke's cover of Mad Magazine's issue #60 (January 1961), only with candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Whether homage or plagiarism, Mad Magazine only noticed the similarity four years later, in issue #246 (April 1984). An animated prime-time TV special called 'Marvin: Baby of the Year' aired on CBS in 1989. The comic earned Armstrong the Segar Award in 1996. The title was changed to 'Marvin & Family' in 2013. In addition to producing the daily strip, Armstrong runs a very successful licensing company devoted to 'Marvin' related products.
