Jess "Baldy" Benton was a commercial artist and writer from Vermont. He worked as an artist and writer for the Bridgeport Herald from Connecticut and contributed as a writer to Whiz-Bang magazine in the 1930s. He had a stint as writer for the war and romance comic books published by Fawcett Comics in the 1940s. He was also the author of the hillbilly newspaper comic strip 'Jasper Jooks'. A rather obvious copy of Al Capp's 'Li'l Abner', the comic ran from 19 April 1948 until 26 March 1949 and was syndicated by the New York Post Syndicate. Benton passed away in Fanwood, New Jersey, in 1991.