Ozark Ike from La Patrie, Quebec, 1947
Ray Gotto was the creator of the famous baseball comics 'Ozark Ike' (1945-53) and 'Cotton Woods' (1955-58). An excellent artist, Ray Gotto would go on to achieve even greater acclaim as an illustrator at The Sporting News, the weekly baseball tabloid. He also designed the logo for the New York Mets, which has been used virtually unchanged since the 1960s. Ray Gotto passed way on 28 December, 2003. Gotto's work was of great influence on the work of the Dutch comic artist Henk Sprenger ('Kick Wilstra').