'Short Ribs'.
Frank Hill was an American cartoonist, illustrator and designer, whose work has appeared in newspapers, books, comics and a host of other media. Throughout his career, he has mainly been a ghost artist and assistant for others, having worked with such creators as Frank O'Neal, Hank Ketcham, Charles M. Schulz and Lee Holley. He is best known for continuing O' Neal's gag comic 'Short Ribs' from 1973 until 1982, writing the 'Bugs Bunny' newspaper comic from 1980 until 1989 and drawing the 'Tom & Jerry' newspaper comic during the 1990s. His best-known personal comics were 'Randy' (1964-1970) and 'Senator Gassius' (1966-1967).
Early life and career
Born in Woodland, California, in 1929, Frank Richard Hill studied at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and subsequently served in the Navy, where he designed training aids and squadron insignias. After his military service, he worked for Growers Container Corporation, and then found employment with ad agencies as a layout artist. He served as Art Director for Behavioral Laboratories, where he developed educational material. Hill also helped Lee Blair, one of Disney's top animators, with character design and storyboards for a number of TV commercials. Hill has additionally worked for Determined Productions, Worlds of Wonder, Rock-It Science and Smith Novelty Frank on the designs of toys, point-of-purchase displays and other 3-D material.
'Randy'.
Randy
Frank Hill had an extensive career in newspaper cartooning, but only one of his own creations went into syndication. His gag strip 'Randy' (1964-1970), appeared in George A. Pflaum's Catholic comic book 'Treasure Chest', which was distributed in parochial schools.
Senator Gassius
Hill's other gag-a-day strip 'Senator Gassius' was distributed on a daily base by the Lew Little Enterprises between 1966 and 1967.
Short Ribs
In the 1960s, Hill became Frank O'Neal's assistant on the newspaper strip 'Short Ribs' (1958-1982) for the Newspaper Enterprise Association. When O'Neal retired in 1973, Hill continued the series until its final episode in May 1982.
'Dennis the Menace Visits Paris' (1971).
Dennis the Menace
Hill worked with Hank Ketcham on the writing and art of the famous strip 'Dennis the Menace' since the 1970s, according to himself for 20 years. This included stories for the comic books published by Fawcett in the early 1970s. Hill drew stories for the back-up feature 'Melvin' as well. At the end of his tenure, he wrote the 'Dennis the Menace' Sunday comic. In 1971, Hill also did some writing for Ketcham's other strip, 'Half Hitch', drawn by Dick Hodgins Jr.
Peanuts
Together with Jim Sasseville and Dale Hale, Hill was one of the few assistants of 'Peanuts' creator Charles M. Schulz. He never worked on the 'Peanuts' newspaper strip, but made related artwork for children's books and merchandising.
From: 'Ponytail' #2 (1963).
Ponytail
Hill drew stories with Lee Holley's teenage girl 'Ponytail' for the comic books published by Dell and Charlton Comics in the 1960s, and also assisted Holley on the artwork of the newspaper strip in 1968-1969.
Bugs Bunny
Hill worked with Holley again in the 1980s, when he wrote the newspaper comic based on Tex Avery's 'Bugs Bunny' for the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hill wrote the strip from 1980 to 1989, in its final year for Holley's successor Owen Fitzgerald (1988-1989).
'Tom & Jerry'.
Gold Key & Harvey Comics
In the first half of the 1970s, Hill drew for the Gold Key comic books based on Hanna-Barbera's short-lived cartoon series 'The Funky Phantom'. Frank Hill continued to work on licensed properties for Harvey Comics during the first half of the 1990s. These included mainly inking chores on comic book stories with Tim Burton's 'Beetlejuice', Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer's 'Felix the Cat', the action figures tie-ins 'The Incredible Crash Dummies' and 'Stone Protectors', Friz Freleng's 'The Pink Panther' and Hanna-Barbera's 'Tom & Jerry'. In the mid-1990s he also drew the 'Tom & Jerry' newspaper strip for Turner Entertainment, succeeding Kelley Jarvis. In 1990, Hill was one of the artists of Harvey's celebrity comic series 'New Kids On The Block' (1990-1991), written by Angelo DeCesare, and based on the popular but short-lived boys band of the same name. Pencillers whose work he inked regularly at Harvey Comics were Ernie Colon, Dave Manak and Howard Bender. He additionally inked comic book stories with Hanna-Barbera's 'The Flintstones', 'The Jetsons' and 'Yogi Bear' for Archie Comics in 1996-1997, and done coloring book art with Paul Terry's 'Mighty Mouse'.
Death
A longtime resident of Soquel, California, Frank Hill passed away on 10 March 2023, at the age of 93. He was father of three children from two marriages.
'New Kids On The Block'. Dutch-language version.