'Gamin and Patches' (8 February 1988) by Mort Walker (Addison) and Bill Janocha.
Bill Janocha is an American cartoonist and comic historian. Since 1987 he works as Mort Walker's assistant on the newspaper comic 'Beetle Bailey'. They also created the short-lived gag comic and 'Gamin and Patches' (1987-1988). Janocha was also a scriptwriter for 'Spy vs. Spy' in Mad. He enjoys additional fame as a comic historian.
Early life and career
William Janocha was born in 1959 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Illustration in 1981 and subsequently worked as an inker for Walt Disney Productions for seven months in 1982. He was a storyboard and character design artist for the Broadcast Arts studio in New York, working on children's TV shows like 'Pee Wee's Playhouse' (1986) and the animated intro of the film 'Who's That Girl' (1987) starring Madonna.
Mort Walker
Janocha became Mort Walker's assistant on 'Beetle Bailey' in 1987, and has remained a staff artist at Comicana, Inc. since. He has contributed to the newspaper strip by Mort and Greg Walker, but has also worked on licensing projects, books, special art and comic books related to America's laziest Army private. He was storyboard supervisor of the 1989 'Beetle Bailey' TV film.
Gamin and Patches
Janocha was also assistant and then ghost artist for Mort Walker's newspaper comic 'Gamin and Patches' (1987-1988), syndicated by United Features. The series debuted on 27 April 1987 and revolved around a homeless boy, Gamin, and his moustached dog Patches. Walker had classic literary characters in mind like Hector Malot's 'Rémy', Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and Mark Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn' and happy-go-lucky comic characters such as Frederick Burr Opper's 'Happy Hooligan' and Clarence D. Russell's 'Pete the Tramp'. He assumed Gamin would charm readers in the same way. Unfortunately the general audience looked at Gamin with pity, more in line with Harold Gray's 'Little Orphan Annie' and Ed Verdier's 'Little Annie Rooney'. Even though Walker kept the tone of his comic happy and carefree, people still couldn't see the comedy in a poor young boy who had to live on the street. The series thus was cancelled again after a year. Walker drew every episode personally, with assistance of Bill Janocha. He signed them with his pseudonym "Addison" and added a tiny drawing of a walking man next to his signature, as a pun on his last name.
Other comics work
Janocha scripted gags for Peter Kuper's 'Spy vs. Spy' in MAD Magazine, and made designs for Slingo e-greeting cards. Janocha's editorial cartoons have appeared in the Greenwich Time and Stamford Advocate.
Team Cul de Sac
Janocha is also a supporting artist for Team Cul de Sac, a fundraising effort to raise money for and awareness about PD Parkinson's disease. The initiative was launched in honor of Richard Thompson, the creator of the comic strip 'Cul de Sac', who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2012, the book 'Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's' was published.
Comic historian
As a comic historian, Janocha has done work for museum exhibitions, and written articles for specialized magazines about comic art, such as Hogan's Alley, Nemo and Comicana. He has also helped develop the 1995 'Comic Strip Classics' stamp set. Janocha also wrote a book about Mort Walker: 'Birth Of A Beetle. The Magazine Cartoons of Mort Walker' (Hermes Press, 2018), which collects gags and art from Walker's early career before he made 'Beetle Bailey'.
Recognition
The National Cartoonists Society recognized Janocha with a Silver T-Square Award in 1996.
'Gamin and Patches' by Mort Walker (Addison) and Bill Janocha.