Mark Lasky was an American writer for comic books and newspaper strips, as well as an editor and artist with the United Feature Syndicate. He assisted and scripted many comic series, but is best remembered for being the second artist to continue 'Nancy' (1982), which unfortunately only lasted six months before he passed away at a young age. Among his own creations were the comic strip 'Seaside Society' (1972-1974), the humor panel 'Antennas' and the 'Montague' Christmas strips for the NEA Service (1980-1981).
Early life and career
Born in 1954, Mark Lasky graduated from the University of Bridgeport and also studied at the Art Students League of New York. Early in his career, he was a scriptwriter at Western Publishing for comic books based on popular animated cartoon characters, such as Paul Terry's 'Mighty Mouse' and Jay Ward's 'Rocky & Bullwinkle' and 'Underdog'. In the early 1970s, he worked for Charles M. Schulz' on 'Peanuts' advertising art and assisted Mell Lazarus on the newspaper comics 'Miss Peach' and 'Momma'. Lasky also penned scripts for Creepy's horror comics, illustrated by artists like Walt Simonson and Klaus Janson.
'Killer Claw' from Creepy #102 (1978), written by Lasky and drawn by Simonson & Janson.
Solo comics
Lasky only worked on a few features on his own. 'Seaside Society' started in the University of Bridgeport college newspaper in 1972. Between October 1974 and May 1975, it was syndicated twice a week in the daily strip format by the Milford Citizen syndicate. In the early 1980s, the Newspaper Enterprise Association hired him to create the seasonal newspaper feature, subsequently 'Montague's Christmas' (December 1980) and 'Montague's Return' (December 1981), about a homeless mouse, who discovers the joy of the holiday season. Around the same time, Lasky had a single panel humor feature called 'Antennas'.
Nancy
However, he is best remembered as editor on Ernie Bushmiller's 'Nancy' for United Feature Syndicate during the final years of the creator's life. When Bushmiller passed away in 1982, Lasky continued the daily 'Nancy' strip, while Al Plastino took over the Sunday strip. Lasky perfectly mimicked the overall style and tone of the original. Unfortunately, his tenure didn't last long. Eleven months after Bushmiller's passing, Lasky died from cancer. He was only 29 years old. 'Nancy' was continued by Jerry Scott until 1995, after which Guy Gilchrist took over.
Legacy
In 1984 the United Media and Parsons The New School for Design launched the Mark Lasky Memorial Internship.
