'Archie and Inspector Sammy Terry' by Les Zakarin and Joe Edwards (1988).
Les Zakarin was an American comic book inker, working for Fiction House, Quality Comics and Timely Comics in 1940s and 1950s, before switching to a career as full-time engineer. Historically, he is perhaps best remembered for introducing John Romita Sr. to the comic book industry.
Early life
Lester Zakarin was born in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York City. He got his education at the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan, where John Romita was one of his fellow students. Zakarin graduated in 1947 with a degree in cartooning.
Comic book inker
Right after high school, Zakarin found employment as an inker with Jerry Iger's basement studio on 51st Street, which produced comic book stories for Fiction House. Among the other artists working at the studio were Ray Osrin, Bob Webb and Matt Baker. Until about 1949, Zakari inked pages penciled by other staffers, doing anonymous work on features like 'Sheena, Queen of the Jungle'. In an interview with Jim Amash for Alter Ego magazine (#27, 2003), Zakarin revealed that he used to hide his name "ZAK" on the pages he did.
When Iger went out of business, Zakarin was hired as staff inker at Quality Comics, where he worked with Reed Crandall on 'Buccaneers' and 'Blackhawk' (1950-1951), among other things. On the side, he began selling artwork to editor Stan Lee at Timely, the predecessor of Marvel Comics. As he found out he could get more work if he also provided pencil art, he teamed up with his high school friend John Romita, who became his "ghost penciler". Between 1950 and 1951, Zakarin and Romita produced artwork for Timely crime titles such as 'All-True Crime', 'Crime Cases Comics' and 'Crime Exposed', but also for 'Strange Tales'. It marked the start of John Romita's long career in comic books, which lasted until the mid-1990s.
'Deadly Deception!' (Crime Cases Comics #7, 1951), artwork by John Romita and Les Zakarin.
Between March 1951 and March 1953, Les Zakarin fulfilled his military service, stationed in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. During this period, he continued to do freelance inking work for comic books, and also produced artwork for training aids for the Signal Corps. Among his later inking work were romance and horror stories for Toby Press and Stanmor, as well as inking Joe Kubert pencils for 3-D comic books by St. John Publishing, such as '3-D House of Terror' and stories with 'Tor' and 'The Three Stooges', all in 1953.
Later life and career
Les Zakarin continued to do freelance inking and coloring work for Quality Comics well through the 1950s, but in the meantime found a steady day job with the Federal Power Commission. During nine years in the evenings, he studied engineering at City College in New York. After graduation, Les Zakarin left the comic book industry, and worked as a full-time engineer between 1962 and his 1994 retirement.
In his spare time, he continued to do the occasional inking job, but he also submitted cartoons to magazines, made greeting cards, and made cartoons for advertising and restaurant menus. In the 1980s, as Village Engineer in Mamaroneck, New York, he created the character Sammy Terry, a dog in a policeman's uniform who went around showing children how to fight pollution. In 1988, Zakarin wrote, co-penciled and inked a four-page comic with Sammy Terry and Archie for Archie Comics. After his retirement, Zakarin gave cartooning workshops for children in special education schools like Boces and sleep-away summer camps. He also did cartoon teaching for special activities for the Scouts, Gilda's Club, and other volunteer groups.
Les Zakarin passed away on 30 January 2003 in Yonkers, Westchester, New York.
'Archie and Inspector Sammy Terry' by Les Zakarin and Joe Edwards (1988).