Hy Eisman

• Born 1927-03-27 · Died 2025-03-27

Eisman had a long career doing ghost work for comic books and comic strips. He was married to Adri Eisman and they had a daughter, Mindy Eisman. Additional biographical details can be found in: Cartoonist PROfiles (Jud Hurd, 1969 series) #34 (June 1977) and #46 (June 1980); Hogan's Alley blog "Getting Hy on Comics: A Profile of Hy Eisman" 19 August 2020, https://www.hoganmag.com/blog/getting-hy-on-comics-a-profile-of-hy-eisman. He did his first work at the age of 18 as a contributing cartoonist for Fort Pickett News (Fort Pickett [Virginia]) while in the U.S. Army circa 1945. Fort Pickett News was started by Bill Mauldin and Eisman worked with future Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, a fellow contributing cartoonist on the Fort's newspaper. He was a ghost penciler for Vince Colletta from 1960 to 1964. Eisman did gag cartoons for New Jersey Bell Telephone during 1960. He did the artwork for a proposed book adaptation of Bud Blake's Tiger comic strip in 1970 but was never published. He was a teacher at the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Arts from 1976 to 1994 and possibly onwards. He taught the art of lettering. Syndication credits: Bringing Up Father daily (King Features Syndicate) 1958-XX-XX - 1965-XX-XX [Ghost penciler.]; It Happened in New Jersey! weekly panel (New Jersey News [Newark, New Jersey]) 1953-XX-XX - 1956-XX-XX [Writer, penciler, and inker.]; Joe Panther daily (not syndicated) 1960-XX-XX - 1963-XX-XX [Penciler and inker. Spent several years trying to syndicate the comic strip but found only one possible taker, United Feature Syndicate. But both Eisman and writer Kelly Masters {working as Zachary Bell} balked at the standard contract terms being offered to them and decided not to proceed. The character was reworked into the October 1976 motion picture, Joe Panther {Artists & Creation Associates}.]; Katzenjammer Kids Sunday (King Features Syndicate) 1986-XX-XX - 2006-01-01 [Writer, penciler, and inker. Eisman's work continues in reprints by King Features to present {as of 2021}.]; Kerry Drake daily (Publishers Syndicate) 1950-XX-XX ?; 1957-XX-XX - 1959-XX-XX [Ghost penciler. Did a one-off job for ]; Kerry Drake Sunday (Publishers Syndicate) 1957-XX-XX - 1959-XX-XX [Ghost penciler.]; Little Iodine Sunday (King Features Syndicate) 1967-09-10 - 1983-08-14 [Writer, penciler, and inker.]; Mutt and Jeff Sunday (Bell-McClure Syndicate) 1963-XX-XX, 1965-XX-XX - 1966-XX-XX [Ghost penciler.]; Thimble Theatre / Popeye Sunday (King Features Syndicate) 1994-XX-XX - present [As of 2021. Writer, penciler, and inker.].