celebrity writers

Johnny Hart (1931 - 2007) Pt.#2

remembering the creator of B.C. and co-creator of The Wizard of Id

Apr 10, 2007

image from B.C. by Johnny Hart, copyright Johnny Hart

Part #2 in a series honouring the influential, and controversial, cartoonist.

(Source: www.creators.com)

(You can check out Part #1 of this story over here)

Hart's Religious Revival and Controversy

In 1977, Johnny Hart began to take his religious beliefs much more seriously, frequently attending an evangelical congregation of the Presbyterian church. His convictions started to influence the strip, leading it towards religious, social and political critiques. This shift was deliberate: in interviews, Hart described his work on the comic as a "ministry," which mixed religious themes with secular humour.

While Hart's overt religious beliefs never hurt his sales, skittish newspaper editors started requesting advance warning every time he would submit a "religious" comic. In 1996, newspapers like The Los Angeles Times pulled his Easter comic (a cartoon of the Resurrection), saying it was too overtly religious for their pages.

Another comic, this time submitted in 2001, was also pulled from many newspapers. It showed a Menorah slowly turning into a crucifix above the last words of Jesus Christ. The Anti-Defamation League and The American Jewish Committee called the comic "religiously offensive" and "shameful," since it implied that Christianity was replacing Judaism. Hart responded by saying that the strip was intended to be a tribute to both faiths.

Other B.C. strips were also deemed offensive and pulled. On November 10, 2003, Muslim organizations objected to a strip that depicted the central character entering an outhouse with a crescent on the door. An I-shaped "Slam!" graphic in the second panel was interpreted as a slur against Islam (I-slam), especially when B.C. says in the last panel, "Is it just me, or does it stink in here?" Hart claimed it was simply a misconstrued outhouse gag.

On December 7, 2006, Hart ran a comic which described the word "infamy" as "a word seldom used after Toyota sales topped 2 million." That particular day was also the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt called "a date which will live in infamy."

Several newspapers, including the San Antonio Express-News, refused to run the strip and the editor Brett Thacker called it, "a regressive and insensitive statement about one of the worst days in American history."

Hart's Stature in the Cartoon Industry

Despite Hart's overt religious leanings (or perhaps because of them), he was popular with other cartoonists.

The Jewish-American cartoonist Mell Lazarus (Miss Peach, Momma), one of Hart's greatest defenders, called him "one of the best cartoonists we've ever had. He was totally original. B.C. broke ground and led the way for a number of imitators, none of which ever came close . . . He was really an extraordinary man – gentle, warm, smart, funny, loving, devoted to his family."

Jim Davis (Garfield) said that Hart "taught me to relax and simply have fun doing the strip. All his line work, his gags, his humor, his characters were so much fun you just had to have fun reading it."

Mike Peters (Mother Goose and Grimm) claimed, "He was an absolute giant, even though he was teeny. He was just so twinkly he'd make you laugh and then he'd make you cry."

"Johnny was one of the friendliest of the established cartoonists," recalled Jeannie Schulz, Charles Shulz's widow, "and he was very welcoming when I began attending the Reuben weekends with Sparky (Charles Schulz). I will always remember him for that and for his kindness after Sparky died."

Rick Newcombe, the founder and president of Creators' Syndicate Inc. (Hart's representation and an organization that fought for cartoonists' rights), said, "Johnny Hart was a towering genius among cartoonists. He had a profound influence on my life.

"Johnny stands out as one of the kindest, most generous, patient and all-round decent people I have ever known . . . because of his commitment, syndicates no longer insist on ownership when they sign new cartoonists. He had revolutionized an entire industry, and empowered cartoonists to take control of their work and demand the freedoms they enjoy in their contracts today."

The copyright of the article Johnny Hart (1931 - 2007) Pt.#2 in Animated Films is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Johnny Hart (1931 - 2007) Pt.#2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.