Samm Schwartz | |
---|---|
Born | Samuel Schwartz October 15, 1920 Brooklyn, New York |
Died | November 13, 1997 Miami, Florida |
(aged 77)
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Cartoonist, Penciller, Inker, Editor, Letterer |
Notable works
|
Jughead Tippy Teen |
Samm Schwartz (October 15, 1920 – November 13, 1997) was an American comic artist best known for his work in MLJ and Archie Comics, specifically on the character Jughead Jones.
Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, where he took art instruction at the Pratt Institute. After working as an apprentice at a New York fashion studio and a part-time male model, he joined MLJ in 1942, shortly after the creation of Archie.
Schwartz, who pencilled, inked, and lettered much of his own work, specialized in stories featuring Jughead, and was the lead artist on the Jughead solo title through much of the '50s and early '60s. His colleague and friend Joe Edwards recalled that it was Schwartz's work that turned the character from a second banana to a star: "He made Jughead! . . . He put in personality and that's what makes the [characters] live." One of the most popular Jughead supporting characters, Big Ethel, was designed by Schwartz.
In 1965, Schwartz left Archie Comics to become an artist and editor at Tower Comics, founded by former Archie editor Harry Shorten. Schwartz helped edit T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, but his main project was Tippy Teen, an Archie-style comic about the adventures of a spunky teenaged girl. The comic and its spinoff, Go-Go and Animal, featured many stories drawn by Schwartz, as well as contributions from moonlighting Archie artists like Harry Lucey and Dan DeCarlo. When Tower Comics folded, Schwartz spent a year at DC Comics, drawing stories and covers for their teen humor titles, Date with Debbi and Debbi's Dates.