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Bill Perry (comics)
Encyclopedia
William M. Perry was best known as an assistant on, and later a primary artist for, the Gasoline Alley
comic strip. He was born in Chicago.
Perry began his career in the mailroom of the Chicago Tribune
. Some say that Frank King
, to prove his teaching prowess, arbitrarily plucked Perry from that post and trained him in cartooning. Others say Perry took art classes in the evenings, and first served as Carl Ed's assistant on Harold Teen
. In either case, Perry started assisting Frank King
on Gasoline Alley
around 1925. He became the longest-term assistant King ever had. "Perry could really ape King’s style," current Gasoline Alley steward Jim Scancarelli
said. "I’ve seen some of the very early things he had done, and you really couldn’t tell it from King’s work."
In 1951, Bill Perry officially took the reins of the Gasoline Alley Sunday page, and he held the job until 1975 or 1976. King still handled the dailies during the early third of that span, but for most of Perry's tenure Dick Moores
was the title's creator on weekdays. According to Scancarelli
, who praised the work Perry did under King's name, "The sad thing was, Bill had gotten older by the time he was taking over the strip, and as he got older, he just couldn’t put the same energy into it, so it didn’t keep up with the times."
When Perry retired, Dick Moores hired Bob Zschiesche (an assistant on the strip between 1950 and 1963) to take over the Sundays, then in 1979 added the Sundays to his own workload.
Gasoline Alley
Gasoline Alley is a comic strip created by Frank King and currently distributed by Tribune Media Services. First published November 24, 1918, it is the second longest running comic strip in the US and has received critical accolades for its influential innovations...
comic strip. He was born in Chicago.
Perry began his career in the mailroom of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
. Some say that Frank King
Frank King
Frank Oscar King was an American cartoonist best known for his popular, long-run comic strip Gasoline Alley...
, to prove his teaching prowess, arbitrarily plucked Perry from that post and trained him in cartooning. Others say Perry took art classes in the evenings, and first served as Carl Ed's assistant on Harold Teen
Harold Teen
Harold Teen was a popular, long-running comic strip written and drawn by Carl Ed . Publisher Joseph Medill Patterson may have suggested, and certainly approved, the strip's concept, loosely based on Booth Tarkington's successful novel Seventeen. Asked in the late 1930s why he had started the strip,...
. In either case, Perry started assisting Frank King
Frank King
Frank Oscar King was an American cartoonist best known for his popular, long-run comic strip Gasoline Alley...
on Gasoline Alley
Gasoline Alley
Gasoline Alley is a comic strip created by Frank King and currently distributed by Tribune Media Services. First published November 24, 1918, it is the second longest running comic strip in the US and has received critical accolades for its influential innovations...
around 1925. He became the longest-term assistant King ever had. "Perry could really ape King’s style," current Gasoline Alley steward Jim Scancarelli
Jim Scancarelli
James Scancarelli , known professionally as Jim Scancarelli, is an American cartoonist who has been writing and drawing the syndicated comic strip Gasoline Alley for Tribune Media Services since 1986...
said. "I’ve seen some of the very early things he had done, and you really couldn’t tell it from King’s work."
Dick Moores
Richard Arnold Moores was an American cartoonist whose best known work was the comic strip Gasoline Alley, which he worked on for nearly three decades.-Early Life:...
was the title's creator on weekdays. According to Scancarelli
Jim Scancarelli
James Scancarelli , known professionally as Jim Scancarelli, is an American cartoonist who has been writing and drawing the syndicated comic strip Gasoline Alley for Tribune Media Services since 1986...
, who praised the work Perry did under King's name, "The sad thing was, Bill had gotten older by the time he was taking over the strip, and as he got older, he just couldn’t put the same energy into it, so it didn’t keep up with the times."
When Perry retired, Dick Moores hired Bob Zschiesche (an assistant on the strip between 1950 and 1963) to take over the Sundays, then in 1979 added the Sundays to his own workload.