[[File:Rightaroundhome2539.jpg|right|thumb|480px|Dudley Fisher's Right Around Home (February 5, 1939). To read this strip at the proper resolution, go to Animation Resources.]]

Dudley Tyng Fisher Jr. (April 27, 1890 – July 10, 1951) was a syndicated newspaper cartoonist, best known for his character Myrtle who was introduced in his Sunday page, Right Around Home, distributed by King Features Syndicate under various titles from 1937 to 1964. Fisher drew Right Around Home until his death on October 6, 1951, after which his assistant, Bob Vittur, managed the strip with assistance from King Features’ bullpen stalwart Stan Randal until its end on May 2, 1965.

Early life

Fisher was born in Columbus, Ohio to Dudley T. Fisher Sr. and Marion Garner Fisher and grew up on the city's north side. He was known as Ting by the other children because Dudley was considered too fancy. His first work appeared in the juvenile magazine St. Nicholas. In high school he drew for the school newspaper which was edited by W. M. Kiplinger. As an adult, he studied to be an architect at Ohio State University and was recruited into Sigma Pi fraternity by Kiplinger and Ray Evans. While at OSU, he was an art editor for the MakiO yearbook. At the encouragement of Evans, a cartoonist, he left school after two years to work as a newspaper layout artist at The Columbus Dispatch. He remembered that his first interview with editor Arthur Johnson Sr. was composed of them yelling at each other over the noise of the printing presses.

Comic strips

When hired by the Dispatch in 1911, Fisher was a retouch artist under the direction of Evans and Billy Ireland. He later worked side by side with another famous cartoonist, Milton Caniff. He served in an aerial photography unit in 1917 during World War I. He attributed its success and charm of this page to his stumbling "upon the truth that what readers like most is to read about themselves and the things they all do." He confirmed that the characters were all based on people, and animals, that he knew with Myrtle being based on his daughter's mannerisms. and they had a daughter, Marion. In later life, he learned to build and play pipe organs. Friends said he could play very well but he did not think his ability was good enough to play in public

Reprints

Right Around Home was reprinted in the first issue (December 2011) of Russ Cochran's The Sunday Funnies.

References

Sources

Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995.

  • The Cagle Post: Hogan's Alley
  • Toonopedia: Right Around Home