William Overgard

William Overgard (Bill), 1926-1990, was an American cartoonist and writer with a diverse opus, including novels, screenplays, animation, and the comic strips "Steve Roper and Mike Nomad" and "Rudy". For a picture, see his biography card at [http://www.reuben.org/ncs/members/memorium/overgard.jpgNational Cartoonists Society] .

Early years

William Thomas Overgard was born on April 30, 1926 in Santa Monica, California, son of silent-movie actor William A. Overgard, and grew up there. Inspired as a boy by Milton Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates", at age twelve he sent him a fan letter and samples of his own art, and received encouragement. They continued corresponding during Overgard's high school years and two years in the Navy during World War II. Afterwards, he headed for New York and worked with Caniff, assisting him on his new strip "Steve Canyon". (He later regarded this apprenticeship as his only true training for cartooning.) Then, on Caniff's advice, he launched his own cartooning career in the 1950s with comic books such as "Jungle Jim", "Ben Bowie", "Daredevil", and the western "Black Diamond" (Lambiek). He also freelanced in ghosted strips and animation, continuing to refine his artwork, and contributed to "Boy Magazine" and the satirical "Whack".

A "syndicated gig"

In 1954, "Steve Roper" artist Pete Hoffman was leaving to do his own strip, "Jeff Cobb". As recalled by Harvey (2004), Overgard "had been trying to get a syndicated gig, and when the "Roper" job opened up, he was invited to compete with other candidates for the assignment. 'Fortunately,' he wrote, 'I managed to scoot by and win, and that was the beginning of my career as a strip cartoonist.' " The first strip he drew for "Steve Roper" was for July 12, 1954, and from then on his photorealistic depiction of the characters and settings gave the strip a bold, attractive new look. When the writer, Allen Saunders, was considering a counterfoil pal for "straight-arrow" Roper, Overgard suggested a character he had been working on and described as "a realistic working-man kind of guy who was not beyond taking any opportunity that presented itself" (Harvey, ibid). Thus appeared on June 19, 1956, the memorable Mike Nomad, who would expand story potential and audience appeal.

With a family started and the security of "Steve Roper", in 1954 Overgard and his wife Gloria "left behind their bohemian Manhattan life" (Traster 2007) and moved up the Hudson to a house on a rural 17 acre site in Stony Point, NY, close to friend Caniff's home. He invested much of his earnings over the years in renovating the house (built in 1770) while also indulging a love of antique cars and motorcycles. He did his cartooning and writing at night, except when he and his wife entertained in "artsy soirees" in their home and gardens (Traster, ibid).

His distinctive artwork attracted attention. In 1963 (May 17), he wrote in "Time Magazine" that a featured painting by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein "came close" to an August 6, 1961 panel of his "Steve Roper". (It was virtually identical, including Saunders' words without attribution.) He added: "Very flattering...I think?" He joined the National Cartoonists Society and clearly took pride in his work on the strip (which became "Steve Roper and Mike Nomad" in 1969), giving it new popularity (Lambiek). He injected much of himself into its characters and settings. For example, Nomad likewise became an avid motorcyclist and in 1970, competed in a Motocross race in Mexico (where Overgard was temporarily residing); while in 1976, Roper bought a country home like Overgard's (original Traster article) and by 1983, now bearded, he even looked like his artist and shared his interest in antique cars.

Later years

In 1971 Overgard also took on the scripting of "Kerry Drake" after Saunders quit (Lambiek), and as that strip ended, began a new one he both wrote and drew, "Rudy", which debuted on January 3, 1983. By then, there were disagreements over the writing of "Steve Roper" (Harvey, 2004) with Allen Saunders and son John who succeeded him in 1979. After his strip for April 7, 1985 (not 1982 as sometimes reported), Overgard left "Steve Roper", immediately replaced by Fran Matera, and devoted himself to "Rudy". Unfortunately, despite favorable reviews, "Rudy" came to an end later that year on December 22.

Overgard had already expanded into screenplays and televised cartoons, now scripting episodes of "ThunderCats". He had also been writing adventure novels, and in 1988 published his last one, "A Few Good Men", about the U.S. Marines' 1931 intervention in the Sandinista war in Nicaragua. He continued his longtime interests in antique cars and music-making, especially the banjo. He died in Stony Point on May 25, 1990, survived by wife Gloria, sons Tom and Matthew, and daughter Jennifer Magnusson, and leaving an archive of his earlier "Steve Roper" work at Syracuse University.

His work

Overgard's fiction includes the novels "Moonlight Surveillance", "Pieces of a Hero", "Once More the Hero", "Shanghai Tango", "The Evil Chaser", "The Divide", "The Man from Raffles", and "A Few Good Men". Their situations vary, but they show thorough background research, vivid characterization, imaginative fast-moving plots, tension-ratcheting twists, and the attention to descriptive detail that would come naturally to a writer who was also a story strip artist. His screenplays include "The Last Dinosaur" (1977), "The Bermuda Depths" (1978), "Ivory Ape" (1980), "Bushido Blade" (1981), and the animated cartoons "Silver Hawks" and 19 episodes of "ThunderCats" (airing in the mid-1980s).

He is more remembered for his 31 years (almost half his life) on "Steve Roper". It stood out with its finely realistic artwork, "one of the best-drawn and stylish adventure strips" (Marschall 1985), and he varied it with fast-sequence montages, close-ups, and views from different angles. Each panel showed meticulous attention to background, body language and action, lighting/shadowing, perspective, and composition; he also did the lettering after 1977. With sharp-looking men and knockout women (even passers-by had individual looks), he defined the strip's characters and showed them aging attractively over the years. The strip's realism was underscored by its consistency: after working out the details for people and settings (e.g., a tattoo on Nomad's shoulder, or the decor and furnishings of Roper's home and office), Overgard consistently depicted them in later episodes, even years later.

"Rudy" showed similar artwork, but a very different situation. It was launched (in Overgard's own words, 1984) "to the puzzled disbelief of comic traditionalists. A gag strip about a talking monkey in Hollywood, drawn in a realistic continuity style? What?" Rudy was a Bonobo Chimpanzee who otherwise resembled actor George Burns, right down to the cigar, wise cracks, and career in vaudeville, movies, and standup comedy. "Literate and well-drawn," (Marschall 1985), the strip had a nostalgic charm of the old Hollywood of Overgard's youth. Holtz (2005) added that it showed smart humor, character-driven stories, intelligent writing and great art that "transcends the run-of-the-mill comic strip level"— all of which (in his opinion) "doomed" it in an era favoring minimalist gag strips.

The 1984 collection of "Rudy" strips ended with a drawing of its protagonist, sport coat flung over his shoulder and lighting a cigar as he walked away with a simple "Ciao." It could have been Overgard's own exit six years later.

References

*Harvey, R. C. 2004. [http://www.planetcartoonist.com/rantrave Rants and Raves] , opus 149
*Traster, Tina. 2007. [http://www.kitchen-furniture.fawse.com/Kitchen-Nook-Table.html An Era Ends: Cartoonist's House is up for Sale] . Special to "The Journal News", April 28, 2007.
*Holtz, Allen. 2005. Rudy—Doomed from the Start. [http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2005/12/rudy-doomed-from-start.html Stripper's Guide] , December 12, 2005.
*Lambiek. [http://www.lambiek.net/artists/o/overgard_wt.htm William Thomas Overgard] .
*Marschall, Rick. 1985. Review of "Rudy in Hollywood". "Nemo" no., 15 (October 1985), p. 59-60.
*Overgard, William. 1984. Rudy in Hollywood. (collection of strips). Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
*Overgard, William. 1963. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830323-3,00.html Letter to "Time Magazine"] , May 17, 1963.
*Syracuse University Library. [http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/o/overgard_w.htm William Overgard Cartoon Collection] .