Bob Montana
| Bob Montana | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert William Montana October 23, 1920[1] Stockton, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1975 (aged 54) Meredith, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Artist |
| Spouse(s) | Peggy (née Bertholet)[2][3] |
Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip Archie.[4][5][6]
Early life[edit]
He was born in Stockton, California, to Roberta Pandolfini Montana and Ray Montana.[7] Both were in show business: Roberta had been a Ziegfeld girl, and Ray performed banjo on the vaudeville circuit.[7] As a result, Bob Montana traveled extensively as a child.[7] He attended Haverhill High School in Haverhill, Massachusetts.[7] and graduated from Manchester High School Central in Manchester, New Hampshire.[8]
According to Jane (Donahue) Murphy, a high school classmate of Montana's, Archie and his friends were based on people from their hometown and high school. She said Archie Andrews was based on Donahue's cousin, Richard Heffernan; Veronica Lodge on Agatha Popoff, the daughter of the local football team's doctor; Jughead Jones on a mischievous teen named "Skinny" Linnehan; while Miss Grundy may have been based on a high school typing and shorthand teacher named Lundstrom;[9] however, Haverhill's school librarian is also believed to be the model for Grundy.[7]
Career[edit]
While freelancing at True Comics and Fox Comics, Montana created an adventure strip about four teenage boys and tried to sell it without success.
Archie Comics[edit]
Montana started working for MLJ Comics (which would later be known as Archie Comics). He was asked to work up a high school style comic strip story, featuring Archie Andrews.[10]
The success of the Archie and friends story in MLJ Comics' Pep Comics (Dec. 1941) led MLJ to assign Montana to draw the first issue of Archie (Nov. 1942).[5] Montana was soon drawing the Archie comic strip, doing both the daily and Sunday strip, which over the next 35 years ran in over 750 newspapers.[11]
Personal life[edit]
Montana served 3½ years in WWII and was a sergeant at war's end; during this time, he met and married Peggy Bertholet.[2] They had four children: Paige, Lynn, Ray and Don.[7]
He died at age 54 of an apparent heart attack while cross-country skiing near his New Hampshire home.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ "Robert Montana, January 1975". United States Social Security Death Index. FamilySearch. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- ^ a b Connors, Ann (May 8, 1989). "A Funny Thing Happened to the Haverhill Class of '40". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ Appelo, Tim (November 8, 1991). "Archie comics turn 50". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2018 – via EW.com.
- ^ Windolf, Jim (December 2006). "American Idol". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
Since the [court] settlement, every Archie product has listed John Goldwater as 'creator.' The name Bob Montana falls under a separate credit line that defines him as the 'creator' of 'the original characters’ likenesses.'
- ^ a b Offenberger, Rik (March 1, 2003). "Publisher Profile: Archie Comics". Borderline (19). Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2017 – via MightyCrusaders.net.
- ^ Harvey, R. C. (July 28, 2011). "John Goldwater, the Comics Code Authority, and Archie". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Sullivan, Mark (December 30, 2001). "Now 60 Years Old, Archie Has Roots Reaching To Haverhill Cartoonist Used High School Friends For His Inspiration". The Boston Globe. republished online June 9, 2002 – via mcnsclips.blogspot.com.
- ^ "Bob Montana Brings Archie Comics to the Lakes Region". New England Historical Society. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ Tennant, Paul (December 28, 2010). "'Archie' comic changes with the times, examines real-life topics". The Eagle-Tribune. North Andover, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ Morales, Stephanie (July 4, 2018). "'Archie' artist honored with statue by his hometown". Associated Press. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
- ^ Beaty, Bart (2017). Twelve-Cent Archie: New Edition with Full Color Illustrations. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-8135-9046-2.
- ^ "Bob Montana, Cartoonist, Dies; Creator of 'Archie' Strip, 54". The New York Times. New York, New York. January 6, 1975. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
External links[edit]
- "Archie". Don Markstein's Toonopedia.
- Bob Montana Papers at Syracuse University
- "Who's Who in Riverdale?". archiecomics.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
- "Starchie and Goodman Beaver". Mad Magazine. republished online at geocities.com. 1954. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009.
- 1920 births
- 1975 deaths
- American comic strip cartoonists
- American comics artists
- American people of Italian descent
- Archie Comics
- Manchester Central High School alumni
- People from Haverhill, Massachusetts
- Artists from Stockton, California
- Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees
- People from Meredith, New Hampshire