First & Last: Ralph Newman
Here’s another entry in a now somewhat long line of First & Last posts. The “first” is the very first appearance of a New Yorker artist’s drawing in the magazine, and the “last” is the last.
In The New Yorker‘s near 100 years, the circumstance has arisen close to 100 times that an artist’s first New Yorker drawing is also their last (these artists belong to the Spill’s “One Club.” Their A-Z entries are accompanied by this little guy:
Ralph Newman is a One Clubber. His one and only New Yorker drawing, shown below, appeared September 21, 1946.
Most of the time, we never learn much about the One Clubbers. But Mr. Newman is a little different. This summer, Mr. Newman, who passed away in 1989, was celebrated at San Diego’s= Comic-Con International, receiving the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
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More reading, from The Stanford Advocate, August 20, 2024, “Darien Cartoonist Never Credited For His Work On ‘Ritchie Rich,’ ‘Casper’ Finally Honored At Comic-Con”