Cartoonist Howard Post dies

Writer Mark Evanier reports that Howard Post, who worked primarily as a comic book cartoonist, has passed away from Alzheimer’s.

Howard “Howie” Post, a mainstay of animation, comic books and strips since the mid-forties, passed away some time in the last week, reportedly due to Alzheimer’s. Howie was born November 2, 1926 and while no one has ever pinned down exactly when he got into comics, his work was turning up in books from most of the major New York publishers by 1945. He mostly did funny animal comics, such as for DC’s More Fun Comics, where he sometimes wrote for other artists but often drew his own wacky, energetic tales. He also worked in animation, at first as an in-betweener and animator for Famous Studios…later as a storyman and, still later, as the creative head of Paramount’s cartoon studio in the early sixties.

In addition to his comic book works Howard Post also drew a newspaper comic strip called The Dropouts, which ran for 14 years through United Features Syndicate. He was also a director of animated cartoons and created, among other things, Honey Halfwitch for Paramount Picture’s cartoon release.