The Daily Cartoonist

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The Christmas cards of Dik Browne

Alan Gardner91 mins

Tom Heintjes has posted this year’s profile of Christmas cards by famous cartoonists. This year’s cartoonist is Dik Browne, creator of Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible.

9 thoughts on “The Christmas cards of Dik Browne”

  3. That would be his son Chris Browne….Dik Browne was a true original…I love his lineowrk and cross hatcing…so simple and delicate….a true original that won’t appear again…

  4. I agree–Dik was one of the great “natural” cartoonists…never a line out of place. Even when he was doing all the cross-hatching, he never overdid it. I was talking to one of his colleagues once from the Johnstone and Cushing days, and he said that Dik could look at someone he was conversing with and draw at the same time. I’m so pleased you guys like the cards!

  5. I started looking at each of these cards because I love Dik Browne’s art and how it evolved, but it wound up getting more and more sentimental as I realized I was kind of seeing his adult life unfold.

    What a great guy.

  6. Stephen: I had similar reaction while looking at the cards. It?s interesting to see how his artwork and life evolved over the years. What a great collection.

  7. In my opinion, the artwork Dik Browne’s “Hagar the Horrible” strip doesn’t do anything for me. I can appreciate the comic strip, but the artwork Dik created outside of Hagar blows me away.
    I have this children’s book called “The Land of Lost Things” written by Mort Walker and illustrated by Dik Browne and it is the one of the most gorgeous children’s books I have ever seen. The linework in that book makes me drool. It is perfection.

    I think the small panels of a comic strip were too confining for Dik Browne’s pen. He needed more room to really draw.

    Before you dismiss Chris Browne’s work, take a look at the paintings on his blog, he’s doing great stuff.
    http://thehistorylesson.blogspot.com/

  8. Whoa, I’m not dismissing Chris’ work. I said Dik Browne’s artwork in these cards is masterful compared to what is in the comic strip that still bares his name. I don’t even know who draws HAGAR now and, frankly, it doesn’t matter, does it?

  9. You’re right, Mark, it doesn’t matter… which means you could have praised Dik’s work without kicking someone else in the shins at the same time.

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