Today we welcome two cartoonists to our Senior Strippers Club, both Ashleigh Brilliant and Jose Delbo turn 90.
Ashleigh Brilliant, born December 9, 1933, came to prominence during San Francisco’s 1967 Summer of Love where he had joined the Haight Ashbury scene. From the April 7, 1967 San Francisco Examiner:
Sometime between 1967 and 1972 Ashleigh wrote a number of epigrams on postcards and sold them, they were very popular and Ashleigh found a career that would provide for him. In 1972 he expanded beyond postcards and began showing up in newspapers. From the June 29, 1972 Carpinteria Herald:
Brilliant’s PotShots were (are?) self syndicated and are available at GoComics.
Further reading: Wikipedia; In praise of Ashleigh Brilliant; Ashleigh Brilliant dot com; and a 2007 interview:
May I ask what your creative process is?
I carry a piece of paper in my pocket and when I get an idea, I write it down. Everybody gets ideas but very few take the trouble to write them down.
Jose Delbo was also born on December 9, 1933. His career began as a teenager in South America where he was drawing comic strips and comic books. In 1965 Jose and family emigrated to the United States where he soon found regular assignments drawing comic books for Charlton, Dell, and Gold Key (Western). He would eventually work at DC and Marvel Comics among others.
For a time in 1979 Jose ghosted pencils for Sy Barry on The Phantom comic strip. For a few years in the 1980s (1982-1985) he pencilled the Superman comic strip and The Superman Sunday Special puzzle page.
A couple years ago Jose made worldwide news by becoming a millionaire selling NFT comic art.
Here is a brief interview with Jose from 2019.
Stroud: Which projects gave you the most enjoyment?
Delbo: Besides The Monkees, the Beatles Yellow Submarine and definitely The Lone Ranger. I love westerns.
Stroud: What was your production rate?
Delbo: Well it’s hard to say. It all depended on how difficult the script was but normally it would be two to two and a half pages per day of pencils.
We wish both creators a Happy Birthday!