Henry Syverson

Henry 'Hank' Syverson (5 October 1918 in Pine Bush, New York – 12 August 2007 in Pine Bush, New York) was an American cartoonist and illustrator, who contributed cartoons regularly to The Saturday Evening Post, This Week and many other periodicals. In World War II PFC Hank Syverson served with the US Army on Okinawa.

Syverson attended the Walt Disney Animation Studios in the company of many animators destined for fame in magazine cartooning - there were Sam Cobean and Eldon Dedini. Some graduated to syndicated fame, such as Walt Kelly (Pogo), Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace) and George Baker (Sad Sack).

One of my favorite influences is Henry Syverson. When I first saw his cartoons as a small boy in The Saturday Evening Post magazine, I had no idea he had once been a Disney artist, but when I learned that years later I wasn't surprised. His characters have the appeal and fluidity I associate with Disney, somehow coupled with a slightly more Thurber-esque abstraction. Like Walt Kelly, Hank Ketchum and other Disney alumni though, Syverson carved out a personal niche that is as unmistakeable as a signature.

For thirty years I have pursued my favorite hobby -- at Walt Disney's Studios, then as a soldier-cartoonist (PFC Hank Syverson), and today, with my wife and two children contributing much inspiration, as a free-lance cartoonist. But perhaps to consider cartooning a hobby is deceiving. My son once asked me, 'Daddy, are you unemployed?'