Other names Robert C. Harvey Occupation author, critic | Name R. Harvey Role Author | |
Born 1937 (age 78–79) USA Education University of Colorado Boulder Books art of the comic book, Biography of Milton Caniff, Accidental Ambassador Gordo, The Art of the Funnies, Insider Histories of Cartoonin | ||
Robert C. Harvey (born 1937), popularly known as R. C. Harvey, is an author, critic and cartoonist. He has written a number of books on the history of the medium, with special focus on the history of the comic strip, and he has also worked as a freelance cartoonist.
Contents
Biography
Harvey describes himself as having created cartoons since the age of seven. He was educated at the University of Colorado, where he submitted cartoons to the campus humor magazine, The Flatiron. Upon graduation, Harvey attempted to earn a living as a freelance cartoonist in New York, but was interrupted in his attempt by service in the U.S. Navy. After a three-year tour, Harvey left the Navy, joking that for him it had been only a fleeting thing, and found employment as an English teacher.
After five years in the classroom, Harvey joined the headquarters staff of the National Council of Teachers of English, where he worked as convention manager for nearly 30 years. For 4-5 years in the late 1970s, he freelanced magazine cartoons in his spare time, specializing in girlie cartoons for men's magazines. In 1973, Harvey began writing on the medium, initially for The Menomonee Falls Gazette.
Work
By the early 1980s, Harvey's columns were appearing in The Comics Journal, where he has a regular column to this day, and Comics Buyer's Guide. The 1990s saw publication of Fantagraphics Books' Cartoons of the Roaring Twenties, collected and edited by Harvey. Harvey was also a contributor to Oxford University Press' American National Biography. In 1994, Harvey's work of comics scholarship The Art of the Funnies was published by the University Press of Mississippi with The Art of the Comic Book following in 1996. He served as an associate editor for the journal Inks: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies, taking responsibility for submissions related to the comic strip. In 1998, Harvey was guest curator for the Children of the Yellow Kid exhibition, for which he also provided the catalogue.
Harvey has written or collected and edited thirteen books on comics and cartooning, including his Milton Caniff: Conversations (2002) from the University Press of Mississippi, followed by a full biography of Caniff, Meanwhile... A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon (2007) published by Fantagraphics. His most recent book is Insider Histories of Cartooning: Rediscovering Forgotten Famous Comics and Their Creators (2014) from UPM. A complete list of his books appears at his website. Harvey also provided biographies for the long-running magazine Cartoonist PROfiles.
Harvey is a member of the National Cartoonists Society, as well as an associate member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and a member of the Comic Art Professionals Society.