About the Authors

Tom Gill was a self-taught cartoonist who started as an office boy at the New York Daily News and worked his way up to staff artist. Gill writes, "One Sunday afternoon, always a dull time in the editorial room, all hell broke loose and I found myself making the map which broke the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor." From that point on until the end of World War II, he helped draw all the maps that helped readers grasp what was happening in the war.

After the war, Gill went to work for the New York Herald-Tribune where, for the next three years, he drew Flower Potts, a comic book about a cab driver. He went on to draw more than 135 Lone Ranger comic books, one of the longest records of any cartoonist on any comic book series.

In late 1946, he answered an ad and joined the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York City as one of its first instructors. He continued teaching until 2005, and was enormously proud of the 3,000 students who graduated from his classes. Gill was a member of the National Cartoonists Society and on the organization's behalf traveled with his colleagues on USO tours from the early 1950s to 1987 bringing smiles to U.S. service men and women around the world.


Tim Lasiuta is a man of many interests. Once he discovered the world of comics as a youngster, his life was never the same. Comics, books, classic films, radio plays and drama, art, and pulp adventure heroes are vividly alive in his imagination, he says. Lasiuta writes on a variety of topics for such entities as True West Magazine, Comic Buyers Guide, Wildest Westerns, and the Penguin Comics website (www.penguincomics.net ).

"I've always loved the Lone Ranger," says Lasiuta, "and that is what initially brought me together with Tom Gill." He adds that one of the cartoonist's last wishes was for him to look after his wife Trish and to shepherd his manuscript to publication.

Now that The Misadventures of a Roving Cartoonist is published, Lasiuta is expanding his horizons into other projects including filmmaking, publishing, and keeping alive for future generations the memory of the B-Westerns and the golden age of comics. Lasiuta, who is also the author of Collecting Western Memorabilia, lives in Red Deer, Alberta, with Karen, his wife of 18 years, and their four children.



Tim Lasiuta CHCA Interview:

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I met Tom Gill about the time I was asked in 1987 to join Mort Walker in his productive studio, to create a then new comic strip, along with BEETLE BAILEY and countless other projects since. Tom was immediately gracious and outgoing; a notable ambassador of the National Cartoonists Society and the field of comics in general. Never having taken one of his classes at the various schools he embellished with his expertise for decades, I can only surmise the excitement he generated into his students, many of whom later went on to become noted professional artists themselves. I found somewhat humorous his usual mannerism of announcing himself with somewhat of a short resume of his proud association with The School of Visual Arts, etc. upon first speaking to fellow NCS members at a crowded business meeting ... he forever pitched the institutions he championed. He was always very generous, offering artwork to people and causes if asked, offering advice even if not asked and always eager, energetic and ' on', well on into advanced age when most folks have retired and simply slow down ... but not Tom ! Through the National Cartoonists Society I have met so many legendary artists of a past generation that embodied the idealistic model of both professional achievement and genuine mentorship, and Tom fit into that description well. He was a hardworking professional, a fraternal and early ' founding' NCS member and someone that instilled both spirited discussion and a cheery smile on those who knew him. HI YO, TOM GILL !!

Bill Janocha
Cartoonist and BEETLE BAILEY assistant,
Feb. 15, 2008

Published by Five Star Legends,
a division of Five Star Publications, Inc.
Publish Date: May 2008
Price: $29.95 / Hardcover / Non-fiction
ISBN: 978-1-58985-021-7