Abell, U.S.
(USA)

Urban Sereno Abell was born on 10 March 1876 in Minnesota, USA. Abell went to the Pacific Garden Mission (PGM) in Chicago, Illinois USA in 1897 where he received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Abell was the first convert of PGM founder Walter G. Taylor who went on to become a superintendent of the Mission. At that time, Abell was taking classes at the Chicago Art Institute. He created Christian cartoons for Moody Monthly from circa 1921 until 1948. He lived in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, throughout the 1930s, according to adverts he placed in Moody Monthly. These ads promoted his availability for doing "chalk talks" at "Sunday School, Young People's Societies, or Church Services" in the Chicago area. During this time he supported himself, his wife and his three children working as a commercial advertising artist. His artwork for Moody Monthly was collected together into a book entitled Gospel Cartoons, published by Polzin Press in 1937. In 1946 he drew the cover for The Sword Book of Treasures and the frontispiece for The Power of Pentecost, both published by The Sword of the Lord in Wheaton, Illinois. Abell died in January 1965.

[Click here to view some of U. S. Abell's cartoons.]

Alden, F. W.
(USA)

Frederick William Alden was born 28 June 1873 in Waseca, Minnesota, USA. He was a ninth generation descendent of John Alden, who came to America on the Mayflower, and the son of Rev. Edwin Hyde Alden, a friend of the Ingalls family (popularized in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and the "Little House on the Prairie" television series). After graduating from school, F. W. Alden worked in Milwaukee as a chemist, commercial artist, editorial cartoonist and etcher. A dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, Alden was a member of First Congregational Church in Waukesha, Wisconsin USA where he sang in the choir and chamber ensemble. He was also involved in prison ministry and outreaches to people of color. From June, 1916 until June, 1918 his editorial cartoons appeared in The Bible Champion, a Christian journal for which he drew pithy commentaries upon the various forms of apostasy which were affecting the church, particularly evolution and the "higher criticism" (liberal theological revision of the Bible). In 1924 he began what would become a twenty year association with the Rev. B. H. Shadduck, PhD as the principle cartoon illustrator of Shadduck's series of booklets including Jocko-Homo Heavenbound (1924), Puddle to Paradise: the Pilgrim's Progress of Modernism (1925), 100 Questions for Teachers of Evolution (1926), Alibi, Lullaby, By-by, The Gee-Haw of the Modern Jehu, The "Seven Thunders" of Millennial Dawn, and Rastus Agustus Explains Evolution (1928), Cousin's Day at the Zoo (1929), and Buzzard Eggs in the Eagle's Nest (1932). Alden died from injuries sustained in an accidental fall in September 1955.

[Click here to read a longer biography of F.W. Alden.]

Beard, Frank
(USA)

Born in 1842, Frank Beard grew to become a widely known American illustrator, "chalk talk" artist, and cartoonist in the late 19th century. In early 1850s, Beard was a boy of 7 or 8 years old when he first saw Yankee Notions, which he later termed "the first American comic journal," published by T.W. Strong in New York City USA. His favorite was Brother Jonathan published by Wilson & Company in New York City. He and his brothers would "spread the pages on the floor and lie on our stomachs, studying the pictures and spelling out the titles and jokes beneath them, for hours together." Beard's first published work as an illustrator may have appeared in Comic Monthly, published from 1859 to 1881. His cartoons also appeared in Judge. Beard drew both single panel cartoons and sequential art (comics). Around 1893 he began illustrating for The Ram's Horn, a non-denominational Christian periodical published during the 1890s and early 1900s by Frederick L. Chapman & Company in Chicago, Illinois USA. The magazine warned of the growing dangers of secularism in American society which were becoming more evident at that time. Eventually Beard became the magazine's principal illustrator, drawing both covers and interior illustrations. It is reported that, at some point in his career, Beard vowed to no longer do any cartoons which weren't aimed at spreading Christianity. Some of The Ram's Horn material was gathered together into a book called Fifty Great Cartoons (1899), published by the magazine for its subscribers. A full color edition of Beard's artwork, entitled One Hundred Sermon Pictures, was published in 1902. Beard died in 1905.

Caudill, R. Paul, PhD, DD
(USA)

Walter John Dittmar, the youngest of six children, was born on 7 February 1879 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA. Though his artistic talent was recognized at an early age, he had no formal training except what he acquired prior to graduating high school. In his late teens he was already freelancing, and was employed by the Grit Publishing Co. in Williamsport. From 1904-1914 Dittmar drew over fifty-four Ragtime sheet music covers for the Vandersloot Music Publishing Co. As he was color blind, these were ink drawings with only one additional hue. In 1913 he was married, and later sired three children. A follower of Jesus Christ and affiliated with the Christian Missionary Alliance Church, Dittmar illustrated for the Union Gospel Press of Cleveland, Ohio from the 1910s-1960s. During this same period his work appeared in their nonsectarian Christian monthly, The Gospel Herald, as well as in their various Sunday School publications and posters. He also taught art in the Williamsport school system from the 1920s-40s. W. J. Dittmar went to be with the Lord on 23 October 1964 at age 85 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

John Morton Espey was born in 1881 and worked as a Presbyterian missionary in Shanghai, China, from 1905-1934. He was the first principal of the Shanghai American School in 1911. In 1927 he collaborated with a (currently unknown) Chinese artist to produce a series of line sketches illustrating the life of Christ in Chinese style (but not Chinese figures). Produced for the China Sunday School Union, the series was called Bible Picture Cartoons and was aimed at Chinese children or adults new to the Christian message. The cartoons were issued four on a sheet, in wall scroll form and intended to be shown one by one as the Bible story was told. Reportedly, the sketches had heavy lines with little detail, so that they could be easily seen across the schoolroom and comprehended by scholars with little Bible knowledge. Accompanying the cartoons were leaflets with incomplete facsimiles of the cartoons to be filled in from memory by the pupils. These cartoons were prepared originally for the Primary and Daily Vacation Bible Schools, but were also available for use in country districts. Currently it is unknown whether any copies of these cartoons still exist. Apparently, Espey left China well before the Communists took control in 1949 and all missionaries were expelled. He died in 1963 in a retirement home in Pasadena, California USA.

Hamm, Jack
(USA)

Jack Beaumont Hamm was born on 5 March 1916 in Elkhart, Kansas USA, and began studying at the Moody Bible Institute while he was working his way through art school in Chicago, Illinois USA. Later he went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, to prepare for the ministry, but finally chose a career in cartooning. In 1941 he joined the NEA (Newspaper Enterprise Association), one of the first newspaper syndicates, to work as an assistant on such comic strips as Boots and Her Buddies and Alley Oop. Over the years he also assisted on strips such as Bugs Bunny and Buck Rogers. After Army service in Alaska and the Aleutians during the war, he went back to Baylor for his B.A. and began to teach commercial art there. He served as an interim director of Baylor's art department and also taught art at Dallas Baptist University. In the 1950s he founded "The Jack Hamm Show," one of the first television art programs, which aired in the Dallas, Houston and Waco TV markets in the USA. He was an editorial cartoonist for the Baptist Standard of Texas and distributed his Gospel cartoons and illustrations to newspapers and magazines - including Time and Newsweek ­ free of charge. Hamm and his wife, Dorisnel, distributed his inspirational artwork through Religious Drawings Inc., which they founded in the 1960s. Hamm wrote and illustrated more than 25 books, including some instruction books that are still in print today: Cartooning the Head & Figure, How to Draw Animals, Drawing Scenery: Landscapes & Seascapes, and Drawing the Head & Figure. Hamm also supplied artwork for the book Peter Marshall's Lasting Prayers, published in 1969, and Did Genesis Man Conquer Space? in 1974. Hamm gave several hundred of his Christian cartoons to a church in Texas for use in their church newsletter. He also granted permission for these to be scanned and made available online, stating his desire that these graphics be used free of charge to all who would use them to further the Gospel. (Those cartoons can be downloaded here.) He was a member of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas USA. Hamm died on 22 December 2002, after a lengthy struggle with heart illness.

Johns, Harold
(UNITED KINGDOM)

Harold Alfred Johns was born on 14 June 1918 in Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom. He studied at Victoria College of Art and Science in 1938. During the Second World War Harold drove tanks in the Yorkshire Hussars, later training as a cartographer, and was eventually awarded the British Empire Medal. After the war, he studied at Southport School of Arts and Crafts. From 1950-53 he assisted artist Frank Hampson on the "Dan Dare" comics pages and other strips which appeared weekly in Eagle. Afterwards, Johns worked as an illustrator for secular books and magazines. A born again Christian, he illustrated comic strips for the Salvation Army's Young Soldier magazine for children in the 1960s. In 1975 these were collected into three Challenge Picture Publications volumes: Man of the Mizo Hills, Catherine Booth: Woman Warrior, and Zulu Warrior: the Story of Mbambo Matunjwa. In later years he did a number of watercolour paintings in the Lake District. He suddenly passed away while out sketching in Sefton, Merseyside, UK, in 1980.

Kadey, P. H.
(CANADA / USA)

Percy H. Kadey was born on 19 November 1887 in Caradoc, Ontario, Canada. He began his career doing "crayon sketching on the public platform" for teachers' conventions, high schools and other groups. Kadey longed to work in the field of art full-time, but by the time an offer arrived from a prominent company, Christ had come into Kadey's life. Kadey wrote later, "The knowledge of my Lord led to the recognition of a call to full-time service for Him. As the result there came an extended struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. But the long-suffering Saviour gradually moulded my stubbornness into a yielded will. I gave my little 'all' to Him, crayons included. My lack of genius demanded plenty of perspiration, but I praise God that He has seen fit to sanctify my humble efforts to the praise of His Name." Rev. Kadey and his wife Amelia had six children, and resided in Port Huron, Michigan in the 1910s - 20s. The September 1917 issue of The Christian Workers Magazine, published by the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, featured this notice: "The P. H. Kadey party held a campaign in North Port Huron, Mich., June 17 to July 22, three churches uniting. More than 450 went forward to the altar. The pastors and people are enthusiastic over the results of the work." Many similar notices of his evangelistic work in Michigan and the surrounding states appeared in later issues of this magazine, retitled Moody Monthly, throughout the 1920s. In 1925 Kadey provided several cartoon illustrations for Dr. B. H. Shadduck's anti-evolution booklets Puddle to Paradise and The Toadstool Among the Tombs, as well as for When Snakes Began to Nurse Their Young (1926) and the anti-Modernist Gee-Haw of the Modern Jehu (1928). By the 1930s Rev. Kadey was residing in Flint, Michigan, and continued with his evangelistic chalk talks over the next few decades, often singing hymns whilst he drew. He served as pastor of the First Bible Church in Flint for 28 years. A sixty page book, Pen Sketch and Poetry, was published by Carl J. Bihl in 1965, the year of Kadey's death. The material therein was derived from his chalk talks.

[Click here to view some of P. H. Kadey's cartoons.]

Russell, Betty
(USA / JAPAN)

Betty Russell was born Bessie Mildred Condra on 18 July 1912 in Numa, Iowa USA. In 1945-48 she wrote and edited the Li'l Bess and Beanie Baker comics produced by the Kids Tract Club of Spokane, Washington. (She may have drawn the first Beanie Baker tract as well.) These childrens' evangelism tools were sold in "Get-Acquainted Packets" of 50 different tracts for 50 cents. When she and her husband L. Wayne Russell (1907-1988) moved to Winona Lake, Indiana, the tract ministry moved with them, eventually being taken over by Rev. James Turnbull, DD, of Zondervan in 1949. Mrs. Russell was one of Spokane's first Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) directors, and she was an itinerant speaker for CEF in different parts of the United States. In 1950 she continued with the ministry as an evangelist in Tokyo, Japan, where her husband was the CEF Field Representative. They both taught in a non-denominational Christian school until 1988. She went home to be with the Lord on 17 March 2000.

Señor Carlos Sandoval Bennett was born in 1917 in Mexico City. He was involved in all stages of animated cartoon production in Mexico for nearly 60 years, working on such cartoons as Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog, The Flintstones, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Smokey Stover. He worked for a number of studios including Caricaturas Animadas de Mexico, Dibujos Animados SA, Valmar, Kinema, and Producciones Animadas SA. These studios produced uncredited animation work for Hanna-Barbera and others in the USA. In his Christian ministry, he did cartoon drawings and comic strips during six years for the Christian Reformed Church in Mexico and their Theological Course by Extension (in Spanish). He also did illustrations for Mexican Christian publications such as El Faro magazine, Prisma magazine, and Noticiero Milamex. He was elected first president of a support group for Prisma magazine when it was founded in 1969 by Latin America Mission of Mexico. In recent years he had done illustrations for children's Sunday School materials at the Berith Presbyterian Church where he attended. He was a presenter at COMIX35's comics training seminar in Mexico City in March 2005. Señor Sandoval died in Mexico City shortly afterward, during the early summer of that year.