Coulton Waugh
A cartoonist and scholar who not only drew Dickie Dare but also penned the first serious academic study of the comic strip art form.
1896–1973 (age 77)·American comics artist·Birthday: March 10·The Lost Generation
Biography
Coulton Waugh navigated the golden age of American comics with both a pen and a critical mind. The son of painter Frederick Judd Waugh, he built his initial reputation as the artist behind the adventure strip 'Dickie Dare,' infusing it with a clean, illustrative style. Yet Waugh's true legacy extends beyond the drawing board. A restless intellectual curiosity led him to analyze the very medium he worked in, resulting in his 1947 book 'The Comics.' This work was groundbreaking, treating comic strips as a legitimate subject for historical and aesthetic study long before academia took notice. He later taught cartooning, influencing a new generation, and maintained a parallel career as a painter of maritime scenes, continuing his family's artistic lineage in a different vein.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Coulton was born in 1896, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Coulton Was Born
The biggest hits of 1896
Coulton's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1896Born
First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
President: Grover Cleveland
1901Started school
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1909Became a teenager
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1912Could drive
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1914Could vote
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1917Turned 21
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1926Turned 30
Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket
President: Calvin Coolidge"Baby Face" — Jan Garber
1936Turned 40
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1946Turned 50
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1956Turned 60
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1966Turned 70
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1973Died at 77
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
Key Achievements
- Authored 'The Comics' (1947), the first major historical and critical study of the American comic strip.
- Served as the primary artist for the popular adventure comic strip 'Dickie Dare' for many years.
- Had a successful career as a painter, particularly of maritime subjects, and taught cartooning.
Did You Know?
He was the son of the notable American marine painter Frederick Judd Waugh.
Waugh created the comic strip 'Hank' which was later continued by his assistant, Hank Ketcham, who went on to create 'Dennis the Menace.'
He wrote and illustrated a seminal textbook on cartooning in 1949.
“A comic strip is a narrative told in a series of drawings.”
