The Good Moose Artist

Back in October 2018, I posted about a wall covered with cartoonists’ sketches at The Overlook bar in NYC. Another excellent cartoonist who drew on that mural was Al Kilgore.

While you may have heard of Carl Barks described as the “good duck artist,” I think of Al Kilgore as the “good moose artist.” He drew Rocky & Bullwinkle for comic books and a newspaper strip. His characters were simple and energetic. His gags came fast and bite-sized.

One of my Ten Favorite Comic Books of All Time is Rocky & His Fiendish Friends #1. Only 25 cents for eighty pages (with only one ad)! The issue includes a Rocky adventure by Kilgore, told in four chapters spread across the issue, with other features in-between, just like in the cartoon show. The jokes are varied and original, many of them breaking the fourth wall. I had to ask my father to explain some of them to me, when I first read it as a kid.

NOTE: Since posting this article, I have been advised that R&HFF #1 and these illustrations could have drawn by another artist in Kilgore’s style.

More information at: https://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/kilgore_al.htm and http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2011/05/al-kilgore-king-of-caricature.html