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Brad Anderson Cartoons

An inventory of his collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MD
Date: 13 Jan 2009

Biographical History

Brad (Bradley Jay) Anderson (1924-2015) was an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strips Marmaduke and Grandpa's Boy.

Born in Jamestown, New York, Anderson grew up in Chautauqua County, graduating from Brocton Central High School in 1943. It was in high school that the young aviation buff began submitting cartoons for publication in specialty magazines like Flying and Flying Aces. After high school, Anderson served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he continued to develop his artistic skills, contributing cartoons to various Navy publications during his three years of service (1943-1946). Following the war Anderson enrolled at Syracuse University on the G.I. Bill, where he studied fine arts with a major in advertising. Throughout his undergraduate years, he frequently published cartoons in the student magazine The Syracusan, as well as in popular commercial publications like Collier's Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post.

In 1952, Anderson took a position in the art department of the Utica (N.Y.) advertising agency Ball & Grier. Quickly realizing that his freelance magazine work was much more lucrative, he abandoned advertising in 1953. By now, Anderson had carved out a niche for himself with the type of panel cartoon particularly favored by publications like the Saturday Evening Post, and he had little difficulty establishing himself in this venue. It was his success with this "family-oriented" humor, in fact, that became the impetus for his most important and enduring creation, the newspaper comic strip Marmaduke.

There are various stories as to where Anderson came up with his signature canine creation -- his mother's boxer is often mentioned, or a Great Dane Anderson knew in Jamestown -- but as Anderson tells it, "during the time, I was drawing various types of dogs in my magazine cartoons, I was also trying to develop a dog character specifically for eventual newspaper syndication [....] you couldn't see the eyes of my shaggy dogs, so as I thought more about it I decided I wanted a dog where I could have an expressive face" (Cartoonist Profiles, no. 56, Dec. 1982, p. 18-25). The Great Dane's combination of big, expressive eyes and pointy, easy-to-see ears proved to be ideal. An initial collaboration with gag writer Bill Leeming yielded a batch of samples, and Anderson was soon making the rounds to the various syndicates. In the fall of 1954, Marmaduke began its long run as a syndicated newspaper comic strip. At its peak, the strip appeared in more than 600 newspapers in 20 countries worldwide.

Anderson received numerous awards and recognitions for his work. In 1978, he received the Newspaper Panel Award from the National Cartoonists Society and in 1999 was honored by his alma mater, Syracuse University, with a George Arents Pioneer Medal. In addition, his work has been exhibited in museums and galleries, including a showing at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts (1977) and at Syracuse University as part of the exhibit Cartoons, Caricatures and Comics: Selected Works from the School of Art and Design Alumni and from the Collections of Syracuse University (12 Dec 1992-15 Jan 1993). In 2004, Ballantine released a 50th anniversary book entitled Top Dog: Marmaduke at 50.

Anderson and his wife Barbara had four children. Anderson died in Texas on August 30, 2015 at the age of 91. As of 2023, "Marmaduke" was still appearing in newspapers across the country.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Brad Anderson Cartoons collection contains original artwork from "Grandpa's Boy" and "Marmaduke," and a few items of memorabilia and samples of work from his student days.

Grandpa's Boy material consists of 300 original cartoon strips from the comic strip "Grandpa's Boy" (1954-1966). Individual strips are taped or pasted to larger sheets, approximately 4-5 strips per sheet. Many of the early strips display the notice "released by Smith Service, Demarest, N.J." .

Marmaduke material consists of original art for a few daily and Sunday strips, as well as some original sketches signed/inscribed by Anderson. There is also a poster featuring Marmaduke.

Memorabilia contains photographs of Anderson. A few are formal portrait photos but the majority are candid shots of Anderson at home, at work, appearing at various events, etc. A few are of Anderson with his Great Dane.

Student work contains two pieces created when Anderson was in college.

Arrangement of the Collection

"Grandpa's Boy" strips are in chronological order. Other material is in no particular order.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has collections of over one hundred cartoonists. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

Subject Headings

Persons

Anderson, Brad, 1924-2015.

Associated Titles

Grandpa's boy (Comic strip)
Marmaduke (Comic strip)

Subjects

American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- United States.
Children -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Comic books, strips, etc. -- United States.
Dogs -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Genres and Forms

Cartoons (humorous images)
Photographs.
Posters.
Sketches.

Occupations

Cartoonists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Brad Anderson Cartoons,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Brad Anderson, 1968. Gift of Christine Potchernick, 2022.

Table of Contents

Grandpa's Boy

Marmaduke

Memorabilia

Student work

Inventory