Remembering R.C. Harvey

I was saddened by the news today of the passing of R.C. "Bob" Harvey, cartoonist and comics scholar and historian. While I didn't know him well, we connected many years ago when I was starting out due to our shared interest, of course, in cartoonist Milton Caniff—I believe he first reached out to me knowing my work was deeply inspired and influenced by Caniff. We exchanged some letters and I'd see him at conventions, where he'd often stop by my table to say hi and catch up on my issues.

I enjoy comics history and scholarship nearly as much as comics themselves, so Bob's work in this area always interested me. Over the years, I was aware that he was working on a biography on Caniff, so I'd always ask about its status. I was delighted when Fantagraphics released it, called Meanwhile... —though he told me he had to cut it down a bit for length, the book still came in at nearly 1000 pages. I obviously was the target audience, but it says much about Bob's writing skills that I found the book to be a great read and engaging—I tore through it in less than a week. It sits in a prominent place on a bookshelf and I still occasionally go through it.

One other nice connection—Bob received the Inkpot Award from San Diego Comic-Con the same year as me in 2018! It was more than well deserved and I'm glad I had the opportunity to congratulate him in person.

Below: A sample of Bob's clean cartooning style and the cover to his biography of Milton Caniff.