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Christian Comics & Cartooning Pioneers
(1960s through 1990)
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 ALAN BIRD
(UNITED KINGDOM)
The late Alan Bird created, edited, and wrote most of the first 240 issues of PLUS+, which began publication in January 1966 as a children's paper of comic strips, puzzles, stories, and "good news... about the extra life you were meant to have" by Christian Publicity Organisation (CPO). It is still in print today and has the longest issue run of any Christian comic paper in the United Kingdom, as well as the third longest run of any known Christian comic publication in the world, after Cook Communications' Sunday PIX in the USA and Tournesol in France.
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JIM PHILLIPS (USA)
Jim Phillips was born in San Jose, California USA on Oct 24th 1944, but has lived most of his life in Santa Cruz. Phillips' first published work was in Surfer Quarterly, in 1962, and his surf art has appeared in many surfing publications since. In 1965 and '66 he attended California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland. Phillips wrote and illustrated the Eternal Truth comic (sometimes called the "Hitchhiker" comic, because it features an 18-page story by that name) which was published in 1974 by Sonday Funnies. Cartoonist Rick Griffin helped connect Phillips to the publisher of the comic, which written for the US "street people" of the 1970s. From 1975-1990, Phillips was art director for Santa Cruz Skateboards. He still maintains a website showcasing his rock posters, surf and skateboard art.
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GREG LAURIE (USA)
Greg Laurie was born in 1952. While attending Corona Del Mar High School he worked as cartoonist for the school newspaper and had some of his cartoons apppear in Surfer magazine in the late '60s. Laurie began his pastoral ministry at age 19, leading a Bible study of 30 people. That small group became Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California USA, one of the eight largest churches in America, as well as the third largest in California. In 1972, during the "Jesus Movement" in the USA, Laurie drew several cartoon tracts, including Living Water and Looking at the People, which were published by Maranatha Publications/Maranatha! Evangelical Assoc (These can be seen at JesusPeople.com by clicking on "Jesus Tracts" under the "Picture Gallery" or by going to Greg's page.) In 1973 Laurie drew at least one cartoon album cover for Maranatha! Music which featured Mustard Seed Faith and Karen Lafferty for the first time. Inserted in the album jacket was an evangelistic single-sheet comic tract featuring the artwork of Laurie once again, with the song lyrics on the other side. Currently Laurie is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship. He and his wife Cathe have two children and reside in Southern California USA.
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NESTOR REDONDO
(PHILIPPINES / USA)
Nestor Redondo was born in Candon, Ilocos Sur, in the Philippines in 1928. He began his long and distinguished career drawing Filipino komiks serials, which were written by his brother Virgilio. His biggest success, at that time, came when he illustrated the popular Darna series in the 1950s. Eventually he became the most highly regarded and respected of all Filipino comics illustrators, not only in his own country but the United States as well. Almost every major, successful Filipino comics artist either apprenticed under him or has credited him as their most important influence. In 1969 and 1970 Redondo did a 4-page serial "Mga Kasaysayang Buhat sa Bibliya" ("Tales from the Bible") in each issue of Superyor Komiks Magasin which was produced by his own company, Nestor Redondo Publications. In the 1970s he began to do work for publishers in the USA, rendering titles such as DC Comics' Tarzan, Swamp Thing, Rima the Jungle Girl, and the Pendulum Illustrated Classics. In Christian comics he is perhaps best remembered as the finishing artist of DC's tabloid-size edition The Bible . However Redondo not yet a committed Christian when he illustrated it. His studio also produced the art for Marx, Lenin, Mao and Christ, published in 1977 by Open Doors Publishers, for which he supplied a painted wraparound cover. That same year he was commissioned to do a large painting for Far East Broadcasting (FEBC). In 1978 he drew a very reverent Ben Hur comic book published by Pendulum Press. Redondo accepted Christ and was born again in May 1982 through the witness of an American missionary from FEBC. In 1985, he started working for Marvel Comics, illustrating Conan and painting covers. He was also an inker on the Christian comic Aida-Zee in 1990 and illustrated a Christian testimony comic about Filipino actor Fred Galang. At the end of his career Redondo worked as an animation designer for the Marvel Studios in Los Angeles. He passed away in December 1995, leaving behind a wife and several grown children. His final published Christian comics work appeared in Behold 3-D (1996), shortly after his death. Redondo had been working on a new comic book version of Genesis which was never finished. According to his son Ramil, in 2008 the "leading and biggest Philippine TV network ABS-CBN" began airing a TV series based on the comic character "Palos" created by the Redondos.
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TAYLOR OVERBEY (USA)
Taylor Overbey created GLAD - The Christian Humor Magazine in 1982, publishing 17 bi-monthly issues for 2,000+ subscribers from 1982-1985, through his company Word Centered Productions, then located in Ohio USA. In addition to his work as publisher of the magazine, Overbey also wrote and drew a number of the features. Teaming with his father James Overbey, he drew Straight White American Male: A Politically Incorrect Survival Guide, published in 1996 by the Southern Publishing Group. Overbey's company still produces Christian products including a childrens' video entitled A Street Called Straight, posters and prints. They hope to begin publishing GLAD again soon. Overbey is now in Michigan USA.
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JAMES BLOCKSOM
(USA / JAPAN)
Jim Blocksom was originally from Ohio, USA. After the Korean War, while serving as an optometry officer at the airforce headquarters in Tokyo in 1954, Blocksom became a Christian. Returning to America, he began preparations to be a missionary in Japan. He was married to his wife Barbara, who also called to missionary work, and graduated from Trinity Seminary College. In 1962 Blocksom and his family returned to Japan to serve the Lord. In 1981 he was led to build a mission to train laymen to do evangelism, plant churches, and produce the literature needed, so he founded International Chapel Ministries (ICM). In addition to writing books, Bible studies, and discipling courses for Japanese readers, Blocksom has also been responsible for a number of trailblazing Christian manga/comic tracts produced in Japan, acting as the writer or publisher. A list of these comic/cartoon art tracts would include True Loves Waits, My Life, and the well-known Grandma tract, all illustrated by Madoka Mako. Blocksom also wrote and illustrated an in-depth article on the use of comics in evangelism for Japan Harvest magazine ("Your Message in 'Manga' Will Get Through!" - Issue No. 4, 1987/88) and wrote This Way to Happiness in 1979, which was illustrated as a cartoon tract by Evan Wilson in 1991. Blocksom continues to work at the production of cartoon tracts to this day, including an up-coming booklet on the "know-it-all" fish Kashikoi Sensei and another on the testimony of Hugh Brown, a former Northern Ireland terrorist who was saved in prison and is now in Japan as a missionary. A number of Blocksom's children now work in the ICM ministry along with Blocksom and his wife.
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CHRIS YAMBAR (USA)
 In 1978 a friend gave Chris Yambar a Bible, and he decided to read it cover to cover. It was then that he discovered the Absolute Truth of the Gospels and gave his life over to God. In 1980, Yambar took a position in an inner-city rehabilitation center where he acted as fellowship leader and Program and Outreach Director. During this time Chris began publishing Manna Underground Press (which later changed its name to The Activist - Radical Truth Through Art, Music, and Social Commentary). The Activist had a readership in 18 countries. In 1984 he produced the Rebel Graphics comic, and in 1988-89 he published Safe Comix. Later, in 1994, he produced Substance Quarterly, a "sci-fi/adventure/hero" anthology comic. Yambar has also co-created several character properties such as "Mr. Beat" and "Bambeano Boy." He has worked as a professional comics writer on various mainstream comics titles (for Bongo, Disney, and others) and as a "pop art" painter. In spite of his several secular successes, Yambar points to his relationship with Jesus Christ as the most important factor in his life. He has held a pastoral role for 23 years in several Christian home churches and community study groups and has helped to plant several churches in Ohio USA.
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BOB WIERDSMA (NETHERLANDS/CANADA)
Bouwe (Bob) Siebe Wierdsma, also known as "Bowie," was born September 15, 1952 in the Netherlands in the province of Friesland and immigrated to Canada with his parents in April 1955. Bob was a 1972 Honours graduate of the Classical Animation program at Sheridan College near Toronto, Ontario. He has published more than 800 cartoons in various small community newspapers and non-profit periodicals in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland. Beginning in the Spring of 1984, Bob published Christian Cartoonist and Illustrator, a small press publication that (along with Don Ensign's Valiant) helped bring together Christian comics fans and creators. The first issue contained one of the only interviews with Jack Chick ever recorded. From 1990 to 1999 Bob also published Inspirational Comics, a quarterly small press magazine that showcased Christian artists and offered comics reviews and articles.
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BILL WATTERS (USA)
Bill Watters is a former New York City police artist. He adapted and drew the first three "Unshackled!" comic tracts for Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, Illinois USA in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the true stories of Jack Martin (1989), Donna Disser (1992), and John Sanders (1993). Watters now lives in retirement in Florida.
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DICK HAFER (USA)
Richard L. Hafer, who called himself the "Comics Commando," was born on the 20th of July, 1937. He illustrated a number of cartoon tracts, comics, and books on politically conservative and Christian issues. A partial list of his many publications includes Every Family Has One (or) Even a Black Sheep Can Make It, Especially if He's a Rich Black Sheep! (1982), Stop the Gun Collectors (1983), Homosexuality: Legitimate, Alternate Deathstyle (1986), I Know that We're a Throw-Away Society, but This is Ridiculous! (1986), AIDS is Looking for You (with P.A. Brown and the research staff of the Castello Institute of Stafford 1987), Is Politics a Dirty Word or a Sacred Responsibility?: A Handbook for Christian Patriots, 1492-1988 (written by Dale Crowley, Jr., 1987), A Government Carol (1988), Magical Mike: The Real Story of Mike Dukakis (1988),Where Do You Get Off, Calling Me a Sinner? (1988),Who is this Jesus, Anyway? (1988), and Church Chuckles (1995). Some of these later comics were published by Freedomlight Publications as "Maxi-Tracts." Hafer held a number of press awards for editorial cartooning and feature writing. He was awarded the George Washington Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. Hafer maintained a cartooning studio in Lanham, Maryland USA until his death on July 5th 2003.
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 IAN JONES (AUSTRALIA)
Ian Jones was born in 1955 and grew up in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. After graduating from college, he became a primary school teacher in Queensland country schools. He started cartooning at age 22 and, after twelve years as a teacher, he resigned his profession on April Fool's Day in 1986 to begin his cartooning career. Jones created the Pearly Gates comic strip, which featured the "heavenly" characters Peter, Angie, Walter, and Johnny, and became one of the most successful and popular Australian strips. It also appeared in papers in England, Norway and New Zealand and had millions of readers. The strips were collected into two books, Love is a Two-Way Street (1987) and There's One in Every Cloud (1990). Jones is now an associate pastor of a Baptist Church in rural Queensland, focusing the majority of his time on the younger half of the congregation and mentoring those involved in youth work. He is married to wife Robyn and is the father of seven children.
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WILLEM deVINK (NETHERLANDS)
 Although raised in an evangelical home, it wasn't until age 13, at youth camp, that Willem deVink made a deep commitment to Christ. He soon began writing Christian comic books, and by 14, his enthusiasm for spiritual things so impressed a teacher that she asked him to teach religion class. Later, deVink joined Young and Free, a Dutch youth ministry with whom he worked for 17 years. He also operated a publishing company and worked as a freelance journalist writing books, magazine features and doing illustrations. Along the way, he was mentored by Brother Andrew, the famous Dutch missionary and founder of Open Doors. DeVink is the writer & illustrator of the Jezus Messias (Jesus Messiah) comic which was published in 1993. It has been translated into more than 25 languages and dialects (including Albanian, Arab, English, Farsi, French, Greek, Latvian, Mongolian, Dutch, Nepalese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swahili, Koerdisch-Bahdini, and Turkish.) DeVink also launched Heavenly Quality, a discipleship movement aimed at Christian youth. They hosted annual concerts and put evangelistic materials into the hands of 30% of Dutch school children. His autobiography Getekend: Een persoonlijk verhaal was published in 1999. At Billy Graham's Amsterdam 2000 conference, deVink felt God leading him to join Agape Netherlands, with whom he'd collaborated previously. Two years later, he was asked to become director of the ministry. He is married to wife Marian, a graphic designer who has collaborated with him on much of his work. They are parents of three children. |
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 BILLY LEAVELL (USA)
Billy Leavell says his lifelong deafness probably led to his love for comics, starting with the newspaper comic strips of his childhood. After receiving Christ as his Savior, Leavell realized the power of the comics medium to reach his deaf peers. He began his publication Light for the Deaf in 1966. It has contained a Christian or Bible comic strip by Leavell in almost every issue for over 35 years, making it unique among Christian magazines printed for the deaf. Leavell still works as a minister and missionary and is based in Tennessee USA.
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DONALD D. ENSIGN (USA)
Don Ensign is known by some as the "Father of Modern Christian Comics Fandom." He was born in 1948 and born again in 1958. After having some of his comics features published in "fanzines" in the late '60s, Ensign produced his first Christian comic, Tales of Antediluvia, in 1977 in the Campus Crusade print shop, where he worked. In 1984 he published Valiant, a Christian comics newsletter/fanzine that (along with Bob Wierdsma's Christian Cartoonist and Illustrator) brought together a number of Christian comics fans and creators for the first time. It was produced by the Christian Comic Arts Society, which Ensign co-founded. In 1985 he launched Alpha-Omega, the first Christian APA (amateur press association) publication, and in 1988 was part of the publishing team for the Valiant Efforts Christian comics series. He was a panelist on the first two Christian comics panel discussions ever held at the San Diego Comic Con in 1992 and 1995. From 1996-1998 he helped publish the New Creation newsletter on Christian comics. Currently Ensign publishes an annual "Guide to Christian Comics."
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STEVE GREGG (USA)
Steve Gregg created and produced over 50 Christian comics-style tracts from the 1970s through 1990s for the Good News Underground (G.N.U.), an evangelistic literature ministry in McMinnville, Oregon USA. Among the publications he has written and drawn are Parable (1971), All the King's Horses (1984), The G.N.U. Growth Book (Volume I: "For Fledgling Disciples," 1984) and The G.N.U. Growth Book (Volume II: "A Handbook for Spiritual Warfare," 1991). In 1983 he started the Great Commission School in Oregon USA, which he led for 16 years. The school guided students through the Bible, verse by verse, in nine months. He also published a magazine for Christian home-schoolers from 1996 to 1999. Gregg has also been involved in radio broadcasting as a ministry since 1984. In 1997, he started hosting a daily program called "The Narrow Path." Currently Gregg teaches at the Great Commission School in Canada, The Berean School of the Bible in Oregon, and Youth With A Mission schools internationally. He is still head of Good News Underground and is a single dad to four teenage children.
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 FRED CARTER (USA)
Frederick E. Carter was born on the 22nd of June, 1938. His talented older brother, who died tragically young, was his first and perhaps most influential artistic role model. "I had always wanted to use art in a Christian setting," he said. "At my church one of the fellows had a Chick tract, and I saw it and it impressed me because that's what I always wanted to do." Carter had studied at Chicago’s American Academy of Art, and in early 1972 he sent some samples to Jack Chick. Chick wrote back, and within 3 weeks Carter moved from Illinois USA to southern California. Carter’s first tract was “Frame-up”, marking the beginning of an ongoing association with Chick Publications for more than thirty years. In addition to the tracts, Carter drew The Crusaders full-size comic book series from 1974-1988. Sales of Chick's tracts and comic books have reached over 500 million copies worldwide, over half of which were drawn by Carter. In fall, 2003 Chick Publications released Light of the World, a DVD featuring over 300 paintings by Carter. In addition to pastoring a small congregation in southern California, Rev. Carter also illustrates for Urban Ministries in Chicago, Illinois.
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TOM FINLEY (USA)
Tom Finley was a Southern California "surfer" cartoonist along with Rick Griffin, Rick Bundschuh, and Jim Phillips. Finley created the Christian graphic novels Diabolus Seeks Revenge and Willard, Master of the Rats, published in 1982 and 1983 by Regal Books / Gospel Light Publications. Often working with Bundschuh, he has illustrated numerous books including Youth Workers Clip Art Book (1984), Hot Buttons: Insight from God's Word on 12 Burning Issues (1986), Ecclesiates: Survival in the 21st Century (1989), The Complete Junior High Bible Study Resource Book (1992), The Daring Plot to Save the World (1997), Kickstarters (1997), and The World Is Not Enough (1999). Currently Finley lives in Kauai, Hawaii USA.
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 JOHN STANTON
(STAN) BEST
(USA / BRAZIL)
Stan Best was born on the 3rd of October, 1923 in Los Angeles, CA USA. He was a missionary for 35 years in the Amazon area of South America. He wrote and published a number of Christian comics tracts such as Londa (1980), The Miracle of Dr. Miller (date unknown), The Last Cup of Coffee (1993), and Poison - A True Story (2002). Primarily he worked with other artists, such as Doug Chafey and Bill Webb, but he sometimes did his own artwork. He also did a cartoon series for Biblical Evangelist magazine. In addition to his cartoons and comics, Best wrote a number of books for young people including The Hidden City of the Amazon, The Last 17, Birdfiddle Scores Again, and Time is a Shadow. He even wrote some new Sherlock Holmes stories wherein Dr. Watson quotes a Scripture he had heard from "our friend Charlie Spurgeon." All of Best's tracts and books were published by his own company, Discovery Press. Best passed away on 6th October, 2002 in Modesto, California USA.
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RON WHEELER (USA)
Ron Wheeler says he began drawing cartoons "from the moment I could pick up a pencil." He attended the University of Nebraska where he drew a comic strip called Ralph for the school paper which was his first "hit" in comics. Wheeler graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree, having majored in Business Admin, and landed a great job in a major corporation. However he was fired from this job eventually, and all his efforts to become a professional cartoonist ended in frustration. One night in 1978, at the end of himself and with no place else to turn, he cried out to God and placed his total trust in Jesus Christ. The very next day he secured his first full-time job as a cartoonist. In 1980 he began his well-known Adventures of Jeremiah series, the same year he started his freelance cartooning career, which continues to this day. His company, CartoonWorks, has done artwork for numerous clients including American Tract Society, Baker Book House, Barbour, Cook Communications, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Focus on the Family, Tyndale House, and many others. In 1983, a collected edition of Wheeler's Adventures of Jeremiah comics first appeared in a vertical magazine format, published by Beacon Hill Press. This same publisher has gone on to release a series of softcover Jeremiah cartoon books including Love & Dating & Other Natural Disasters (1993), Help! I'm Late for School and I Can't Get Up (1994), I Wouldn't Be Tempted if Temptation Wasn't So Tempting (1995), and Let My Words be Sweet and Tender: 'Cause I May have to Eat Them (1996). Wheeler is married to Cindy and has three children. They attend Colonial Presbyterian Church (where Wheeler has served as an Elder and as Deacon) in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
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JERRY & FAITH McCOLLOUGH
(BELGIUM / GERMANY / USA)
Jerry and Faith McCollough are missionaries who worked in Brussels, Belgium with the International Correspondence Institute (ICI), illustrating textbooks for training pastors and lay persons. They also illustrated a series of Bible story comic books entitled David, Gideon, Esther, and The Christmas Story which were published in 1988, 1989, 1990 by ICI, with scripts by Ron Barefield. These comics were printed in Belgium and the USA and are still in circulation, with well over 100,000 copies distributed in over 27 languages. The McColloughs now live in Germany where they research, write and illustrate evangelistic materials. The focus of their ministry is reaching the lost through secular literature. They research the lives of well known national heroes, show their Christian backgrounds, and weave the Gospel message into the text. The books are then distributed through local book networks so that they can go into even the smallest towns and villages as well as areas where Christian literature is not welcome. In 2001 the first of these comic strip books, Cyril & Methodius: Illuminators of the Slavs, was published in Germany by Eventide Publications. The McColloughs have two children and a grandson.
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NATE BUTLER (USA)
Nate Butler was born in 1954 in Meriden, Connecticut USA, a "descendent of early New England Puritans and a number of preachers of the Gospel." His maternal great grandparents, John Henry and Susan Adeline House, were missionaries in the Balkans and founded the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece. (His great-grandmother even produced a tract for allied soldiers in World War II.) So after a 20 year career working in cartooning and comics (including drawing characters such as The Muppets, Archie & Jughead, Heathcliff, Snuffy Smith, and many others), Butler followed in the footsteps of his ancestors and began packaging Christian comics such as Aida-Zee (1990), Paro-Dee (1993), and Behold 3-D (1996). He also started the Christian Comics Catalog (1993), published Christian Comics & Games Magazine (1995), and launched the first Christian comics website, Christian Comics International (1996). These publishing activities led to the founding of COMIX35, an international training ministry which teaches the production and use of comics-style literature for evangelism and discipleship. Classes and workshops have been held in the Philippines, Israel, Thailand, Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, India, Hong Kong, Cambodia and many other countries. Butler and his wife Susan have two daughters, a son-in-law and two grandsons.
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KATHLEEN WEBB (USA)
Kathleen Webb was born in Puyallup, Washington USA and was born again at the age of five. She says her greatest artistic influences were Charles Schulz, Dan DeCarlo, Al Hartley, Frank Doyle, Hanna-Barbera studios, Dick Giordano, and husband Bill Webb. She sold her first script to Archie Comics in 1985 and is still working as a scriptwriter for that company to this day. She also pencilled some stories in Barbie for Marvel Comics. In Christian comics, Kathleen wrote and drew the "Holly and the Ivy Halls" strip for Focus on the Family's Brio magazine from 1993 to 2004, has illustrated various Sunday School papers for Gospel Light Publications, pencilled pages for comics such as Aida-Zee and Paro-Dee, scripted and pencilled a Pro-Life tract entitled "The Monster," and contributed to the Proverbs & Parables anthology. A comic strip of her personal testimony appeared in the #1 issue of Christian Comics & Games Magazine and may be viewed online here on the CCI site. She is active in hosting and teaching English to short-stay Japanese students and has eighteen Japanese "daughters" through this work. She collects manga and anime, and says her greatest desire is to see a line of quality Christian comics specifically geared to female readers. She and husband Bill have five cats and operate BillyKat Productions.
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Other CHRISTIAN COMICS & CARTOONING PIONEERS (Late 1800s -1950s/60s)
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This web site is administered and maintained by COMIX35 / ROX35 Media, Inc. as a ministry service. "Christian Comics International", "Christian Comics Catalog", "International Christian Comics Competition (ICCC)", "Christian Comics Pioneers", and the series title "Personal Testimony Comics" (in continuous use since first publication in Christian Comics & Games Magazine in 1996) are all trademarks of Nate Butler currently administered by ROX35 Media, Inc. by special arrangement. "COMIX35" and "New Life Literature Asia/USA" are both DBAs and trademarks of ROX35 Media, Inc. "ANIMAX35" and "Creating Christian Comics for Your Culture" are trademarks of ROX35 Media, Inc. All other names and logos (& other images) are TM and/or Copyright © by their respective owners. All rights reserved worldwide. Please note that it is impossible to screen all the text on all the links listed on this site. Please do not assume that all opinions expressed on linked sites are identical to those of COMIX35 / ROX35 Media, Inc.
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