'Supercar' #1 (Mexican edition).
Ray Osrin was an American comic artist and editorial cartoonist. From the mid-1940s until the early 1960s, he inked and occasionally penciled comics for publishers like Archie, Charlton, Dell and Gold Key, mostly the humor, romance and horror genres. He assisted on the long-running newspaper comic 'Barney Google and Snuffy Smith', and also on 'Morty Meekle'. By the late 1950s, he reinvented himself as an editorial cartoonist for The Pittsburgh Press (1958-1963) and afterwards The Cleveland Plain Dealer (1963-1993).
Early life
Raymond Harold Osrin was born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. He studied art at the School of Industrial Art and the Art Students League, but dropped out when his cartooning career took off. Among his graphic influences were Pat Oliphant, Bill Mauldin, Herblock, Don Wright, Paul Conrad, Milton Caniff, Frank Robbins and Matt Baker.
'Fat and Lean', from Bobby Comics #1 (Iger Comics, 1946).
Comic books
In 1945, Osrin joined Jerry Iger's comic production studio, where for four years, he was a staff inker on comic books for Fiction House, Fox Comics and Farrell Publications. His earliest work involved inking the pencil artwork of Matt Baker and other Iger staffers on Fiction House heroes like 'Kayo Kirby' (Fight Comics), 'Camilla' (Jungle Comics) and 'Mysta of the Moon' (Planet Comics), and also possibly on 'Glory Forbes' (Ranger Comics) and 'Rip Carson of Risks, Unlimited' (Fight Comics). In the late 1940s, he also inked 'Blue Beetle' and 'Phantom Lady' for the comic books published by Victor Fox, as well as horror and romance stories for Farrell Publications.
'Ruled By Jealousy', a story presumably penciled by Osrin from Teen-Age Romances #27 (November 1952).
At St. John Publications, Osrin also inked the proto-graphic novel 'It Rhymes with Lust' (1950), written by Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller, and penciled by Matt Baker. In adition, in the period 1949-1952, he provided pencil artwork for St. John romance comic books like 'Teen-Age Diary Secrets' and 'Teen-Age Romances'. Halfway through the 1950s, Osrin inked 'Pat the Brat' (with pencils presumably by Leon Winik) for Archie Comics and various romance and mystery comics for Charlton, as well as 'Blue Beetle' (pencils by Ted Galindo). He inked Matt Baker again in Dell's 'Lassie' tie-in comic book (1955) and penciled most of the Gold Key comic book 'Mike Mercury - Supercar', which contained stories based on the children's TV shows 'Supercar' and 'Robert's Robot' (1962-1963).
Newspaper strips
In addition to his work on comic books, Ray Osrin has assisted Fred Lasswell on the newspaper comic 'Barney Google and Snuffy Smith' in the 1950s. In 1952, he once again inked Matt Baker on two weeks worth of 'Flamingo' newspaper strips. During the early 1960s, Osrin worked with Dick Cavalli on the 'Morty Meekle' strip (AKA 'Winthrop').
Cartoon of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from the Cleveland Plain Dealer of 15 August 1979.
Editorial cartooning
In 1957, Osrin moved from New York City to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was involved in television animation and industrial film making. A year later, he became an editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Press and stayed with this publication until 1963, when he joined The Cleveland Plain Dealer as a staff artist. After three years, he succeeded Ed Kuekes as the paper's official political cartoonist from 1966 until his retirement on 2 April 1993. His work was reprinted in the New York Times, National Observer, Newsday, Time and Newsweek. His cartoons were also included in compilation books like 'LBJ Lampooned: Cartoon Criticism of Lyndon B. Johnson' (Cobble Hill Press, 1968).
Of the many political personalities that he depicted in his cartoons, notably Cleveland's former mayor Dennis Kucinich, as well as the Presidents Lyndon B Johnson and Richard Nixon, requested the original drawings from the cartoonist. While he had a biting pen, Osrin was respected among both his peers and many of his targets for his fairness and accuracy, and for never taking a cheap shot. However, sometimes he offended certain groups with his politically incorrect caricatures. To apologize for one such unintentional offense, he sketched a picture of himself kneeling and praying for forgiveness.
Final years and death
After his retirement, Ray Osrin moved to Boca Raton, Florida. Later in life the artist donated thousands of his original cartoons to Cleveland and Ohio state universities. His originals have also been displayed at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton. Osrin passed away in in Delray Beach, Florida in 2001 from complications due to heart disease and diabetes. In his obituary in The Plain Dealer of 4 April 2001, his former editor reflected: "With his often curmudgeonly attitude, his Brooklyn lack of confidence in any institution and his delightful sense of humor, Osrin was an equal-opportunity offender."
Cartoon by Osrin for the Cleveland Plain Dealer (1976).