Dan DeCarlo
Stationed in Great Britain, he worked in the motor pool and as a draftsman, and painted company mascots on the noses of airplanes.
[5] He met his wife, French citizen Josie Dumont, on a blind date in Belgium not long after the Battle of the Bulge.
[3] DeCarlo was married, with a pregnant wife, and working as a laborer for his father when he began to pursue a professional art career.
"[4] He went on to an atypically long, 10-year run on that humor series, from issues #18–93 (June 1949 – Nov. 1959), most of them published by Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics.
[6] DeCarlo and Lee also took over the My Friend Irma comic strip, spun off from the hit Marie Wilson radio comedy.
[7] For a decade, DeCarlo wrote and drew the slapsticky adventures of Millie Collins, her redheaded friendly nemesis Chili Storm and the rest of the cast.
Running three issues, #5–7 (Dec. 1952 - April 1953), it featured red-haired Jetta Raye and her friends at Neutron High School.
[11] In addition to his comic-book work, DeCarlo drew freelance pieces for the magazines The Saturday Evening Post and Argosy, as well as Timely/Atlas publisher Martin Goodman's Humorama line of pin-up girl cartoon digests.
[13] As well, he is the generally recognized creator of the teen-humor characters Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, and Cheryl Blossom.
[14] The series featured levelheaded, sweet-natured Josie, her blonde bombshell friend Melody, and bookwormish brunette Pepper.
When Universal Pictures was preparing the live-action movie adaptation Josie and the Pussycats in 2001, DeCarlo and Archie Comics became involved in a lawsuit over the character's creation, leading the publisher to terminate its 43-year relationship with him.
[3] Comics creator Paul Dini said upon DeCarlo's death, "It was tragic that when he was at an age when many cartoonists are revered as treasures by more beneficent publishers, Dan felt spurned and slighted by the owners of properties that prospered greatly from his contributions.
"[13] His twin sons, Dan Jr. and James "Jim" DeCarlo (born January 27, 1948)[19][20] were also prolific Archie artists, penciling and inking respectively.
[24][25][26] She met future husband Dan DeCarlo on a blind date in Belgium in 1945, Shortly after the Battle of the Bulge.
[24] At the time, Dumont did not speak English, while DeCarlo, a member of the U.S. Army during World War II, spoke very little French.
[25] After her husband's death in 2001, Josie DeCarlo remained active in the comics and animation industries, promoting his work.
[24] DeCarlo won the National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book in 2000 for Betty & Veronica.
[28] He was nominated for the Academy of Comic Book Arts' Shazam Award for Best Penciller (Humor Division) in 1974.
[30] Artist/animator Bruce Timm, best known for his contributions to the DC Animated Universe, has cited Dan DeCarlo as one of his influences.
