He is remembered as the illustrator of Thorne Smith's first two novels, Biltmore Oswald (1918) and Out o' Luck (1919), as well as for his work as a columnist for Photoplay Magazine and newspaper artist in the 1920s and '30s.

On his World War I draft registration card (dated June 5, 1917), Dorgan reported his occupation as "Cartoonist.

His brother (and oldest sibling), Thomas Aloysius "Tad" Dorgan (April 29, 1877 – May 2, 1929), was a prominent cartoonist and creator of "Indoor Sports," as well as a well-known sportswriter.

Another brother, John L. "Ike" Dorgan (April 15, 1879 – December 27, 1960), was a bookbinder, boxing manager (for Harry Ebbets and Charles Francis "Frank" Moran, known as "The Fighting Dentist"), press agent (for boxing promoter George L. "Tex" Rickard),[7] and publicity manager for the Madison Square Garden.

[8] A third brother, Joseph V. "Joe" Dorgan (December 25, 1894 – May 8, 1945), a cartoonist in his own right, was a Seaman Second Class in the U.S. Navy during World War I. Joe enlisted in October 1917 and was assigned to the USS SC-338 (a submarine chaser) by January 1918 at New York, where he was a member of the crew until the ship's return to New York in 1919.

[10] One of Dorgan's drawings, "The Looter," won a Christmas contest sponsored by The New York Sun in 1913 and was published in that newspaper.

2)" was listed on the masthead of The Broadside as the fourth member of the Art Department, along with George Y. Shanks (b. m. 2), W. C. Hoople (sea.

In "Giving 'The Sheik' the Once Over from the Ringside,"[24] Dorgan provided a lively, tongue-in-cheek summary of the movie, which never even mentioned its star, Rudolph Valentino.

It was okay for Theda Bara, the raven-haired, racoon-eyed screen vamp whose name was supposed to be an anagram for "Arab death" ..., to assume exaggerated serpentine poses and be vaunted as the incarnation of libido run amuck.

Within a few months of his mean-spirited spoof of The Sheik, Dorgan would use the columns of Photoplay—with a circulation of more than two million—to raise the volume of his rant on Valentino with "A Song of Hate.

The men have formed a secret order (of which I am running for president and chief executioner as you may notice) to loathe, hate and despise him for obvious reasons.

The Bell Syndicate bought the rights to adapt Ring Lardner's "The Busher's Letters" stories, which became the comic strip "You Know Me Al." In a letter to the F. Scott Fitzgeralds (on January 9, 1925), Ring Lardner reported, "I have quit the strip and Dick Dorgan is doing it, with help from Tad.

[32] This panel cartoon might have been inspired by Frankie "Kid" Dugan, a welterweight from Memphis, Tennessee, who appeared in 32 bouts from 1919 to 1928.

From circa 1930–1932, Dorgan produced the daily panel Colonel Gilfeather,[35][36] which was syndicated by Associated Press Feature Service and appeared in about 80 newspapers.

[37][38] According to Donald D. Markstein, "Knock-offs, such as Associated Press's Mister Gilfeather [sic] ... began to proliferate" as a result of the success of "Our Boarding House.

"[38] In Dorgan family lore, Dick's wife, Amelia, stated that the idea for Major Hoople was taken from the Colonel Gilfeather strip.

[39] Dorgan apparently left the strip in early 1932 and Alfred G. Caplin—now better known as Al Capp, the creator of "Li'l Abner"—was hired circa March 1932 to continue the feature.

After six months, he was replaced by an apprentice artist" at the Associated Press, Milton Caniff,[37] now better known as the creator of "Terry and the Pirates" and "Steve Canyon."

Israel Shenker was more blunt: In 1932, The Associated Press hired him [Capp] to draw "Mr. Gilfeather," a comic strip, and his best efforts failed.