"Buck Rogers" 1949 Sunday by Rick Yager

Artist: Rick Yager (All)

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Buck Rogers 1949 Sunday by Rick Yager Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	"Buck Rogers" 1949 Sunday by Rick Yager
Artist:	Rick Yager (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	161
Likes on CAF:	3 4
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	1/8/2024
Comic Art Archive:

Description

If I ever were to talk of grail pieces, this would be one of them for me, something I�ve been waiting for for 44 years, since I was 10: A �Buck Rogers in the 25th Century� Sunday by Rick Yager, this one from 1949. In 1979, when I was 10, the librarians at the Herrick Public Library in Holland, Michigan, noticed this kid coming in and checking out every book on comics they had, and for a small town library in the 70�s, they had a really good selection, mostly comic strip reprint books. One of those was a large, hardcover collection of �Buck Rogers.� One of the librarians told me that one of the artists who worked on it lived nearby and arranged for me to meet him on a July afternoon. I was so excited! As not only a comics fan but an aspiring comics artist, this was the biggest thing that had ever happened to me. A real cartoonist! I still remember sitting at a table in the library listening to Rick talk of how he had worked on Buck Rogers from 1933 to 1958 and was still working on two other strips, drawing the �Grin and Bear It� and �Cappy Dick� Sundays. He also did a pencil drawing of Buck on my blue-lined notebook paper, which I still have. The library soon did an exhibit of his work, where I first got to see his originals, and I visited his home and he came to mine, as well as many phone calls. He was gruff at times, but he was so kind with his time to this kid who had so many questions. It wasn�t his style that influenced me, but what I got from him was a great work ethic of getting the job done, as well as being flexible in style and willing to work on a variety of things. One of the most exiting things, however, was that he promised me that when I grew up he�d give me one of his massive Buck Rogers original Sundays. The years and calls went on, but, being a foolish 16yo, who was busy driving, going out, dating, I lost touch with Rick. I got back in touch with him in the mid-90�s, by which time I�d been working in comics professionally for several years. He was living in the suburbs of Chicago by then, and I was living in North Carolina, but we arranged to get together when I was up visiting in the spring of 1995. I called him that morning to check in. He told me he wasn�t feeling well, and could we postpone the visit until I was back in the summer. That was not to happen, as he passed away two weeks later at 85. When I was back in the summer, I went to visit Mrs. Yager. Without having brought it up myself, one of the first things she said to me was that she remembered Rick had always promised me a Buck Sunday, but that he�d left them all to their kids. She�d already spoken to them, but they weren�t parting with one. It was their father�s work, so I couldn�t blame them. I soon after bought a Buck daily strip from an art dealer, so I had something by him, but all these years I kept an eye out for a Sunday. They appeared rarely, and usually they were either out of my price range or ones that didn�t feature Buck. I missed out on a good one at the beginning of the pandemic, which led me to ask around about finding one. One of the people I asked was George Hagenauer, who, a couple months ago, tipped me off to this one you see here. No, there are none of Rick�s distinctive rocketships, so I�m going to keep looking for one of those, but I�m very thrilled to finally have a Buck Rogers Sunday by Rick, this one with Buck in all but one panel. The art needs a little love, so I�ll be having some repair work (brown tape on the back and other issues) done by a good restorer, but then I�ll have it framed and hanging to enjoy every time I see it and think of all I owe Rick for getting me started on the path to being a real cartoonist, too.

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About the Owner

	Andrew Pepoy
Joined:	October 2008
Last Login:	February 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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D. J. Peters
Member Since 2006

Posted on 1/13/2024

Wonderful story! That is a tremendous Sunday strip! Congratulations!

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