Ozark Ike - April 29, 1949 (Ray Gotto)

Ozark Ike was born out of the popularity of the Lil' Abner strip by Al Capp. Creator Ray Gotto developed the character as a backwoods sports phenom and placed him within various basketball, football, golf, and of course baseball exploits. Joining him on the way to victory was his beautiful Dinah. A clever blonde who oscillated between being either the damsel in distress or the solution to the dilemma of the day.

Gotto's work on this and later his "Cotton Woods" (an exclusively baseball tale) was an obvious labor of love. His appreciation for the great American pastime shone through his work.

As a lifelong fan of the New York Mets, I first became aware of Ray Gotto as the creator of the club's team logo. A contest was held by the new team and unveiled on November 16, 1961. Ray was among the 500 entires submitted. Winning a modest cash prze for his efforts. It has remained essentially unchanged to this day. A feat that speaks to it's perfection.

Logo designer Todd Radom tells us it was first black and pink?
https://www.toddradom.com/blog/all-hail-the-pink-black-new-york-mets

Very excited to pick this up during the latest Comic Art Live from Rob Stolzer. He is an artist in his own right and the owner of a fine original art collection. With several Ray Gotto examples in his CAF gallery. (Go check them out.) Glad he was willing to part with this one!