Olson, John J.

John J. Olson's (1921-2013) John West Sunday page ran from 1946 to approximately 1950 and featured some wonderful artwork. Olson's artwork could be clunky at times, but when he was on, Olson incorporated some lovely hatching and cross-hatching techniques in his work, as well as some deeply shadowed figures. He's been considered sort of a poor man's Rockwell Kent, with similar approaches in his work, albeit on a lesser scale. Olson's work is also unusually scarce. I know of approximately seven examples of the origina strips.

The listed end-date I've found for the strip is November 6, 1949, but that date is based on the Chicago Tribune's run. Olson's feature looks to have run into 1950, though likely not in many newspapers. Olson began working for Dale Messick in 1950, and became her main assistant/ghost on Brenda Starr for the next three decades.