Buz Sawyer (1943) King Features Syndicate

Buz Sawyer was a popular comic strip created by Roy Crane and highly regarded by comic strip historians. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it had a long run from November 1, 1943 to 1989. The last strip signed by Crane was dated 21 April 1979. During World War II, the adventurous John Singer Sawyer, nicknamed Buz Sawyer, flew as an ace Navy fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater where he had numerous adventures with his sidekick Sweeney. As a civilian in the post-WWII years, Buz became an oil company troubleshooter, traveling to far-flung locales. He married Christy Jameson on December 13, 1948, and their son Pepper was born in 1951. Buz rejoined the Navy in the 1950s and flew carrier-based reconnaissance attack jets over Vietnam during the 1960s.