Irving, Jay

Jay Irving (3/10/00-5/6/70) became a sports cartoonist and created the strip 'Bozo Blimp' for King Features Syndicate in the early 1920s. The strip was hardly noticed and Irving went into advertising work for two years. In 1932, Jay Irving started his long and successful association with Collier's Weekly, drawing his weekly 'Collier's Cops' feature, as well as contributing numerous full color covers. His work with Collier's went so well, the magazine sent him on two long publicity tours in the 1930s; to both California and Hawaii.

In 1946, Irving created a new comic strip, 'Willie Doodle', for the Herald-Tribune Syndicate. The strip lasted until 1948. In 1955, Irving tried his hand at another comic police strip, 'Pottsy', for the Tribune-News Syndicate. 'Pottsy' featured another of Irving's amiable cop characters and ran until 1970, when Irving died of a heart attack in his New York City apartment.

Jay Irving is the father of noted author Clifford Irving, who I interviewed for an article about his father. The article, "The Thin Black Line: Jay Irving and His Cartoon Cops", appeared in issue #16 of Hogan's Alley, and can be viewed online right here.