Family Circus Creator Bil Keane Has Died

By Jason Boog 

Bil Keane, the creator of the beloved Family Circus cartoon, has died. He was 89 years old.

The AP had this tribute: “Even with his traditional motif, Keane appreciated younger cartoonists’ efforts. He listed Gary Larson‘s ‘The Far Side’ among his favorites, and he loved it when Bill Griffith had his offbeat ‘Zippy the Pinhead’ character wake up from a bump on the head thinking he was Keane’s Jeffy. Keane responded by giving Zippy an appearance in ‘Family Circus.'”

IDW Comics has been reprinting classic Family Circus cartoons. We’ve included the cover image from the second volume in the series.

Here’s a tribute from The Comics Curmudgeon: We owe him a debt of thanks for providing such a tempting target for mockery over the years — mockery that he was by all accounts incredibly good-natured about (he even collected Family Circus spoofs). His own sense of humor was reportedly a lot edgier than the what the strip became best known for, as some of the early panels (like the one from 1960 above) demonstrate. RIP, Big Daddy Keane.”