Judge Parker | |
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![]() Harold LeDoux's Judge Parker (January 10, 1967) | |
Author(s) | Nicholas P. Dallis (1952–1990) Woody Wilson (1990–2016) Francesco Marciuliano (2016-present) |
Illustrator(s) | Dan Heilman (1952–1965) Harold LeDoux (1965–2006) Eduardo Barreto (2006–2010) Mike Manley (2010–present) |
Website | comicskingdom |
Current status/schedule | Current daily & Sunday strip |
Launch date | November 24, 1952 |
Syndicate(s) | (current) King Features Syndicate (formerly) Publishers Syndicate (1952–1967) Publishers-Hall Syndicate / Field Newspaper Syndicate / News America Syndicate / North America Syndicate (1967–1988) |
Genre(s) | Soap opera |
Judge Parker is an American soap opera-style comic strip created by Nicholas P. Dallis that first appeared on November 24, 1952. [1] The strip's look and content were influenced by the work of Allen Saunders and Ken Ernst on Mary Worth . [2]
Alan Parker was a widower and a judge with two children, Randy and Ann. Later, Judge Parker married a younger woman, Katherine. Initially a dashing figure who solved crimes and chased criminals, Parker became an upstanding and serious judge who rarely strayed from his courtroom during the 1960s. Instead, the spotlight began to focus on handsome, successful young attorney Sam Driver, and Parker was almost entirely phased out of his own strip. [3]
The strip is set in the community of Cavelton. [4] Most stories revolve around Driver, his wealthy client and now-wife Abbey Spencer, and their two adopted children: volatile Neddy and her traumatized younger sister, Sophie. The family lives with their maid Marie at Spencer Farms, where Abbey raises Arabian horses. Some of the cast may not be seen for some time because Judge Parker stories tend to be long; an apparent week in the plot may last for months in publication time. Alan's son Randy, now grown, is Driver's law partner, and a 2006 storyline focused on Randy's campaign for the judicial seat from which his father is retiring, ensuring that the "Judge Parker" name will continue. The February 15, 2009, strip stated that Randy would be "the new Judge Parker." [5] On April 4, 2023, Neddy's friend Veronica Peña married Katherine Bryson. [6]
Dallis, a psychiatrist who also created the comic strips Apartment 3-G and Rex Morgan, M.D. , used the pen name "Paul Nichols" when writing the strip. [7] Shortly before his death, he retired in 1990, turning over the scripting chores to his assistant Woody Wilson. [8]
The strip's first artist was Dan Heilman, who left in 1965 and was replaced by Harold LeDoux. Under LeDoux, the characters gradually (and gracefully) aged. [9] LeDoux's last strip ran on May 28, 2006. [9]
Comic book artist Eduardo Barreto replaced him; his first strip appeared the following day. [10] Barreto suffered a near-fatal injury in a car accident in Uruguay shortly afterwards and was unable to illustrate the strips for December 2006; as a result, Rex Morgan artist Graham Nolan did the strip for a week, and John Heebink took over the following week. [11] [12] Barreto resumed drawing the strip in January 2007. Barreto fell "gravely ill" from meningitis in early February 2010 and had to withdraw from drawing the strip for "the foreseeable future". [11] Barreto's son Diego drew the strip for the week beginning February 8, 2010, with John Heebink stepping in again on February 15, 2010, for four weeks while Barreto recovered. [12] [13]
Artist Mike Manley assumed the art duties permanently, beginning with the strip for March 15, 2010. [14] [15] Initially announced as another fill-in artist, Manley revealed on February 23, 2010, that he'd been given the ongoing assignment. [14] [16] The syndicate held a "two-man tryout", with Manley being offered the full-time job over Heebink after Manley turned in his second week of art for the strip. [15] Following Woody Wilson's retirement, Francesco Marciuliano became writer as of August 22, 2016. [17] Marciuliano has given the strip a darker tone. [18]
The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The character has been adapted for television, film and video games.
Rex Morgan, M.D. is an American soap opera comic strip, created May 10, 1948 by psychiatrist Dr. Nicholas P. Dallis under the pseudonym Dal Curtis.
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles, and games to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. King Features Syndicate also produces intellectual properties, develops new content and franchises, like The Cuphead Show!, which it produced with Netflix, and licenses its classic characters and properties.
Dan Heilman was the first artist of the Judge Parker comic strip. He was born in 1922 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Graham Nolan is an American comic book artist, best known for work for DC Comics on Batman-related titles in the 1990s and his work on The Phantom Sunday strip. He frequently collaborates with writer Chuck Dixon.
Francesco Marciuliano is the writer of the syndicated comic strips Sally Forth and Judge Parker. Marciuliano also wrote The New York Times bestselling book I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats (2013), the national bestseller I Could Chew on This and Other Poems by Dogs (2013), and I Knead My Mommy and Other Poems by Kittens (2014). He also writes and draws the satiric webcomic Medium Large.
Michael Manley is an American artist, most notable as a comic strip cartoonist and comic book inker and penciller. Manley currently draws two syndicated comic strips, Judge Parker and The Phantom. He is also known for co-creating the Marvel Comics character Darkhawk.
Sally Forth is a daily comic strip created by Greg Howard in 1982 and distributed by King Features Syndicate, focusing on the life of a white American middle-class mother at home and work. Sally's name is a play on words: "to sally forth" means to set out on an adventure.
Apartment 3-G is an American newspaper soap opera comic strip about a trio of career women who share an apartment in Manhattan. Created by Nicholas P. Dallis with art by Alex Kotzky, the strip began May 8, 1961, initially distributed by the Publishers Syndicate, which later merged with King Features Syndicate in 1988.
Nicholas Peter Dallis, was an American psychiatrist turned comic strip writer, creator of the soap opera-style strips Rex Morgan, M.D., Judge Parker and Apartment 3-G. Separating his comics career from his medical practice, he wrote under pseudonyms, Dal Curtis for Rex Morgan, M.D. and Paul Nichols for Judge Parker.
Luis Eduardo Barreto Ferreyra was a Uruguayan artist who worked in the comic book and comic strip industries including several years of prominent work for DC Comics.
Terry Beatty is an artist who has worked as a penciler and inker in the American comic book industry, where he is perhaps best known for his co-creation of the female detective Ms. Tree.
William J. Rechin, better known as Bill Rechin, was an American cartoonist who created the comic strips Out of Bounds and Crock.
Crock is an American comic strip created by Bill Rechin and Brant Parker depicting the French Foreign Legion. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip began in 1975 and ended in May 2012. As of January 2012, it appeared in 250 newspapers in 14 countries.
The Comics Curmudgeon is an American blog devoted to humorous and critical analysis of newspaper comics. Its author, Josh Fruhlinger, is a freelance writer and editor based in Los Angeles.
Allen Saunders was an American writer, journalist and cartoonist who wrote the comic strips Steve Roper and Mike Nomad, Mary Worth and Kerry Drake.
Harold Anthony LeDoux was an American artist best known for his work on the newspaper comic strip Judge Parker. He worked in the realistic style associated with Stan Drake, Leonard Starr, et al.
Rina Piccolo is a Canadian cartoonist, best known for her comic strip Tina's Groove, distributed by King Features Syndicate since 2002. She has been a professional cartoonist for more than two decades and recently gained recognition as an author of short stories. Since 2016, she has assisted Hillary Price on the comic strip Rhymes with Orange.
Woody Wilson is an American comic strip writer who crafted stories for Rex Morgan, M.D. and Judge Parker over many years. He retired from writing both strips in 2016.
Publishers Newspaper Syndicate was a syndication service based in Chicago that operated from 1925 to 1967, when it merged with the Hall Syndicate. Publishers syndicated such long-lived comic strips as Big Chief Wahoo/Steve Roper, Mary Worth, Kerry Drake, Rex Morgan, M.D., Judge Parker, and Apartment 3-G.