Sy Barry

Seymour "Sy" Barry (born March 12, 1928)^[1] is an American comic-book and comic-strip artist, best known for his work on the strip The Phantom, which he inked for more than three decades.

Life and career

The brother of comics artist Dan Barry, who drew the Flash Gordon comic strip, Sy Barry attended high school at the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan, New York City. After graduation, he studied at the Art Students League. Barry began his professional career as his brother's art assistant, and by the late 1940s was working as a freelance comic-book artist, primarily as an inker for publishers including Lev Gleason; the Marvel Comics precursor Timely Comics; and the DC Comics precursor National Comics. At National, he worked on features including Johnny Peril and The Phantom Stranger.^[1]

Barry went on to do assistant work on the King Features Syndicate comic strips Tarzan and Flash Gordon. He was hired by Capp Studio to draw Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, a comics pamphlet published in 1957. Barry's signature was visible on the cover of the pamphlet's first edition, but a text box covered it in later printings.^[2] Upon the 1961 death of The Phantom artist Wilson McCoy, who had succeeded creator Lee Falk and subsequent artist Ray Moore, King Features hired Barry to take over that strip. Barry remained on it for more than 30 years until his retirement in 1995.^[1]

Barry frequently used pencil artists on the strip, working primarily as an inker, though he often drew entire stories when time permitted. In a 1998 interview, Sy claimed he pencilled the strip for 30 years.^[3]. Due to the differences in styles throughout the 33 years, it is clear that this is not true. Pencillers included George Olesen, Joe Giella, Bob Forgione, André LeBlanc and Carmine Infantino.

References

Further reading

• Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1