Henry Syverson

Henry 'Hank' Syverson (5 October 1918 in Pine Bush, New York – 12 August 2007 in Pine Bush, New York) was an American cartoonist and illustrator, who contributed cartoons regularly to The Saturday Evening Post, This Week and many other periodicals.[1] In World War II PFC Hank Syverson served with the US Army on Okinawa.[2]

Syverson attended the Walt Disney Animation Studios in the company of many animators destined for fame in magazine cartooning - there were Sam Cobean and Eldon Dedini. Some graduated to syndicated fame, such as Walt Kelly (Pogo), Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace) and George Baker (Sad Sack).[3]

One of my favorite influences is Henry Syverson. When I first saw his cartoons as a small boy in The Saturday Evening Post magazine, I had no idea he had once been a Disney artist, but when I learned that years later I wasn't surprised. His characters have the appeal and fluidity I associate with Disney, somehow coupled with a slightly more Thurber-esque abstraction. Like Walt Kelly, Hank Ketchum and other Disney alumni though, Syverson carved out a personal niche that is as unmistakeable as a signature.

— Will Finn (animator)

For thirty years I have pursued my favorite hobby -- at Walt Disney's Studios, then as a soldier-cartoonist (PFC Hank Syverson), and today, with my wife and two children contributing much inspiration, as a free-lance cartoonist. But perhaps to consider cartooning a hobby is deceiving. My son once asked me, 'Daddy, are you unemployed?'

— Henry Syverson

[4]