One of comics' veteran artists, Charles "Chad" Grothkopf, passed away on January 25 at the age of 88. He was best known as the creator and illustrator of Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, the funny animal version of the immortal Captain Marvel…but Chad — as he signed most of his work — actually did a lot of work in the adventure category. He drew Johnny Quick, Sandman and other super-heroes for DC in the early forties. (Contrary to popular belief, it was not Simon and Kirby who designed Sandman's yellow and blue costume when they took over the strip. That was done by Chad, who had preceded them.) For most of that decade however, Chad specialized in funny animal comics, producing hundreds out of a studio wherein he also supervised other artists. He later dabbled in newspaper strips, including a long stint on the Howdy Doody feature, and became a pioneer in TV animation.
He worked extensively in advertising and commercial art and, in recent years, had been been a frequent guest at comic conventions. He was a nice man and a very important figure in the history of not one but several fields.