Cartoonist Bob Thaves, best known for his Frank and Ernest strip, has died at the age of 81. A multiple winner of National Cartoonist's Society awards, Thaves is said to have been the first cartoonist to do a single panel cartoon in a horizontal strip format. Frank and Ernest began in 1972 as an outgrowth of his magazine cartooning work and became a very popular feature. In the late eighties, Thaves launched a second strip — King Baloo — which did not fare as well.
His family announced his passing in this message on the Frank and Ernest website.