Roger Armstrong, a giant in the world of cartooning and a teacher to countless art students, passed away in his sleep on Thursday at the age of 89.
This is a very difficult obit to write because Roger did so much and meant so much to so many people. I want to underscore, so it doesn't get lost in the career details, that while he had an amazing life as a cartoonist, he had an equally important — perhaps more important — life as an art teacher and watercolor artist. His landscapes were exhibited in every major gallery in Southern California and hundreds of accomplished artists cite him as a great tutor and source of inspiration. He encouraged so many to paint and draw, and led by example.
Roger Joseph Armstrong was born in Los Angeles on October 12, 1917. His father was a writer and a gagman for silent comedies at Mack Sennett and later a screenwriter for Twentieth-Century Fox. Roger began drawing about the time he started walking and by age sixteen was selling cartoons to local advertising agencies. His first drawings adorned the walls of the Pacific Electric Streetcar Depot in downtown Los Angeles. He attended Chouniard Art Institute for two years (1938-1939) but when the family hit a bleak financial period, Roger was forced to quit art school and take a job at Lockheed working on airplanes. Soon after, through a mutual friend, he met Chase Craig, who was editing the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies comic book for Western Publishing, and Chase hired him away from Lockheed to draw Bugs Bunny comics.
A quick aside. Roger always told people he was in the first issue of Looney Tunes. One San Diego Con, I bought a copy of that rare book, took it over to him and asked him to point out his work in it, since I couldn't seem to find it. Roger hadn't seen the issue in thirty-some-odd years but he paged through it…and couldn't find anything he'd drawn. With semi-mock horror, he wailed, "I'm ashamed! I wasn't in the first issue of Looney Tunes!"
But he was in most of the ones that followed…for years after. Eleanor Packer, the senior editor at Western Publishing, hired him to draw other comics for the company, including many of their Disney and Walter Lantz comics. Packer also recommended him personally to Lantz, who hired Roger to work at his studio for several years as a layout artist and animator. He worked intermittently in animation but preferred the comic strip and book format. He drew several newspaper strips for long runs but somehow managed to never get his name on any of them. They included Napoleon and Uncle Elby, Ella Cinders and Little Lulu, plus he drew the Disney Scamp strip from 1978 to 1988. For Western, he drew most of the Disney comic books at one time or another, most notably those featuring Scamp, Pluto, Goofy (or Super Goof)…and he seemed to have a special affinity for the Seven Dwarfs whenever they needed to be drawn. He did all the Warner Brothers comics but often specialized in Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig. He even dabbled occasionally in adventure-style comics and was pretty good at them, though he said they took so long he couldn't make any money in that style.
I worked with Roger a number of times, writing Super Goof during a period when he drew it, and on The Flintstones for a time. In the seventies, we were hired to whip up a few weeks of a Woodsy Owl comic strip but it failed to sell. He was also one of the first members of the Comic Art Professionals Society when we formed it. I have a very vivid memory of him arriving at the first meeting and being introduced to another charter member, Don R. Christensen. Roger had been drawing Don's scripts for comic books for over twenty years and this was the first time they'd met.
Roger was everything you'd want a cartoonist to be. He was funny and he loved to draw. He sure did it well…and for a long time. I haven't heard any details yet about a memorial service but I can guarantee you that if there is one, it'll be packed with artists who'll credit him as a champion, as a role model and most of all, as a good and glorious friend.