Hasen, Irwin, 1918-

Irwin Hanan Hasen was born July 8, 1918 in New York City. He studied art at the National Academy and the Art Students League. During the thirties he free-lanced in advertising and movie public relations and worked as a sports cartoonist. He went on to do art work for several comic books: The Green Hornet (1940), The Fox (1940-42), The Green Lantern (1941), The Flash (1943) and Citizen Smith, Son of the Unknown Soldier (1941). After World War II, when he worked on the Fort Dix Center newspapers, he began work for National Periodicals where he worked on such comic book projects as Johnny Thunder, The Justice League of America, The Flash and The Green Lantern. For a few months, he did a brief strip for the New York Post entitled The Goldbergs. In 1955, in collaboration with Gus Edson, a fellow National Cartoonist Society artist, he began the comic strip Dondi, a strip about a small boy who immigrates to the U.S. The strip was drawn by Hasen and written by Edson. Gus Edson died in 1966 and Hasen continued the Dondi strip until 1986. In 1961 and 1962 Dondi received the National Cartoonists Society Best Story Strip Award.

From the description of Collection, [195-?]-1985. (Ohio State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 17946119

Irwin Hasen (1918- ) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist.

Hasen was born in New York City on July 8, 1918 and graduated from Dewitt Clinton High School. He studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. Initially, Hasen pursued sports cartooning, drawing boxing-related caricatures. He was drafted during World War II and was the editor of the Fort Dix Gazette until his discharge in 1946.

Hasen had worked as a freelance advertising artist but expanded into comic books in the late 1930s. His credits during the 1940s and 1950s include work with Archie Publications; Detective Comics, romance comics for Fawcett; DC Comics titles including Green Lantern and Wild Cat; the Flash at DC Comics and work for Bert Whitman Associates. From 1944 to 1945 Hasen drew the Goldbergs strip which was distributed by the New York Post Syndicate. Hasen also produced promotional comics for Bazooka Bubble Gum.

Hasen became an active member of the National Cartoonists Society and while on an NCS sponsored tour of Germany, he met Gus Edson. Together they created the Dondi comic strip, about a World War II orphan, with Hasen drawing the strip and Edson writing the story. The Chicago Tribune-New York News syndicate distributed the strip to over 100 newspapers from 1955 to 1986 and Dondi was also adapted into a motion picture.

The National Cartoonists Society has recognized Hasen's work with several awards including the best newspaper story strip for Dondi in 1961 and 1962 and a Silver T-Square Award in 1969. At the 1999 San Diego Comicon, Hasen received the Inkpot Award.

From the guide to the Irwin Hasen Cartoons., 1955-1968, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)