Big Ben Bolt

• Title — Big Ben Bolt • Creator — Elliot Caplin • Illustrator — John Cullen Murphy (1950–1975) Carlos Garzon (1975–1977) Joe Kubert (1977) Gray Morrow (1977–1978) Neal Adams (1978) • Status — Concluded; Daily & Sunday • Syndicate — King Features Syndicate • Genre — Sports, adventure • First — February 20, 1950 • Last — April 15, 1978

• Illustration — Big Ben Bolt panel from 1950, the strip's first year. In 1950, writer Elliot Caplin (brother of Li'l Abner cartoonist Al Capp) suggested that Murphy illustrate a boxing comic strip he had in mind. Comics historian Don Markstein wrote: King Features Syndicate launched Ben's daily strip on February 20, 1950, and the Sunday version on May 25, 1952. The character's name was probably taken from Thomas Dunn English's poem, "Ben Bolt", which has remained popular since it first appeared in 1843. Murphy was the artist of Big Ben Bolt from 1950 to 1977. He occasionally used assistants, including Al Williamson (Flash Gordon), Alex Kotzky (Apartment 3-G), Neal Adams (Deadman), John Celardo (Tarzan) and Stan Drake (The Heart of Juliet Jones). In 1971, Murphy took over Prince Valiant, and Carlos Garzon became a regular inker. Eventually Murphy left the strip, and Garzon began signing the strip in 1975. After Garzon left in 1977, Joe Kubert stepped in to draw Big Ben Bolt, followed by Gray Morrow who eventually signed the strip starting August 1, 1977. He was followed by Neal Adams. Big Ben Bolt ended on April 15, 1978. King Features' email service, DailyINK, began carrying Big Ben Bolt in June 2010.

As Markstein writes,