John Liney
Liney (1912 – January 20, 1982) was an American cartoonist who drew the daily Henry comic strip for 44 years.
John Liney
- Name
- John Liney
- Born
- 1912
- Place of death
- Feasterville, Pennsylvania
- Occupation
- Cartoonist
- Known for
- Henry
- Spouse
- Rosa
- Education
- South Philadelphia High School
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Liney (1912 – January 20, 1982) was an American cartoonist who drew the daily Henry comic strip for 44 years.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for John Liney. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q16010043 · wikipedia · John Liney
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Liney • Born — 1912 • Place of death — Feasterville, Pennsylvania • Occupation — Cartoonist • Known for — Henry • Spouse — Rosa • Children — 1
Early life
Early life
Growing up in Philadelphia, Liney attended the George C. Thomas Middle School and South Philadelphia High School.
Career
Career
Liney was working as a cartoonist at the Philadelphia Evening Ledger when he began selling gags to Henrys creator, Carl Thomas Anderson in 1936. He continued as a gagwriter until 1942, penciling the strip for Anderson from 1942 to 1945. When Anderson became ill, Liney took over the daily strip in 1945.
Later life and death
Later life and death
Poor health forced Liney to retire in 1979. He was succeeded by Jack Tippit. The Henry Sunday strip was drawn by Don Trachte. During 1981, Liney was a resident at the Redeemer Village retirement community in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. He died on January 20, 1982 of a heart condition at the Ridge Crest Convalescent Center in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, survived by his wife Rosa, his daughter Muriel Liney Zerba (who died October 21, 2006) and his sister Ruth O'Connor.
Identity
Identity
John Liney is recorded with the occupation comics artist.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1912
John Liney was born on 1 January 1912.
1982
John Liney died on 29 January 1982.
Lectures
In 1965, he contributed to The Cartoonist's Cookbook (Hobbs, Dorman & Company, 1966). He sometimes lectured on cartooning, delivering his "What's Funny about the Funnies" talk for the Women's Club of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, in 1968. He spoke that same year at a National Association of Music Merchants sales-management seminar in Dallas and at the MacMorland Center of Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University) in Chester, Pennsylvania. Liney's strips were reprinted internationally, including the Swedish Serie-pressen #12 (1972).
Comic books
During the 1940s, Liney taught cartooning at Temple University. He also drew the Henry comic books: Dell's Four Color #122 (October 1946) and #155 (July 1947), followed by 65 issues of Dell's Henry from 1948 to 1961. Anderson died in 1948 and Liney continued drawing the daily Henry. In 1951, Liney was responsible for guiding the career of illustrator Jerry Pinkney by encouraging him and showing him his studio. Pinkney recalled, "When I was 12 years old, I was selling newspapers on a busy corner in Philadelphia, and John Liney was one of my customers. I realized here was a grown man doing the very same thing I loved doing. I saw the seeds of possibility. I knew if I worked hard, there would be some end to the process." In 1952, Liney contributed to the USS Iowa's Cruise Book, commenting, "We are both proud and happy to contribute to our bit to your Cruise Book. We salute you and your crew, and will always be available for cartoons or anything else we can offer to the Navy. Thanks for thinking of Henry." • Illustration — John Liney's Henry (March 30, 1973)
Legacy
Liney's work was included in Keith Mayerson's NeoIntegrity: Comics Edition exhibition at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art from March 12 to August 29, 2010. The exhibit included "over 210 cartoonists, illustrators, animators, and fine artists who work with the spirit and power of iconographic languages. With creators young and old, historic, currently famous and soon-to-be-famous, the exhibition is also about the community and legacy of iconographic art and its ability to productively influence the world."
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “John Liney”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q16010043: John Liney
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Baxter, Art. Henry Bibliography.
- 2.Crouch, Bill. "Speak to Me, Henry", Great South Bay Magazine.
- 3.Britt, Phyllis. "Children's Illustrator Comes to Augusta", Aiken Standard, January 14, 2006.
- 4."Obituary: John L. Liney Jr., Daily News (New York City), January 29, 1982, p.C-11 ("Liney died Jan. 20 of heart failure at a convalescent center here.")
- 5.MoCCA
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- John Jackson MillerArtist
- John JensenArtist
- John JukesArtist
- John KovalicArtist
- John LucasArtist
- John LustigArtist
- John McCreaArtist
- John McLenanArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by John Liney?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.