Sid Couchey

He continued to practice his craft on the back of his school papers. He cited Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon, Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon and Howard Pyle among his influences.

• Born — 24 May 1919 • Birthplace — Cleveland, Ohio • Died — 11 March 2012 • Place of death — Inman, South Carolina • Nationality — American • Art — y • Notable Works — Richie Rich Little Lotta Little Dot

Couchey graduated from the Art Career School and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (which later became the School of Visual Arts), both located in New York City. For his first job after art school, Couchey assisted John Lehti on the comic strips Tommy of the Big Top and Tales from the Great Book. In his home, Sid displayed an original piece from Tales from the Great Book, in which he appears as the census taker and scribe for the Pharaoh. In the early 1950s, Couchey worked on backgrounds for the Lassie, Big Town and Howdy Doody TV tie-in books. His first complete work was published in Hoot Gibson #6, and several Couchey-illustrated stories appear in New Heroic Comics, published by Eastern Color Printing. His stories were printed in issues #62, 70, 71, 74, 75, 76, 78, 80 and 82.

Couchey's break came when Harvey Comics advertised for cartoonists. A few of Couchey's fellow art school graduates, who had started an art studio of their own, told him about the advertisements. At Harvey, Couchey's artwork began appearing in the Little Dot, Little Lotta and Richie Rich titles throughout the 1950s and 1960s, with reprints appearing for many years. Couchey did not create these famous Harvey characters, but he did have the opportunity to change attitudes or events.

In the early 1980s, Couchey provided spot illustrations for Good Old Days magazine. In the spring of 1994, Couchey received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Kansas City Comics Convention. The other honorees included John Byrne, George Pérez and Lee Falk. Couchey kept busy with local artwork, especially with many cartoons devoted to Champ, the Monster of Lake Champlain. A second cousin to Scotland's "Nessie", Champy has been sighted for centuries in the Port Henry region of Lake Champlain, even by Samuel de Champlain himself (who described the creature as a 20 ft-long serpent with the head of a horse). In addition to his work with Champy, Couchey also contributed artwork to alcohol-awareness programs for the State of Vermont. In the mid-1980s, Dr. John K. Worden and his University of Vermont team invited Sid and Vermonter Jim Starbuck to create a “spokestoon” to deter alcohol abuse—thus, the noble character of Rascal Raccoon emerged. Around that time, Jim Heltz of Green Mountain Video worked with Couchey to create the “Drinking Dog/Cool Cat” series as part of an alcohol-awareness program for the State of Vermont. These characters were featured in various posters and animated TV spots to present an anti-alcohol message to children. The last cartoon of Rascal showed him with terminal rabies being helped to walk at his retirement party by Drinking Dog & Cool Cat. The reason was that Rascal was being permanently retired because a rabid raccoon bit a prominent Vermont doctor. (Source: Harveyville Fun Times Vol.12, #47, 2002)

Calvin Castine, writer and videographer of Hometown Cable in Champlain, New York, invited Couchey, along with famed cartoonist Arto Monaco, creator of the Land of Makebelieve amusement park, to join him in the production of a comic book honoring the memory of Tom Tyler, a B-movie hero and matinee idol who was born in Port Henry, New York. Tom Tyler Tales and its sequel, Tom Tyler Tales, Too, written and produced by Castine, are still in print and are available at Hometown Cable and other outlets. Author Morris Glenn worked with Couchey on another history-oriented book, A Walk Around Whallon’s Bay.

The Heritage Society of Willsboro, New York, invited Couchey to use part of their newly renovated facility as a permanent home for the display of his paintings and drawings. The opening reception was held on Friday, June 6, 2008 in Willsboro.