Dan DeCarlo

Dan DeCarlo was born in New Rochelle, New York, He attended New Rochelle High School, followed by Manhattan's Art Students League from 1938 to 1941, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Stationed in Great Britain, he worked in the motor pool and as a draftsman, and painted company mascots on the noses of airplanes. He also drew a weekly military comic strip, 418th Scandal Sheet. He met his wife, French citizen Josie Dumont, on a blind date in Belgium not long after the Battle of the Bulge. ==Atlas and Archie==

DeCarlo was married, with a pregnant wife, and working as a laborer for his father when he began to pursue a professional art career. DeCarlo and Lee also took over the My Friend Irma comic strip, spun off from the hit Marie Wilson radio comedy. For a decade, DeCarlo wrote and drew the slapsticky adventures of Millie Collins, her redheaded friendly nemesis Chili Storm and the rest of the cast. He also contributed the short-lived Sherry the Showgirl and Showgirls for Atlas. In 1960, he and Atlas editor-in-chief Stan Lee co-created the short-lived syndicated comic strip Willie Lumpkin, about a suburban mail carrier, for the Chicago-based Publishers Syndicate. As well during this period, DeCarlo created and drew Standard Comics' futuristic teen-humor comic book Jetta of the 21st Century. Running three issues, #5–7 (Dec. 1952 - April 1953), it featured red-haired Jetta Raye and her friends at Neutron High School. In addition to his comic-book work, DeCarlo drew freelance pieces for the magazines The Saturday Evening Post and Argosy, as well as Timely/Atlas publisher Martin Goodman's Humorama line of pin-up girl cartoon digests. His art soon established the publisher's house style. As well, he is the generally recognized creator of the teen-humor characters Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, and Cheryl Blossom. The series featured levelheaded, sweet-natured Josie, her blonde bombshell friend Melody, and bookwormish brunette Pepper. These early years also featured the characters of Josie and Pepper's boyfriends Albert and Sock (real name Socrates); Albert's rival Alexander Cabot III; and Alex's twin sister Alexandra. Occasionally Josie and her friends appeared in "crossover" issues with the main Archie characters. ''She's Josie was renamed Josie with issue #17 (Dec. 1965), and again renamed, to Josie and the Pussycats, with issue #45 (Dec. 1969), whereby Pepper was replaced by Valerie and Albert was replaced by Alan M. Under this title, the series finished its run with issue #106 (Oct. 1982). Josie and her gang also made irregular appearances in Pep Comics and Laugh Comics'' during the 1960s. When Universal Pictures was preparing the live-action movie adaptation Josie and the Pussycats in 2001, DeCarlo and Archie Comics became involved in a lawsuit over the character's creation, leading the publisher to terminate its 43-year relationship with him. A federal district court ruled in 2001 that Archie Comics owned the copyright to the Josie characters; this decision was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. On December 11, 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by DeCarlo's attorney, Whitney Seymour Jr., who had argued that the issue was a matter of state property law and not federal copyright law. Among DeCarlo's final works were a story for Paul Dini's independent comics series Jingle Belle, and stories for Bongo Comics' The Simpsons TV tie-in comic, Bart Simpson. Death DeCarlo died in New Rochelle, New York, of pneumonia. Comics creator Paul Dini said upon DeCarlo's death, "It was tragic that when he was at an age when many cartoonists are revered as treasures by more beneficent publishers, Dan felt spurned and slighted by the owners of properties that prospered greatly from his contributions." ==Personal life==

His twin sons, Dan Jr. and James "Jim" DeCarlo (born January 27, 1948) were also prolific Archie artists, penciling and inking respectively. The two predeceased their father. Dan Jr. died in October 1990 Josie DeCarlo, the inspiration for the Archie character Josie, died in her sleep on March 14, 2012. ==Josie DeCarlo==

Josette Marie "Josie" DeCarlo ( Dumont; September 8, 1923 – March 14, 2012) was a French-born model who became the inspiration and namesake for Josie McCoy of Josie and the Pussycats comics and the 1970 Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon series. She met future husband Dan DeCarlo on a blind date in Belgium in 1945, Shortly after the Battle of the Bulge. She became the inspiration for Josie and the Pussycats while the couple were on a cruise. Josie DeCarlo wore a catsuit costume during the cruise, which became the basis for the fictional Josie and the Pussycats trademark outfits. Later, when she got a new hairdo, Dan DeCarlo incorporated it into the Josie character as well, "The hairdo came after... One day, I came in with a new hairdo with a little bow in my hair, and he said, 'That's it!'" Dan DeCarlo drew his wife with the cat costume as Josie McCoy and naming the starring character Josie. Josie first appeared in Archie Comics in 1962. The character was voiced by actress Janet Waldo in the television series. After her husband's death in 2001, Josie DeCarlo remained active in the comics and animation industries, promoting his work. Josie DeCarlo died in her sleep on March 14, 2012, aged 88. Her funeral was held in Scarsdale, New York. ==Awards==

DeCarlo won the National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book in 2000 for Betty & Veronica. He was nominated for the Academy of Comic Book Arts' Shazam Award for Best Penciller (Humor Division) in 1974. ==Legacy==

Love and Rockets co-creators Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez cite DeCarlo as an artistic influence. Artist/animator Bruce Timm, best known for his contributions to the DC Animated Universe, has cited Dan DeCarlo as one of his influences. ==References==