Bud Blake (1918-2005), the cartoonist who drew the warm and wonderful Tiger strip, created in 1965, died the day after Christmas. Tiger was beautifully designed. Blake was one of the great comic stylists. The cartoonist’s first syndicated feature was a panel Ever happen to You? which the above—a self portrait?—came from. But, Blake really wanted to do a strip, however, and conceived Tiger named after the lead boy in his cast of characters. “The characters are composites of various youngsters in my neighborhood and from my own childhood.,” Bud reminded his fans and the gentle “reality” based strip rung true. Click on the Tiger below to get a side-show of Bud’s little masterpiece…

(click for a slidshow of Tiger strips)