J. Clemens Gretter (1904–1988)

Joseph Clemens Gretter was an American book illustrator and comic book artist. Born in western Indiana in 1904, he was one of nine children and was raised on a farm near Avery, Idaho. He was educated at the Iowa Academy of Fine Arts, Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and Art Institute of Chicago. His career began in 1926, when he began drawing Hippity Skip Puzzles for the Chicago Tribune. He was married to Alice Wolter in 1927, and the two would go on to have three children. During the Great Depression Gretter illustrated many series novels for boys, and began to work in comics. In 1932 he moved to New York City to work as a freelance illustrator for pulp magazines. He continued to work in the comics and magazine fields, settling in Connecticut, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died in Wilton, CT in 1988.