Vernon V. Greene (1908-1965)

Vernon Greene was born 12 Sept 1908 and grew up on a 650 acre ranch in Battleground, Washington, with 40 riding horses at his disposal. He worked on the ranch and as a logger and blacksmith. He began drawing editorial cartoons at 17, in 1930, for the Oregon Journal which lasted until 1943 when he took over Cliff Sterrett’s Polly and Her Pals with the aid of a ghost writer. His stint on Polly lasted 5 years and earned him a good living. He then spent three years drawing Walter Gibson’s Shadow comic strip (and the comic book).

During the war Greene drew Mac the Medic and contributed pages of Charlie Conscript cartoons to PIC magazine. He also drew comics on the weekends for bubble gum manufacturers. Two gum comics would pay him a cool $500. In 1954 he took over George McManus’s Bringing Up Father for King Features. Greene died on 5 June 1965 at age 56.