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Russell Myers, Creator of Broom-Hilda

© Susanna McLeod

"Sometimes it's the ones who are too stubborn to quit that go all the way," Russell Myers said in How To Be a Successful Cartoonist by Randy Glasbergen*. "You have to love what you do and be willing to work like a dog and be kicked in the head by failure sometimes." Sounds a little rough, doesn't it? But Russell Myers, creator of Broom-Hilda, endured the rigours of cartoon syndication and came out smiling.

Russell Myers was born in 1938. As a child in Oklahoma, Myers loved to draw. He studied art in high school, but learned mainly learned cartooning on his own. He spent his spare time drawing, drawing, drawing. His hard-earned money from a paper route was spent on comic books and newspapers to help his drawing skills. The Jack Benny Radio Show inspired the young man, and he still enjoys listening to Benny's humourous tapes.

Myers' first attempts at comic strip syndication failed. To earn a living, he took a job with Hallmark Greeting Cards in Kansas City, Missouri, illustrating and writing cards. During evenings after work, Russell produced comic strip after comic strip. The submissions were rejected one after another by the syndicates until a tough little green witch named Broom-Hilda magically emerged from his pen.

The idea for Broom-Hilda was conceived by Elliot Caplin, a comic writer in New York. He described it to Russell, and he ran with the idea. Russell drew and wrote sample cartoons, and Caplin sold the strip to the syndicate. That sale started Myers and Caplin as business partners, and they continue as partners still.

Broom-Hilda put her first spell on newspaper audiences on April 19, 1970. The comic strip debuted under the Chicago Tribune Syndicate to immediate acclaim. (The Syndicate is now known as the Tribune Media Service.) There are more than a dozen paperback collections of Broom-Hilda cartoons, mainly published in the 1970s and '80s. A range of merchandise, including Broom-Hilda bubble bath, was produced at that time also.

The comic strip was animated for a short time in 1970. It was shown as a rotating segment of the Archie cartoon show, along with a few other newspaper favourites including Nancy and Dick Tracey. The Broom-Hilda segments resurfaced in 1978 as part of The Fabulous Funnies on NBC TV, but haven't been seen since.

A huge cast of characters was not required for Broom-Hilda's success. The comic strip based in the Enchanted Forest has just three main characters amongst anonymous walk-ons:

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