Chris Browne, Creator of Raising Duncan, Artist of Hagar the Horrible
Cynical, sarcastic comics are part of the trend in comic strips, creating humour in sharp pointy jibes toward innocent others. Cartoonist Chris Browne takes the opposite view by drawing a comic strip of family warmth, love and togetherness called Raising Duncan. Also cartoonist of Hagar the Horrible, his take on the raw and rough Viking life has also mellowed.
Cartooning was a familiar activity in the Browne household. As the sons of Dik Browne, creator of the popular Hagar the Horrible and Hi and Lois, it was almost inevitable that Chris and his brother Chance would become cartoonists. (Chance now draws Hi and Lois.) Chris apprenticed with his father from the age of 15 in1972, starting at the bottom by cleaning up the work area, inking the large black areas and erasing pencil lines. In a short time, he was coming up with his own gags and learning to draw the characters of Hagar the Horrible. His father urged him to do his best and strive for even better. "If anyone else had given me this work, I would say it was terrific. But, you're my son, and my son can do better than this," Chris recalls his father telling him. *(1)
Still in his teens, the young cartoonist branched out, taking on work as a penciller for the "Barney Rubble" and "Bullwinkle" comic books. Chris also began sending his work to magazines but not mentioning his connection to his father. He wanted success on his own terms. He found continued achievement with National Lampoon, Playboy Magazine, The Funny Papers and Sarasota Magazine. His cartoon work may also be seen in Esquire, Heavy Metal and The New Yorker. The National Lampoon editor, Sean Kelly, nicknamed Chris the magazine's "Token good taste cartoonist." Chris realized that hiding his heritage made no difference - editors were too overwhelmed to consider who he was related to.
When Dik Browne took ill in 1988, Chris took over his father's day-to-day work of creating Hagar the Horrible. (Dik died in 1989.) He has taken the beloved cartoon into a gentler territory by leaning toward the softer side of the characters. Hagar no longer womanizes or gets drunk and any previously violent Viking attacks are now strictly fun. Hagar's wife is characterized as a tough cookie and surely one of the first feminists of the Viking age. Definitely modern.
During Dik's illness, his son Chance gave him a Scottish Terrier named McDuff. Sadly, Dik was in no shape to handle the pup, so with the permission of Chance, Chris adopted the dog for himself. McDuff soon became part of a new comic, "Chris Browne's Comic Strip," and was inspiration for a line of children's book manuscripts. The strip did not fly in publication; the books did not make it into print due to possible copyright conflicts over the main character.
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