Art Nugent


Arthur William Nugent, better known as Art Nugent, was an American cartoonist notable for his long-running syndicated puzzle feature, Funland, which he drew for four decades. He sometimes used the signature A. W. Nugent.

Biography

Early life

Born in Wallingford, Connecticut, he began his career as an acrobat. From 1911 to 1918, he was the National AAU Tumbling Champion. In 1916, he made the Olympic team, but the event was canceled.
He joined the U.S. Navy during World War I and began doing artwork while in the service.
Nugent was friends with illusionist Harry Houdini, and the pair would play cards regularly.

''Puzzlers'' and ''Uncle Art's Funland''

Returning after World War I, Nugent worked as the New York Worlds puzzle cartoonist for eight years. For the World, Nugent created a feature called Puzzlers in 1927, which was syndicated until c. 1931 by the World's Press Publishing Co.
Puzzlers featured the same games, riddles, connect-the-dots art, crossword puzzles and anagrams that characterized Uncle Art's Funland, launched in 1933. This feature introduced his autobiographical character, Uncle Nugent.
From 1934 to around 1955, Nugent created a variety of single-page puzzle and game features — essentially the same concept as Uncle Art's Funland — for many Golden Age comics:
  • Famous Funnies #1–162 — as Funland and occasionally Funland Everybody's Playmate
  • Popular Comics #1–35 — as Nugent's Originals or Real Magic
  • The Comics — as Comics Puzzles or A Page for Little Artists
  • The Funnies #1-27 — as Home Magic or Everybody's Playmate
  • All-American Comics #1–24 — as Real Magic to Mystify Your Friends or Nugent's Original Puzzles, Games, Tricks & Comics
  • Champ Comics — as Champ Puzzlers
  • Victory Puzzles ran in All-American Comics, Sensation Comics, and Wonder Woman
  • Detective Puzzles ran in All-Flash, All-American Comics, and Detective Comics
  • Sparkling Stars #13–33 — as Puzzle Page
  • Felix the Cat — as Play Fun or Puzzle Page
Beginning in 1950, Uncle Nugent's Funland was regularly syndicated. Originally with the Bell-McClure Syndicate, it became part of United Feature Syndicate in 1972. Nugent's son Art Nugent, Jr. took over Uncle Art's Funland in the early 1970s with occasional contributions by the elder Nugent until 1974.
Uncle Art's Funland ended in 1991 but was revived circa 2009 by United Media. It is now produced by N.A. Nugent'. and distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication under the United Features brand.

Comic books

In the 1940s, Nugent created funny animal stories for Popular Comics and other comic books, including "Pint-Size Pete" for The Big All-American Comics.
From 1945 to 1947, Nugent operated the A.W. Nugent Publishing Company, which only published two titles, both of which featured his signature puzzle pages:
Living in Newark, New Jersey, Nugent was a member of the Society of Illustrators.
The senior Nugent was 84 when he died at St. Mary's Hospital in Orange, New Jersey in 1975.

Art Nugent, Jr.

Arthur William Nugent, Jr. studied at Syracuse University and the Newark School of Art. Beginning as his father's assistant, Art Nugent, Jr. was partnering with his father as early as 1953.
The junior Nugent was 71 when he died in 1997.

Books

Funland: Super-packed with Puzzles, Jokes, Amazing Facts and Lots more Exciting Fun!, by Art Nugent and Leo White, is a 132-page paperback collection published by Playmore in 1982.