Big Ben Bolt


Big Ben Bolt is a comic strip that was syndicated from February 20, 1950 to April 15, 1978. It was drawn by John Cullen Murphy, written by Elliot Caplin, and distributed by King Features Syndicate. The strip followed the adventures of boxer and journalist Ben Bolt.

Publication history

In 1950, writer Elliot Caplin suggested that Murphy illustrate a boxing comic strip he had in mind.
Comics historian Don Markstein wrote:
Murphy was the artist of Big Ben Bolt from 1950 to 1978. He occasionally used assistants, including Al Williamson, Alex Kotzky, Neal Adams, John Celardo and Stan Drake. In 1971, Murphy took over Prince Valiant, and Gray Morrow stepped in to draw Big Ben Bolt, eventually signing the strip starting August 1, 1977. Big Ben Bolt ended on April 15, 1978.
King Features' email service, DailyINK, began carrying Big Ben Bolt in June 2010.

Characters and story

As Markstein writes,

Awards

Murphy received the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Story Comic Strip for 1971 for his work on Big Ben Bolt and Prince Valiant.