Johnny Hart, R.I.P.

In the early years, B.C., the daily comic strip by Johnny Hart, was pure genius -- one of my absolute favourites. I also think it was what first introduced me to the notion of meta-fiction. Peter says to Curls, I think, one day: "I've discovered there's a pump inside us that makes us go! I'm going to call it a 'hart.'" The response from Curls: "Bootlicker."

Hart's Christianity came to the fore to the detriment of the strip in later years, sadly. The definition for "Science Fiction" in Wiley's Dictionary was, "Any scientific account that omits God."

Still, as the Spencer Tracy character says in Inherit the Wind of his late fundamentalist opponent, "A giant once lived in that body!"

Johnny Hart died over the weekend, while drawing. May he rest in peace.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site