{{infobox comics creator | name = V. T. Hamlin | birth_name = Vincent Trout Hamlin | image = Hamlinanddorothy.jpg | caption = Dorothy and V. T. Hamlin picnicking on a Texas beach in 1928. Note resemblance of Dorothy to Alley Oops Ooola. | birth_date = | birth_place = Perry, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Brooksville, Florida | area = | cartoonist = y | nationality = American | notable works = Alley Oop | awards = | spouse = }}Vincent Trout Hamlin (May 10, 1900 – June 14, 1993), who preferred the name V. T. Hamlin, was an American comic strip cartoonist. He created the popular, long-run comic strip Alley Oop, syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Biography Early life Born in Perry, Iowa to Erma Trout Hamlin and Dr. Frederick Clarence Hamlin, a dentist. Vincent began drawing at an early age; he first drew the character that became Alley Oop at age 11. Four years later, his first cartoons were published in the Perry Daily Chief. At Perry High School, he went by the nickname Snick''', which he used as his signature on cartoons he drew for his high school yearbook, The Eclipse. World War I Lying about his age, Hamlin enlisted in the Army at 17 to fight in World War I. He shipped out as part of the Sixth Army's Motor Transport Group, arriving in France where he served with the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918. Recovering from a poison gas attack in France, Hamlin began illustrating the letters of fellow soldiers, and a newspaper man he met in the Army convinced him he could make a living from his art abilities.Stiles, Steve. "The Man Who Walked with Dinosaurs", Collecting Channel. After World War I After his discharge, Hamlin returned to Perry High School in 1919. He then attended college, first a term at the University of Missouri in 1920, followed by studying journalism at Drake University in 1922. His college experiences ended after a quarrel with an art teacher, as he recalled: "Then the teacher took out my drawing and she stood up with it before the class and announced: 'Now here's a man with a wonderful talent and he wants to waste it on being a cartoonist!'" He traveled around the US, working at various jobs as a sign painter, animator, window dresser, card writer, movie projectionist and semi-professional boxer. After employment