Rudy showed similar artwork, but a very different situation. It was launched (in Overgard's own words, 1984) "to the puzzled disbelief of comic traditionalists. A gag strip about a talking monkey in Hollywood, drawn in a realistic continuity style? What?" Rudy was a Bonobo Chimpanzee who otherwise resembled actor George Burns, right down to the cigar, wise cracks, and career in vaudeville, movies, and standup comedy. "Literate and well-drawn." added that it showed smart humor, character-driven stories, intelligent writing and great art that "transcends the run-of-the-mill comic strip level"— all of which (in his opinion) "doomed" it in an era favoring minimalist gag strips. The 1984 collection of Rudy strips ended with a drawing of its protagonist, sport coat flung over his shoulder and lighting a cigar as he walked away with a simple "Ciao." References Sources Overgard, William. 1984. Rudy in Hollywood. (collection of strips). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Syracuse University Library. William Overgard Cartoon Collection. External links National Cartoonists Society Bio 1926 births American comic strip cartoonists 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 1990 deaths People from Stony Point, New York 20th-century American male writers