 Raymond 's " police daily strip , " named after its central character - J. Remington " Rip " Kirby - debuted on March 4 , 1946 , conceived ( and initially scripted ) by King Features editor Ward Greene . The plotting of the strips is harder to attribute , the scant evidence available supporting the notion that Raymond was more than simply an illustrator . However , as was relatively commonplace on such strips , published credit went to Raymond , whose name was the major selling feature ; the artist even managed to gain a part @-@ ownership deal with King and a better split of the profits than was usual . Rip Kirby was Raymond 's reintroduction to newspaper strips after the war , and he was quick to forge a new " up @-@ to @-@ date " style for the strip , while keeping ties to the audience he had built up with Flash Gordon , Jungle Jim , and Secret Agent X @-@ 9 . 
