Dick Calkins

Dick Calkins was an American comic strip artist best known as the first artist to draw the *Buck Rogers* comic strip, a landmark in science fiction comics. Born Richard William Calkins on August 12, 1894, he often signed his work as "Lt. Dick Calkins." He died on May 12, 1962. Calkins entered comics through newspaper strips, and his clean, dynamic linework helped define the look of futuristic adventure for early readers. Beyond drawing, he also wrote for the *Buck Rogers* radio program, expanding the character’s reach. His credits as artist, inker, letterer, and writer span 56 issues from 1933 to 2012, appearing in collections such as *Famous Funnies*, *Cosmic Heroes*, and *The Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century*. Calkins’s key collaborator was writer Philip Francis Nowlan, with whom he co-created the strip’s visual universe. His legacy endures as a foundational figure in comic strip science fiction, though he received no major awards during his lifetime.