Howard Nostrand

Howard Nostrand was born on May 13, 1929, and died on August 1, 1984. An American cartoonist and illustrator, he is best remembered for his comic book work in the 1950s and for creating the syndicated newspaper strip *Bat Masterson* (1959–60), which was based on the television series of the same name. Nostrand entered the comics field in the late 1940s, and his career spanned from 1949 until 2022, with credits on 48 issues across multiple titles. His most frequent contributions appeared in *Cracked*, *Cracked Collectors' Edition*, *Witches Tales*, *Black Cat Comics*, *Targitt*, and *Chamber of Chills Magazine*. He worked as an artist, inker, letterer, and writer, often collaborating with other creators on horror and humor stories. Nostrand’s style was clean and expressive, well suited to the macabre and comedic tones of the magazines he served. While he never achieved widespread fame, his body of work remains a solid example of mid-century genre comics. His legacy is preserved through his contributions to these anthology titles, which continue to be rediscovered by collectors and historians.