Jim Raymond

Jim Raymond was an American comic strip artist best known for his decades of work on the classic newspaper strip *Blondie*. Born James Crossley Raymond on February 25, 1917, in New York City, he was the younger brother of *Flash Gordon* creator Alex Raymond. He entered the comics field through his brother’s shadow, but forged his own steady career as a craftsman of clean, accessible cartooning. Raymond joined the *Blondie* team in the 1950s, initially as an inker and later as the primary artist, handling the strip’s daily and Sunday installments for over two decades. His style was efficient and warm, perfectly suited to the gentle domestic humor of Chic Young’s creation. After Young’s death in 1973, Raymond continued the strip with writer Dean Young, maintaining its consistent look and tone. He also contributed to European publications such as *Hjemmet* and *MM-bøkene / minimoro*. Raymond was the great-uncle of actors Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon. He died on October 14, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. While he never received major industry awards, his quiet, reliable work on one of the most widely syndicated strips in history left a lasting mark on the daily comics page.