Tom K. Ryan

Tom K. Ryan was the writer-artist behind the long-running newspaper strip *Tumbleweeds*, a satirical take on the American frontier that ran for 42 years. Born on June 6, 1926, Ryan signed his work as "T.K. Ryan" and launched the strip on September 6, 1965. It was initially distributed by the Register and Tribune Syndicate before moving to King Features Syndicate. Rather than allow it to continue as a "zombie strip" after his retirement, Ryan ended *Tumbleweeds* on December 30, 2007. A notable early assistant was Jim Davis, who worked for Ryan from 1969 to 1978 while developing his own strip, *Gnorm Gnat*, before creating *Garfield*. Ryan's catalog credits him as artist, colorist, inker, letterer, and writer on 25 issues between 1969 and 1989, with his most credited titles including *Zack*, *Tumbleweeds*, and several collected editions such as *Hang in There, Tumbleweeds!* and *Saddle Up, Tumbleweeds!*. He died on March 12, 2019.