Virgil Partch

Virgil Franklin Partch, known professionally as Vip, was an American gag cartoonist born on October 17, 1916. He died on August 10, 1984. Partch is best remembered for his single-panel cartoons that appeared in popular magazines during the 1940s and 1950s, as well as for creating the newspaper comic strips *Big George* and *The Captain's Gig*. He published 19 books of illustrations and contributed art to children's books. Despite working as a gag writer for *The New Yorker*, his own cartoons rarely appeared in the magazine due to editor Harold Ross's dislike of his drawing style. Partch's work was featured in collections such as *Best Cartoons Selected by the Editors of True, the Man's Magazine*, *The American Legion*, *Collier's*, *Choice Cartoons from Sports Illustrated*, and *Crock*. He also collaborated on *Cork High and Bottle Deep*. Over his career, he was credited as artist, inker, letterer, and writer on 19 issues from 1946 to 2014. Partch's legacy endures as a distinctive voice in mid-century American humor, with his cartoons celebrated for their offbeat wit and expressive linework.