"He's Fading Away..." (original editorial cartoon) by Robert "Bob" Duane Zschiesche
"He's Fading Away..." (original editorial cartoon)
Robert "Bob" Duane Zschiesche
Title
"He's Fading Away..." (original editorial cartoon)
Artist
Robert "Bob" Duane Zschiesche
1929 - 1996 (biography)Year
c. 1968 -69
Technique
ink on illustration board
Image Size
13 7/8 x 10 1/2" image size
Signature
name outlined on vinyl paste-down, lower right corner
Edition Size
1 of 1 unique
Annotations
below name: "Greensboro Daily News"
Reference
Paper
cream illustration board
State
published
Publisher
Greenboro Daily News, NC
Inventory ID
SARY105
Price
$500.00
Description
Likely a tribute to former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower around the time of his death. In the lower left background is Richard Nixon and the lower right foreground, Lyndon Johnson.
Bob Zschiesche was known for his work on the long-running comic Gasoline Alley in the 1950s and 60s, and briefly in the 1970s. However, was best remembered after his death in 1996 for his comic strips for the Greensboro Daily News in North Carolina. These single-panel comics often pertained to everyday local events, as well as political commentary.
"He's Fading Away..." features the ghostly form of General Eisenhower in his military regalia, saluting the viewer. In the foreground are the men who at the time of the comic's publication were dealing with the Vietnam War, including presidents Johnson and Nixon whose respective terms ended and began as Eisenhower's health declined. The other two figures aren't yet identified, though the one standing with Johnson might be William Westmoreland, commander of the U.S. forces during the war.