Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: Irv Tirman
In the 1920 census, Tirman was the oldest of three sons. The family lived in Scranton, Pennsylvania at 1306 Capouse Avenue. In 1930, the family of five lived in Brooklyn at Flatbush Court, 2069 Nostrand Avenue. Information on his art training has not been found.
Tirman's comic strip, Nappy, was distributed, in 1939, by Lincoln Newspaper Features. It began in the Cayuga Chief (Weedsport, New York) on October 13, 1939 (see below).
Below, a selection of strips published in Fords Beacon (New Jersey): #354, April 3, 1942; #388 and 389, June 12, 1942.
Lambiek said he worked as a comic book artist during the 1940s. The Grand Comics Database has a list of his comic book credits. The U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, at Ancestry.com, recorded his enlistment on March 24, 1944. He had four years of high school and was a widower with dependents.
The Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 634, Issues 3-4, 1951 recorded this entry:
Tirman, Irving, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sheeshkebab sandwiches and shashlik sandwiches. Serial No. 594816, Feb. 27. Class 46.
According to Lambiek and other sources, his strip, Melvin, was published in 1953. (However, in E&P, March 7, 1953, the strip was to be syndicated by Editors Syndicate, a very small outfit. The strip was offered, but was not cited as running yet, which typically means they were still fishing for clients. Since Editors Syndicate did submit listings to the Syndicate Directory, and Melvin did not make it into the 1953 book, that means it was presumably a dead issue. --Allan) Tirman passed away on August 2, 1965, according to U.S. Veterans Gravesites. He was buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
