Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: C.Y. Renick

Clayton Young Renick was born in Texas on July 24, 1909. His birthplace was recorded in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, and the birth date is from the Social Security Death Index. In the census, he was the youngest of seven children born to Arthur, a farmer, and Eva. They resided in Justice, Texas. A family tree at Ancestry.com said Renick’s mother’s maiden name was Young, and his father passed away in 1917.

In the 1920 census, the household was Renick, his mother, two siblings and maternal grandmother. They remained on the farm in Justice. So far, there is no information regarding his education and art training.

Renick has yet to be found in the 1930 census, which recorded his mother and a sister in Llano, Texas.

According to the 1940 census, Renick and his wife Virginia were residents of New York City in 1935, which was the year his panel, Oddities: Land, Sea and Air, was syndicated by Van Tine Features, which held the copyright. The Wave, (Rockaway Beach, New York), August 15, 1935, began publishing Van Tine Features’ panels and strips. An oddity was the panels and strips were dated “9-2-’35”. The Wave jumped the gun by two weeks.

The Wave 8/15/1935

The Van Tine Features comics were announced, with much fanfare, in the West Seattle Herald, (Washington), June 18, 1936 (strips can be seen here, here and here), and the Hastings News (New York), January 10, 1936 (below). According to American Newspaper Comics (2012), Oddities ended in 1937.

In 1940, Renick and his wife resided in Phoenix, Arizona, at 1138 East Taylor Street. Renick was married to the granddaughter of Elisabeth Hughes, the head of the household. Renick, who had two years of college, was a traveling salesman of wholesale dry goods. Later that year he started the Clayton Y. Renick School of Art and advertised in the Arizona Independent Republic.

The 1941 Phoenix city directory had the same census address. The 1945 listing was: “Renick Clayton Y (Virginia emp AiResearch h S 10th st nr Southern rt 12 bx 458c”.

In the 1950s, Renick remained in Phoenix. The 1951 directory said Renick, an architect at Universal Realty, resided at 6050 S. 10th Street. The 1956 and 1957 listings had the home address as 6051 S. 10th Street and Renick’s occupation as draftsman at Lescher & Mahoney.

Renick’s mother passed away in 1958.

Renick passed away in February 1987 according to the Social Security Death Index. His last residence was in Glendale, Arizona.

—Alex Jay