Tom Moore, the man who blew life into beloved comic character Archie, and his friends, has passed away while in hospice care in hometown El Paso, Texas. His son Lito Bujanda- Moore said his father was diagnosed with throat cancer last week and opted to not undergo treatment.
Moore began drawing cartoons while in the US Navy during the Korean War, after which, he attended school in New York for cartoonists where he studied under 'Tarzan' comic strip illustrator Burne Hogarth. He soon signed up with Archie Comics; Bob Montana created the freckle faced redhead in 1941, and Moore took over in 1953. However, in 1961, he took a break from comics, returned to El Paso and worked in Public Relations.
Archie Comics editor in chief, Victor Gorelick called the artist “a cartoonist's cartoonist.” He said, “Tom was very funny and had a knack for putting together really great, hilarious gags and special pages when he worked at Archie.” He also mentioned that when the company called him back to help revamp Jughead, he went, and stayed until retirement.
