Charles Brooks (cartoonist)

Charles G. Brooks (born 1920) is a former editorial cartoonist for The Birmingham News in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Early life

Brooks was born in Hopewell, near Andalusia in Covington County, Alabama. After high school he moved to Birmingham and studied at Birmingham-Southern College for two years, and then transferred to the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts where he was instructed by Vaughn Shoemaker (Chicago Daily News) and Don Ulsh. While in Chicago, Brooks met his future wife, Virginia. They have a daughter, Barbara, and son, Charles G. Brooks, Jr.

In 1942 Brooks enlisted in the United States Army. After training he was enrolled in Officers Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the 531st Engineer Shore Regiment. His unit participated in the D-Day landing at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, mainly helping to establish a supply port at the beachhead. Later that winter the unit, re-commissioned as the 3053rd Engineer Combat Battalion, which deployed from Liège deep into Germany with the 9th Army and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge. During his army service Brooks drew several cartoons which appeared in Stars and Stripes.

Professional life

After his discharge in 1945 Brooks returned to his wife and new daughter in Chicago. He worked for Brach's Candy Company and as a bank guard before he found representation at the Fred Zaner Advertising Cartoon Syndicate. Hopeful that he could become an editorial cartoonist he wrote to friends in...
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