American comic series
King of the Royal Mounted is an American comics series which debuted February 17, 1935[1] by Stephen Slesinger, based on popular Western writer Zane Grey's byline and marketed as Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted. The series' protagonist is Dave King, a Canadian Mountie who always gets his man and who, over the course of the series, is promoted from Corporal to Sergeant. King has appeared in newspaper strips, comics, Big Little Books, and other ancillary items.
Zane Grey's son Romer and Slesinger collaborated on many of the stories, and the artwork was produced by Allen Dean, Charles Flanders, and Jim Gary in Slesinger's New York studio. A movie serial was produced in 1942.
Newspaper strip
King of the Royal Mounted started as a Sunday comic strip from King Features Syndicate on Sunday, February 17, 1935.[2] The strip was initially drawn by the comics artist Allen Dean.[3]
Allen Dean previously collaborated with Zane Grey on the original King of the Royal Mounted in 1935 but quit when Romer Grey/Slesinger later took over production, as told to son Allen M. Dean Jr, who was born in 1942.
A daily version was added on March 2, 1936,[1] at which point the Sunday strip was passed on to Charles Flanders, who took over the daily strip as well in April 1938.[4] From 1939, Gaylord DuBois became the writer[5] and Jim Gary became the artist, creating King until it ended on February 14, 1954[1] In the end, it was Jim Gary who became the artist most closely associated with the strip.[2]
