Austin Briggs

Austin Briggs was a mid-century cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his work on the adventure strips *Flash Gordon* and *Secret Agent Corrigan*. He was born on September 8, 1908, in Humboldt, Minnesota, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, before moving to New York City as a teenager. After a stint at an advertising agency, Briggs began contributing illustrations to the upscale pulp magazine *Blue Book*. He later became an assistant to Alex Raymond on *Flash Gordon*, eventually taking over the daily strip from 1940 to around 1944. Briggs then succeeded Raymond on *Secret Agent Corrigan* (also known as *Secret Agent X-9*), a key collaboration that defined much of his comics career. His clean, dramatic linework also graced the pages of *Reader's Digest* and *The Saturday Evening Post*, and he was a founding faculty member of the Famous Artists School. In 1969, he was inducted into the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame. Briggs retired to Paris, where he died of leukemia on October 10, 1973. His work continues to appear in reprint collections and international editions, including *Norsk ukeblad* and *Fantomen*.