Bill Holman

Bill Holman (1903–1987) was best known as the creator of the long-running newspaper comic strip *Smokey Stover*, a whimsical, pun-filled feature about a fireman that debuted in 1935. Born in 1903, Holman began his career in comics during the early 1930s, contributing to humor magazines like *Judge* and later to comic books such as *Super Comics*, *Popular Comics*, and *Four Color*. His signature style blended loose, energetic linework with a fondness for absurd wordplay and surreal sight gags, making *Smokey Stover* a distinctive presence in newspaper strips for decades. Holman also worked on the educational series *Comics in the Classroom* and contributed to *Omar Super-Book of Comics*. He is credited on over 40 comic book issues from 1931 to 1989, though his most enduring legacy remains his creation of Stover, which introduced the catchphrase "Notary Sojac" to American pop culture. Holman died in 1987. While he did not receive major industry awards during his lifetime, his work influenced later generations of cartoonists with its playful disregard for conventional logic.