Tom Moore, longtime ‘Archie’ comics artist, dies at 86

Tom Moore, who drew Archie comics for over three decades, has died. The El Paso, Texas native was 86.

Moore died Monday in hospice care in El Paso, his son, Lito Gudanda-Moore, told the Associated Press. He said his father was diagnosed with throat cancer this month and decided to to have treatment.

While Moore didn’t create Archie Andrews and his friends, Moore drew some of Archie's most popular adventures. He began drawing Archie in 1953 and continued to do so until he retired in the late 1980s, notes The El Paso Times.

Moore began drawing cartoons while serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, drawing the Chick Call strip for military papers. After his time in the Navy, Moore took classes at the Cartoonist and Illustrator School in New York under the GI Bill. A year after graduating, he joined Archie Comics.

Moore oversaw Archie’s best years during the 1950s and during the 1960s, when annual sales reached over half a million. He did take a break from Archie when he moved back to El Paso in 1961. Other books he worked on include SNuffy Smith, Mighty Mouse and Underdog.

“Tom was very funny and had a knack for putting together really great, hilarious gags and special pages when he worked at Archie,” Archie Editor in Chief Victor Gorelick said. “He was probably best known here for inking our Jughead relaunch decades ago. We're all sad to hear this news and wish his family the very best during this time. He was a cartoonist's cartoonist.”

Moore is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruth, his son and daughter, Holly Mathew.