Editing Johnny Hart (section)

==Biography==
Born in [[Endicott, New York]], Hart published his first work in ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]'' while he served in [[Korean War|Korea]] as an enlisted member of the [[United States Air Force]]. Returning in 1953, he published cartoons in ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'', ''[[Collier's Weekly]]'' and other magazines. His pre-cartooning employment included working in a barbecue restaurant and sign painting.<ref>[https://www.hoganmag.com/blog/the-johnny-hart-interview/ ''The Johnny Hart Interview'', 1995]</ref> Hart's biggest success, ''B.C.'', was created in 1957 and began appearing in national daily [[newspaper]]s on February 17, 1958.<ref name="Lambiek">{{cite web|last=Lambiek Comiclopedia|title=Johnny Hart|url=http://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hart.htm }}</ref> Hart also co-created and wrote the comic strip ''The Wizard of Id'', drawn by [[Brant Parker]], which has been distributed since November 9, 1964.<ref name="Lambiek"/>

According to [[Hanna-Barbera]] animator [[Ed Benedict]], the animation powerhouses approached Hart in 1960 pitching a prime time animated B.C. series. Talks fell through with HB  retooling the concept into what eventually became [[The Flintstones]].{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

{{wikinews|Johnny Hart of "B.C." fame passes away}}Hart died of a stroke on April 7, 2007. According to his wife Bobby, he was working at his drawing table at the time of his death.<ref name="Hart death report">{{cite news|title = Johnny Hart Dies at 76|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/nyregion/09HartObit.html
|work = The New York Times | date=April 9, 2007 | access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref><ref name=hart1>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6538751.stm BC cartoonist dies while drawing], BBC News</ref> His co-creator for ''The Wizard of Id'', Brant Parker, died just eight days later, on April 15, 2007.

===Religious convictions===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:BC Hart turtle.gif|thumb|260px|A late-era ''B.C.'' strip by Johnny Hart]] -->
Hart was raised in a casually religious family, and he attended [[Christianity|Christian]] Sunday School regularly. Although his formal education ended with high school, he was fascinated by the [[Bible]] from a young age.<ref name="PTM">{{cite web
 |title=At the Hart of B.C. 
 |url=http://www.ptm.org/JulHartofBC.htm 
 |publisher=Plain Truth Ministries 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040619222856/http://www.ptm.org/JulHartofBC.htm 
 |archivedate=2004-06-19 
}}</ref>
In 1984 there was a distinguishable shift in Hart's spirituality, and Hart and wife Bobby began attending a congregation of the [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|Presbyterian Church]] in [[Nineveh, New York]]. Hart attributed his religious awakening to a father-son team of contractors who installed a satellite dish at his home.<ref name="PTM"/> 
Hart's increasingly deep religious faith, and the staunch theological and political [[conservatism]] that accompanied it, came to be the source of considerable controversy in the later years of his life. In a 1999 interview with ''[[The Washington Post]]'', for example, he stated that "[[Jew]]s and [[Muslim]]s who don't accept Jesus will burn in Hell" and that "[[homosexuality]] is the handiwork of [[Satan]]."<ref name="LATimes-obit">{{cite news
|last=Noland
|first=Claire
|title=Johnny Hart, 76; created 'B.C.' comic strip|work = Los Angeles Times
|date=April 9, 2007
|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-hart9apr09,0,5483287.story?coll=la-home-obituaries}}</ref> In the same piece, Hart opined that "the end of the world is approaching, maybe by the year 2010."
The lion's share of controversy, however, came from Hart's increasing tendency to incorporate his religious and political themes and ideals into his comic strips, especially ''B.C.'' Some newspapers refused to print strips with overtly religious themes or, as with the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', moved them to the religious section of the newspaper.<ref name="CC">{{cite news
 |title=Easter Comic Strip Creates an Uproar 
 |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_14_118/ai_74439261 
 |last=Christian Century 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306110944/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_14_118/ai_74439261 
 |archivedate=2007-03-06 
}}</ref>

===Controversial strips===
Two strips in particular were controversial. The ''B.C.'' strip for April 15, 2001, which was [[Easter Sunday]], portrayed a Jewish [[Menorah (Temple)|menorah]] with seven candles progressively burning out as the strip captions ran the words of [[Jesus Christ]]. At the end, the outer arms of the candelabrum broke away, leaving a [[Christian cross]], with the final panel portraying the opened and [[Death and resurrection of Jesus|empty tomb of Christ]].<ref name="WashingtonPost2003">{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/456685601.html?FMT=ABS&date=Nov+21%2C+2003 |title=Cartoon Raises a Stink: Some See Slur Against Islam in a 'B.C.' Outhouse Strip |first=Gene |last=Weingarten |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 21, 2003|access-date=2007-04-09|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910013835/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/doc/409528755.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=&type=current&date=Nov%2021,%202003&author=&pub=&edition=&startpage=&desc= |archivedate=September 10, 2015}}</ref> Critics including the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the [[American Jewish Committee]] argued that Hart's strip portrayed [[replacement theology]], that is, the conception of Christianity as supplanting [[Judaism]]. Hart offered an apology "if I have offended any readers," but still thought the strip could increase "religious awareness" and claimed that he had meant the strip to be a tribute to both religions.<ref name="CC"/><ref name="USAToday">{{cite news|title='B.C.' cartoonist Johnny Hart dies at 76|last=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-04-08-johnny-hart-obit_N.htm | date=April 9, 2007 | access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref><ref name="CNN">{{cite news|title='B.C.' cartoonist Johnny Hart dies |website=CNN.com |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/08/obit.hart.ap/index.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070412184336/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/08/obit.hart.ap/index.html |archivedate=April 12, 2007 }}</ref>

Another ''B.C.'' strip, which ran November 10, 2003, showed an outhouse with a traditional [[crescent]], which a character entered with a vertical graphic "SLAM", only to ask, "Is it just me, or does it stink in here?" Critics including the [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]] claimed that the combination of the vertical bar and the "SLAM", as well as the crescent moons both in the sky and on the outhouse, made the strip a slur on [[Islam]]. Hart denied that it was anything but an outhouse joke.<ref name="WashingtonPost2003"/>