Gordon Bess

Who was Gordon Bess?

Gordon C. Bess was an American cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Redeye.

Born in Richfield, Utah, Bess grew up attending schools in Nevada, Oregon and Utah, finishing high school in Hailey, Idaho. In 1947, he enlisted in the Marines and was sent to boot camp in San Diego. He created illustrations, posters and charts for the Corps Training Aids Section in San Diego.

After a year of service in Korea, clearing minefields, he arrived back in San Francisco on the day the war ended. In 1954, he was sent to Washington, D.C., where he became a staff cartoonist and the cartoon editor for the Marine's Leatherneck magazine, where Joanne Vaught was an administrative assistant. The two married in 1955, living in Arlington, Virginia. Continuing with Leatherneck until 1956, he left the Corps with the rank of Staff Sergeant. In 1957, he moved to New Jersey. After a year as a commercial artist in Philadelphia, he took a job as the art director for a greeting card company in Cincinnati, Ohio. In his spare time, he freelanced cartoons to magazines.