Jack Kent (1920â1985) had two distinct and successful careers: newspaper cartoonist and author of childrenâs books. For each of these he drew upon different aspects of his personality and life experiences. From 1950 to 1965 he wrote and drew King Aroo, a nationally syndicated comic strip beloved by fans for its combination of absurdity, fantasy, wordplay, and wit. The stripâs DNA was comprised of things Kent lovedâfairytales, nursery rhymes, vaudeville, Krazy Kat, foreign languages, and puns. In 1968, he published his first childrenâs book, Just Only John, and began a career in kidsâ books that would result in over sixty published works, among them such classics as The Fat Cat and Thereâs No Such Thing as a Dragon. Kentâs stories for children were funny but often arose from the dark parts of his lifeâan itinerant childhood, an unfinished education, two harrowing tours of duty in World War II, and a persistent lack of confidenceâand tackled such themes as rejection, isolation, self-doubt, and the desire for transformation. Jack Kent: The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of a Comic Storyteller illuminates how Kentâs life experiences informed his art and his storytelling in both King Aroo and his childrenâs books. Paul V. Allen draws from archival research, brand-new interviews, and in-depth examinations of Kentâs work. Also included are many King Aroo comic strips that have never been reprinted in book form.