Charles Nelson Landon (December 19, 1878 – May 17, 1937) was an illustrator for The Cleveland Press, art director for the Newspaper Enterprise Association and art editor of Cosmopolitan. He is most notable as the founder of the Landon School of Illustration and Cartooning, a mail-order correspondence course that trained a generation of leading syndicated cartoonists in drawing for publication.

Biography

Born in Norwalk, Ohio, Landon worked for The Cleveland Press from 1900 until 1912, managing the art department—and developing new talent—for the last five years of that time. Later, he became art director at the NEA syndicate. His involvement with his correspondence course, having begun in 1909, coincides with some of his time in both those positions.

Landon's comic strip artists

While at NEA, he was able to train students through the correspondence course and then personally hire some upon graduation to draw features at the syndicate. Counted among Landon's most successful students were Carl Barks, Merrill Blosser, Gene Byrnes, Milton Caniff, Jack Cole, Roy Crane, V.T. Hamlin, Ethel Hays, Bill Holman and Chic Young. Their names were displayed in Landon's magazine advertisements which touted the accomplishments and high earnings of "former students who are now successful comic strip artists." No one was turned down for the course except applicants under the age of 15. Landon's main competitor was W. L. Evans. In the case of Ethel Hays, Landon taught her by mail, subsequently hired her as a staff artist for The Cleveland Press, then brought her to NEA to draw syndicated features. Roy Crane was another notable cartoonist whose investment in the course led to an assignment from Landon at NEA. A facsimile edition of the Landon School course has been edited by John Garvin for the publisher Enchanted Images. It was reviewed by Erick Trickey for Cleveland Magazine: On completion of the correspondence course, students received a small booklet with tips on finding work called How to Market Your Ability.

Death

Landon died in Cleveland at age 58.