Gus Mager

Charles Augustus Mager (1878–1956), known as Gus Mager, was an American painter, illustrator, and cartoonist active in the first half of the 20th century. Born to German immigrants, his interest in cartooning was sparked by comics sent from Europe. He began selling sports cartoons by age 20 and expanded to include clownish animals, leading to daily strips like "In Jungle Land."

Mager's career included creating successful comic strip series featuring monkey-like characters, starting with Knocko the Monk in 1904, followed by Rhymo, Mufti, Freshy, Henpecko, Groucho, and Sherlocko. In 1913, he humanized Sherlocko into Hawkshaw the Detective for *The New York World*. He also produced other strips, including And Then Papa Came, Main Street, Oliver's Adventures, Obliging Otto, and Millionbucks, continuing these until his retirement in the late 1940s.

Mager's paintings were displayed in prestigious institutions like the Whitney Museum and Newark Museum of Art. He exhibited widely during his lifetime at venues such as the Corcoran Gallery and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. A participant in the 1913 Armory Show, he approached painting with emotion, disregarding style.

Mager lived in Newark, New Jersey, later moving to Millburn, with a summer home in SandBrook where he hunted with his dog Sport. Friends noted his farm as an old mill site with stone houses and his basement filled with paintings. After his wife's death, he moved to Pennsylvania, where he passed away at 77 from cancer in 1956.