I was just going back through my blog archive and happened to stumble across this post I wrote way back in June 2015, in which I profiled Boy's Life artist Tom Eaton. Mr. Eaton wrote and illustrated "Pedro" and "Dink & Duff" for the magazine, as well as illustrating numerous puzzles and gags, beginning sometime in 1984. I received wonderful responses from several Tom Eaton fans, who pointed me to collections of old Boy's Life; at the time, I was kicking around the idea of collecting Mr. Eaton's work into a single document, if only for my own amusement. As far as I know, there is no definitive "Collected Tom Eaton", which is a shame.
Having revisited the post, I decided to Google Tom Eaton and his work, wondering if new material had been uploaded since I wrote the original post. This is when I found out he'd recently passed away, on December 11, 2016. You can read the Scouting magazine obituary here.
Tom Eaton was a big influence on me as a young artist; with his passing, we've lost a unique look and voice in comics. He seemed content to spend his career and considerable talent in a relatively niche magazine, a fact that I find wonderful - he did his work out of love, not ambition.
At the same time, I believe he should have a wider audience. A Tom Eaton collection would be an excellent way to celebrate the man and his talent. I wonder if it would be possible to persuade Boy's Life and its affiliates to comb through their back issues and gather his work together; perhaps an Essential Pedro or Definitive Dink & Duff.
Maybe someday. In the meantime, here's to you, Mr. Eaton - you'll be sorely missed.
Rick Out.
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~Ron