'Family Circus' Creator Bil Keane Dies at 89

The Sunday comics won’t be the same after Tuesday’s passing of “Family Circus” creator Bil Keane.

(Reuters) – “The Family Circus” creator Bil Keane, whose kid-friendly comic strip gave readers a funny version of his own life at home and became one of the most widely syndicated cartoon panels in the world, has died at age 89, his distributor said on Wednesday.

Keane died on Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, said Claudia Smith, a spokeswoman for syndication company King Features.

“The Family Circus” first appeared in 1960, and Keane modeled the strip’s two parents and four boisterous kids on himself, his wife and children. The comic is still appearing in 1,500 newspapers although Keane’s son, Jeff, has helped with it.

“They provided the inspiration for my cartoons; I provided the perspiration,” Keane wrote in a biography on his website.

“The Family Circus” is characterized by traditional family values and a round border that Keane used on his panels, to emphasize the closeness between the characters.

The strip features the characters Daddy, Mommy and their children Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and P.J.

The comic’s humor typically comes from the children’s guileless attitude, or their misunderstanding of what is occurring around them.