John O’Henly grew up in in the east end of Toronto and went to school at Danforth Tech.
When he entered the world of Canadian comics it was at the Toronto company Commercial Signs of Canada at 165 York St. (later called Bell Features) in the downtown area.
He created the two hobos, the Knights of the Open Road, and in the first comic they were named Mike and Spike but that soon changed.
John O'Henly enlisted in the service in September 1942 and always kept drawing when he was overseas.
After V.E. day in '45 he settled in Ontario.
"He returned to Canada a few months later, and decided to go back to school, choosing the Ontario College of Art, which led him to a career as a high school art teacher in London, Ontario. Along the way he married and raised a family, falling into the rhythms of postwar Canadian life like so many of the soldiers returned from the war. John O’Henly was interviewed by Scott Masters (see Crestwood) via Zoom, during the pandemic of summer 2020."
A longer more detailed bio of J. O'Henly is available at:
www.crestwood.on.ca/ohp/ohenly-john/
Interesting
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