Secret Agent X-9 - Later Artists and Writers

Later Artists and Writers

After four stories by Hammett, Alex Raymond illustrated two stories written by Don Moore and one written by Leslie Charteris. Charteris continued to write three more stories, illustrated by Charles Flanders. After Charteris left the strip in 1936, scripts were credited to a King Features house name, "Robert Storm". Who did the actual writing is unknown. Nicholas Afonsky drew the strip for most of 1938, followed by Austin Briggs until 1940. Mel Graff took over the art in 1940 and began writing the strip as well in 1942. Graff is the one who gave X-9 his name, Phil Corrigan. Graff thought it didn't make sense for a secret agent to be addressed by his secret moniker, X-9. The name Phil Corrigan was inspired by Phil Cardigan, a character in one of Graff's earlier comic strips, The Adventures of Patsy. Graff also gave X-9 a more personal life with romantic interests Linda and Wilda. Both these characters inspired popular songs: "Linda" written by Jack Lawrence and "Wilda" written by Graff himself. Wilda became Phil Corrigan's wife.

Graff was followed by artist Bob Lubbers, who used the pseudonym "Bob Lewis" and drew the strip from 1960 through 1966. From 1967 to 1980, the strip was written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Al Williamson, who together also collaborated on the Star Wars comic strip. The last artist on the strip was veteran George Evans, who wrote and drew the strip from 1980 to his retirement in 1996.

In 2000-01, X-9 made a guest appearance in the Flash Gordon Sunday strip. One page was drawn by Evans, and that was X-9's last appearance in newspaper comics.