Congratulations to creator Bill Hinds on the 50th anniversary of "Tank McNamara"! Hinds will be honored with the Gold T-Square Award at the 78th Annual Reuben Awards in San Diego on August 23. This award is given to cartoonists who reach 50 years as a professional cartoonist. He is only the fifth person in history to reach this milestone, joining the likes of Rube Goldberg (1955), Mort Walker (1999), Arnold Roth (2018), and Garry Trudeau (2020).

"Tank McNamara" chronicles a namesake former professional football player who’s now a sports TV sportscaster, reporting on everything from hot players and angry coaches, to pending lawsuits and drawn-out strikes. Hinds took some time to participate in a Q&A in honor of the anniversary. Get to know him and the history of the strip!

What do you think it is about "Tank" that has made it so popular with readers—and editors—for so long?

Sports are popular, and that world is constantly offering new material. When we started in 1974, the long lag time between the creation of the strip wasn’t that much of a problem, but then with the arrival of ESPN and 24-hour sports talk radio and now the internet, "Tank" is competing with the 24-hour sports news cycle.

What has been your favorite part about creating this strip and these characters?

I have always enjoyed drawing, but I have really enjoyed writing for the past 12 years.

Do you have a favorite strip that you’ve created? If yes, what one?

Yes—many. I liked the November 25, 2012, Sunday strip where the devil appears in a puff of smoke in the stands of a football game to offer a comeback win in exchange for the souls of the fans. In another puff of smoke, Danny Morton, the team’s VP of season ticket sales, appears to say they have already sold their souls for the season tickets. The frustrated devil disappears. One guy steps up and says, “Jokes on him, I’m in my uncle’s seats.” It was one of the first strips I wrote.

"Tank" started as a collaborative strip with your longtime co-creator, the late great Jeff Millar. Has your approach for the strip changed since you became the sole creator? And, if so, how is it different these days?

In most ways, it was a very easy collaboration. He trusted me enough to not see what I drew until we got the proofs. That led to at least one quirky strip that called for “bat" night at a baseball game and I used a creature bat instead of the baseball equipment bat. Jeff loved my mistake and expanded on the notion of a vampire “Bat Night”. Jeff was a wordsmith. I am a cartoonist. After working together for 38 years, I had a feel for "Tank McNamara"’s humor, but my approach is much less wordy. By the way, it is much much easier to draw something originating from my own brain than from someone else’s.

If you launched "Tank" today, what would you do differently?

Newspaper deadlines aren’t conducive to success in our instantaneous sports commentary world. I would probably base the strip on Tank’s personal life, or make it a weekly online animated feature.

What is one thing readers don’t know about "Tank"?

His back story is a little wobbly. When I took over writing "Tank", I shaved about 20 years off of his age. Also, I changed him from a former defensive lineman to an offensive lineman. It made more sense that he was friends with quarterback Buck Baker. Another secret is I base the image of Murray the Agent on a grown-up version of my Sports Illustrated Kids character Buzz Beamer.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about "Tank"?

I always like to hear people tell me that a strip is funny. When I first took over the writing I was very nervous. I'd already had experience writing strips like "Cleats" and Buzz Beamer, but this was going to be judged by long-time "Tank" fans. One of the comments on the aforementioned strip about the devil was, “…one of the best strips I remember ever reading. Well done.” My knees stopped shaking after that.

What do you hope to see in years to come with "Tank"?

A "Tank" television series would be nice. A Broadway Musical would be a stretch. Maybe off-Broadway.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the strip, or about your life as a cartoonist?

I sold my first cartoon in 1970. As an adult, I never did any other kind of work. I can’t think of any other career I would want.