Bob Rieker (!) Cartoonist Mystery SOLVED Vintage Sleaze Gag Cartoonist

The brilliant and supportive reader Harold H. Gaines has solved a Vintage Sleaze mystery, and since I believe he has already won a t-shirt, I am going to have to figure out a suitable prize.  Mr. Gaines has identified the mystery cartoonist  HERE.  And like many puzzles, once you know the answer you could slap yourself.

Gaines not only figured out the work was drawn by one Bob Rieker...he found his freakin' University of Colorado Yearbook!  Wonders never cease!  I was speculating the artist may have been African-American (based on my perceived "looseness" of line and jazzy situations) but Harold guesses not.  Like all great cartoonists from the glory days of the Men's Mags, Rieker was a WW2 Vet, likely.

Here are Harold's notes in total, and damn good work it is.

"When I looked at the signature, I read "Bob Rieker".

A web search shows a Bob Rieker credited with cartoons in the 1942 Coloradoan yearbook at the University of Colorado.  He's also listed in the book Fighting Words: Stories and Cartoons by Members of the Armed Forces of America published in 1944.  The biographical note in that book for Bob Rieker reads, in part:

Cartoons have been accepted by Flying & Popular Aviation, Skyways, Air Progress, Army Laffs, American Legion, Outdoor Life, Our Army, Our Navy, Sea Power, and Yank.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Words-Stories-Cartoons-Members/dp/1417989513#reader_1417989513

Seems like a pretty solid bet to me.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any actual cartoons, so I am not as sure as I'd like to be.

Hope this helps.

University of Colorado?  1942?  Black?  I don't think so.  Good cartoonist, though.  Odd that there's not more about him floating around the InterWebs.

Look here:  http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/University_Colorado_Coloradan_Yearbook/1942/Page_151.html.  He's listed as "Cartoons".  He's back in 1947.  War hiatus, probably.

I don't subscribe to e-yearbook.com, but the thumbnail doesn't show anything black but the suits."
 
THANKS HAROLD!  DAMN fine work and future generations will be thankful as well.  The examples here are from "Pepper" (aka A Pocketful of Pepper 1945 - 1955)