Jules Feiffer, the acclaimed cartoonist famous for his self-titled comic strip in The Village Voice, has passed away at the age of 95.

Feiffer died at his home in upstate New York due to congestive heart failure, as confirmed by his representative, Gail Hochman, in an email to YSL News on Tuesday.

Born and raised in New York, Feiffer began his artistic journey at the Art Students League and Pratt Institute. His early career included illustrating “Clifford,” a cartoon feature on the Sunday pages from 1949 to 1951. While serving two years in the U.S. Army, Feiffer also contributed to animation for the Signal Corps.

“Militarism, regimentation, and mindless authority squeezed the boy cartoonist out of me and transformed me into a rebel,” Feiffer stated about his military experience, according to his Harper Collins profile. “At that time, there was no existing format to express the work I was eager to create, so I had to forge my own.”

“My topics included cartoon satire addressing the military, nuclear threats, the Cold War, hypocrisy among adults, and the romantic pursuits of city youths.”

Feiffer’s major breakthrough came in 1956 when his “Feiffer” comic strip was featured in The Village Voice. Known for its witty captions, the cartoon often showcased characters making confessions about their personal insecurities.

The “Feiffer” comic strip was syndicated from 1959 until 1997. After leaving The Village Voice due to a salary disagreement, he continued to produce new installments of the strip for various outlets until 2000.

Over his career, Feiffer published a wide range of cartoon collections, including “Sick, Sick, Sick” (1958), “Passionella, and Other Stories” (1959), “Feiffer’s Album” (1963), “The Unexpurgated Memoirs of Bernard Mergendeiler” (1965), and “Marriage Is an Invasion of Privacy” (1984).

“Passionella, and Other Stories” inspired the Oscar-winning animated short film “Munro.” The character Munro, a young boy who gets inadvertently drafted, starred in the 1961 short directed by Gene Deitch.

Amid the political turmoil of the 1960s, Feiffer ventured into theater with plays like “Little Murders” (1967), “The White House Murder Case” (1970), and “Grown Ups” (1981).

“With the nation unraveling, my weekly cartoons felt inadequate,” Feiffer recalled, according to Harper Collins. “The themes in my comic strips expanded onto the stage and screen, providing the time and space I needed to process the happenings for myself and my audience.”

In addition to his cartoons, Feiffer also wrote screenplays for films such as “Carnal Knowledge” (1971) and “Popeye” (1980). The live-action “Popeye,” which starred Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, was based on the famous cartoon character.

Feiffer’s significant impact on animation was recognized in 1986 when he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, triumphing over competitors like Jack Higgins from the Chicago Sun-Times, Michael E. Luckovich from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and Mike Peters from the Dayton Daily News.

In addition to cartoons, Feiffer also wrote several books and graphic novels, including children’s books. His most recent work, “Amazing Grapes,” a graphic novel for children, was published in September 2024.

“Writing for young readers allows me to reconnect with an aspect of myself that I didn’t fully explore until I was 60: that innocent child who experienced confusion, disappointment, and childish humor. This same child needed the camaraderie found within cartoons and children’s literature that addressed the omissions of the adult world,” Feiffer reflected, via Harper Collins.

“Reading offered me so much as a child, and now I strive to give back that gift.”

Feiffer is survived by his wife, JZ Holden, and his three children.