Peter Guren Retires Beloved Comic Strip After Four Decades

Stamps alum Peter Guren (BSDes 1974), best known as the creator and artist behind the popular Ask Shagg comic strip, decided to retire the strip earlier this month. Although he initially attended Northwestern University, Guren transferred to Stamps after deciding to pursue a career in drawing. Guren has worked with other prominent cartoonists during his decades-long career, including Charles Schultz (creator of the ​“Peanuts” series), and he developed the concept for Shagg E. Dawg, a dog which answers animal-related questions submitted by child readers, while working for Tom Wilson (creator of the ​“Ziggy” cartoons). 

Guren expressed gratitude to his readers for their support over the years, and he even has plans for his next step. He published his first children’s book, There’s a Hippo in My Closet (and other reasons for not going to bed), about five years ago, and he submitted a manuscript for another children’s book to his agent in early 2020. Guren looks forward to this exciting career transition.