Shearer, an African-American advertising art director and cartoonist born in Jamaica and raised from infancy in the Harlem area of Manhattan, had always wanted to produce a comic strip.
Thaddeus "Ted" Shearer (November 1, 1919  December 26, 1992) was an African-American advertising art director and cartoonist whose 19701986 Quincy was one of the earliest mainstream comic strips to star an African American in the lead role. Shearer was born in May Pen, Jamaica, to parents Samuel and Sophie (nee Parnell), and raised from infancy in the Harlem area of Manhattan, New York City. From a young age, his ambition was to produce a comic strip. 
