Eliot A. Caplin; Wrote Comic Strip Plots

Eliot A. Caplin, 86, writer who plotted such comic strips as “The Heart of Juliet Jones.” Despite the difference in their professional surnames, Caplin was the brother of “L’il Abner” cartoonist Al Capp. The brothers never collaborated on a comic strip, but Capp conceived two strips that he passed along to Caplin. One, “Abbie an’ Slats,” drawn by Raeburn van Burne, lasted 23 years. The other was “Long Sam,” drawn by Bob Lubbers. Caplin also worked with the artists who produced the strips “The Heart of Juliet Jones,” “Big Ben Bolt” and “Dr. Bobbs.” Unlike his more famous brother, Caplin received little personal publicity. His family attributed that to Caplin’s practice of writing for competing feature syndicates, none of which wanted to publicize anyone who wrote for rivals. Caplin, who studied at Brown and Ohio State universities, also wrote plays including “Any Resemblance to Persons Living or Dead,” which was produced off-Broadway in 1971. He earned a Purple Heart in World War II when he was injured aboard a minesweeper in the Pacific. On Feb. 20 in Stockbridge, Mass.