| Vincent Fago | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Vincenzo Francisco Gennaro Di Fago (1914-11-28)November 28, 1914 Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 13, 2002(2002-06-13) (aged 87) Bethel, Vermont, U.S. |
| Area | Writer, Artist, Editor |
Notable works | Timely Comics |
| Spouse | D'Ann Calhoun (m. 1941) |
| Children | 3 |
Vincenzo Francisco Gennaro Di Fago[1] (/ˈfeɪɡoʊ/; November 28, 1914 – June 13, 2002),[2] known professionally asVince Fago, was an Americancomic-book artist and writer who served as interim editor ofTimely Comics, theGolden Age predecessor ofMarvel Comics, during editorStan Lee'sWorld War II service.
Fago headed the Timely animator bullpen, which was largely separate from thesuperhero group that produced comics featuring theHuman Torch, theSub-Mariner andCaptain America. This group, which featured such movietie-in and originaltalking animal comics asTerrytoons Comics,Mighty Mouse andAnimated Funny Comic-Tunes, includedErnie Hart,David Gantz,Chad Grothkopf,George Klein,Pauline Loth,Jim Mooney,Kin Platt,Mike Sekowsky,Moss Worthman (a.k.a. Moe Worth) and futureMad cartoonistsDave Berg andAl Jaffee.
Later in his career, Fago oversawPendulum Press'Now Age Books line of comic book adaptations of literary classics.
Fago was born in 1914 inYonkers, New York, of parents who had immigrated fromNaples, Italy. He had two sisters and a 10-year-older brother,Al Fago.[1] At 14, Vincent Fago sold his first cartoon to theNew York Sun, for $2. He attendedDeWitt Clinton High School in theBronx, graduating at age 20, he recalled in 2001, after encountering difficulties upon losing vision in one eye at age 16.[1] By this time he had begun work as an animation tracer at Audio Productions in the old Edison studios inThe Bronx, and advanced to become an in-betweener after the company moved to theFox Movietone News Building.[1] He then worked four years at theJam Handy Studio in Detroit, Michigan, contributing, he said, to "films forChevrolet, and stop-motion pictures, andTechnicolor films for theMetropolitan Life Insurance Company.[1] From there, he spent four years in Florida as an animator atFleischer Brothers Studios, where he worked as an assistant animator onBetty Boop,Popeye andSupermantheatrical shorts and on theanimated featuresMr. Bug Goes to Town andGulliver's Travels.[1]
After theJapanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Fago, not wishing to work on the war-related projects the studio began doing, returned to New York City. Moving in with his mother in The Bronx, he found work as a freelance artist atTimely Comics,[1] the 1940s antecedent ofMarvel Comics, doing such humor and talking-animal features as "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" inTerrytoons Comics; "Floop and Skilly Boo" inComedy Comics; "Posty the Pelican Postman" inKrazy Komics and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; and, following other writers/artists, the features "Tubby an' Tack" and "Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal". He quickly became head of the "animator" bullpen producing those non-superhero comics, and during editorStan Lee'sU.S. Army service from 1942 to 1945, Fago assumed the interim title of Timely's Editorial and Art Director, beginning on comics cover-dated March 1943.[3] Sometime after Lee's return, Fago left to work in independent comic-book production; he and his brother Al self-published the one-shotKiddie Kapers (under the company nameKiddie Kapers Company).[4] He also worked as achildren's-book illustrator forGolden Press.[5]
In 1948, he took over the syndicated Sundaycomic stripPeter Rabbit (based not on theBeatrix Potter books but on a character from theThornton Burgess series that began withThe Adventures of Peter Cottontail), continuing with that strip until it was cancelled in 1957.[6]
For the entire decade of the 1970s, Fago worked under a ten-year contract forWest Haven, Connecticut-basedPendulum Press. Based in his Bethel studio, Fago adapted, edited, and handled production[7] for Pendulum's extensive line ofNow Age Books comic book adaptation of literary classics. Specifically designed for classroom use, the Pendulum classics used typeset instead of hand lettering, vocabulary appropriate for grade levels, and included word lists and questions at the back.[8] After having difficulty finding American artists to illustrate the comics,[9] Fago turned toFilipino artistNestor Redondo, who offered to help Fago recruit some of his fellowFilipino comics artists.[9] In 1970, Fago and his wife traveled to the Philippines and, with Redondo as their guide, found many artists who would illustrate most of the hundred or more titles Pendulum eventually produced.[9]
During this period, Fago also collaborated with Vermont-based musician Julie Albright onThe Rabbit Man Music Books, a series designed to teach childrenmusic theory.[10]
Other books includeZhin or Zhen (Charles Tuttle Publishing, 1972).[11]
For most of his adult life Fago and his wife, D'Ann Calhoun, whom he married in 1941, lived in a rural section ofRockland County, New York.[12] They moved toBethel, Vermont, in 1968, following D'ann's appointment as director of Vermont's Arts and Crafts Service (a division of theVermont Department of Education).[12] They had two children, son John and daughter, Celie.[12] Fago spent his final years in Bethel[13] with his wife before dying of cancer at age 87.[5]
Fago's brotherAl Fago was also a cartoonist who created theCharlton Comics characterAtomic Mouse.[5]
| Preceded by | Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief 1942–1945 | Succeeded by |
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