Bill Fraccio
Encyclopedia
William Fraccio was an American
comic book
artist
whose career stretched from the 1940s Golden Age of comic books
through 1979, when he turned to producing advertising
art and teaching. He is best known for his remarkable 23-year run at Charlton Comics
, where he illustrated the first two professional stories of future Marvel Comics
editor-in-chief Roy Thomas
.
The often-uncredited Fraccio and his frequent art partner, inker
Tony Tallarico
, sometimes used the joint pseudonym
Tony Williamson and, later, Tony Williamsune, on stories for Warren Publishing
's horror
-comics magazines Creepy
, Eerie
and Vampirella
. Historian Jim Amash wrote, "He was never a fan favorite, but his work sure ended up in a lot of comic book collections. He knew he was not a great artist.... He did the best he could for the money he was paid, in the time he had to get that work done. That's all the companies ever asked of him, and he wasn't the type to rock any boats."
's American School of Design, where classmate Fred Kida
introduced him to comic-book art. A lack of published credits in many early comics generally, and by Fraccio in particular, makes credit-confirmation difficult, but Fraccio's reported professional debut was inking a 1940s "Iron Ace" story by another fellow student, Bob Fujitani, in a Hillman Periodicals
comic. Fraccio also reportedly contributed to DS Publishing titles including Exposed and Gangsters Can't Win; to the Fawcett Comics
feature "Commando Yank" in America's Greatest Comics; and to backup features in Lev Gleason Publications
' Daredevil Comics
.
He confirmably contributed to EC Comics
titles, including The Crypt of Terror #17 (May 1950); to Youthful Comics, including Captain Science #5 (Aug. 1951); and to Trojan Comics, including Attack! #6-7 (March-May 1953) and Crime Smashers #15 (March 1953). Fraccio then began beginning his long association with Charlton
, starting with the premiere issue (#22, March 1956) of writer
Jerry Siegel
's Mr. Muscles
, about a wrestler who gains super strength and fights crime. (The series had taken over the numbering of a defunct comic, Blue Beetle — which, coincidentally, Fraccio would draw for several issues upon that superhero
series' revival in 1964.)
, Connecticut
-based Charlton Comics through the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age of comic books
and beyond.
Though often uncredited, Fraccio penciled hundreds of stories for, confirmably, such Western comics as Black Fury, Cheyenne Kid, Cowboy Western, Gunmaster, and Six-Gun Heroes ; such hot rod
and motorcycle
comics as Surf N' Wheels and World of Wheels; and such superhero comics as Son of Vulcan — including Roy Thomas' first professional story, "The Second Trojan War", in the second issue of that series, #50 (Jan. 1966) — and Blue Beetle — including Thomas' second pro story, "The Eye of Horus", in the fifth issue of that series, #54 (March 1966). Fraccio's last recorded Charlton work was two backup stories in Surf N' Wheels vol. 2, #5 (July 1979) — a more than two-decade run.
, New York
, at the time of his death.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
whose career stretched from the 1940s Golden Age of comic books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
through 1979, when he turned to producing advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
art and teaching. He is best known for his remarkable 23-year run at Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
, where he illustrated the first two professional stories of future Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
editor-in-chief Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
.
The often-uncredited Fraccio and his frequent art partner, inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
Tony Tallarico
Tony Tallarico
Tony Tallarico is an American comic book artist, and children's book illustrator and author. Often paired in a team with his generally uncredited penciler, Bill Fraccio, Tallarico drew primarily for Charlton Comics and Dell Comics — including for the comic book Lobo, the first to star an...
, sometimes used the joint pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Tony Williamson and, later, Tony Williamsune, on stories for Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
's horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
-comics magazines Creepy
Creepy
Creepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. The anthology magazine was initially published quarterly but...
, Eerie
Eerie
Eerie was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. Each issue's stories were introduced by the host...
and Vampirella
Vampirella
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
. Historian Jim Amash wrote, "He was never a fan favorite, but his work sure ended up in a lot of comic book collections. He knew he was not a great artist.... He did the best he could for the money he was paid, in the time he had to get that work done. That's all the companies ever asked of him, and he wasn't the type to rock any boats."
Early life and career
Bill Fraccio attended New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's American School of Design, where classmate Fred Kida
Fred Kida
Fred Kida is an American comic book and comic strip artist best known for the characters Airboy and Valkyrie.-Early life and career:...
introduced him to comic-book art. A lack of published credits in many early comics generally, and by Fraccio in particular, makes credit-confirmation difficult, but Fraccio's reported professional debut was inking a 1940s "Iron Ace" story by another fellow student, Bob Fujitani, in a Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals, Inc. was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher...
comic. Fraccio also reportedly contributed to DS Publishing titles including Exposed and Gangsters Can't Win; to the Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
feature "Commando Yank" in America's Greatest Comics; and to backup features in Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
' Daredevil Comics
Daredevil (Golden Age)
Daredevil is a fictional character, an American comic book superhero that starred in popular comics from Lev Gleason Publications during the 1930s–1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books. The character is a separate and unrelated entity from Marvel Comics' Daredevil...
.
He confirmably contributed to EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
titles, including The Crypt of Terror #17 (May 1950); to Youthful Comics, including Captain Science #5 (Aug. 1951); and to Trojan Comics, including Attack! #6-7 (March-May 1953) and Crime Smashers #15 (March 1953). Fraccio then began beginning his long association with Charlton
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
, starting with the premiere issue (#22, March 1956) of writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
's Mr. Muscles
Mr. Muscles
Not to be confused with Sturgis Butterfield of Hero Hotline, who has also used the name Mr. Muscles.Mr. Muscles is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1956 by writer Jerry Siegel for Charlton Comics, and drawn by Bill Fraccio for the first of two issues of his namesake comic, and by the...
, about a wrestler who gains super strength and fights crime. (The series had taken over the numbering of a defunct comic, Blue Beetle — which, coincidentally, Fraccio would draw for several issues upon that superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
series' revival in 1964.)
Charlton years
Fraccio provided art in the variety of genres for the low-budget DerbyDerby, Connecticut
Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,391 at the 2000 census. With of land area, Derby is Connecticut's smallest municipality.The city has a Metro-North railroad station called Derby – Shelton.-History:...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
-based Charlton Comics through the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age of comic books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
and beyond.
Though often uncredited, Fraccio penciled hundreds of stories for, confirmably, such Western comics as Black Fury, Cheyenne Kid, Cowboy Western, Gunmaster, and Six-Gun Heroes ; such hot rod
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
and motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
comics as Surf N' Wheels and World of Wheels; and such superhero comics as Son of Vulcan — including Roy Thomas' first professional story, "The Second Trojan War", in the second issue of that series, #50 (Jan. 1966) — and Blue Beetle — including Thomas' second pro story, "The Eye of Horus", in the fifth issue of that series, #54 (March 1966). Fraccio's last recorded Charlton work was two backup stories in Surf N' Wheels vol. 2, #5 (July 1979) — a more than two-decade run.
Later life and career
Upon leaving comics, Fraccio did advertising art and taught at the Connecticut School of Art. He was a resident of Mount VernonMount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, at the time of his death.
External links
- Evanier, MarkMark EvanierMark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work. He is also known for his columns and blogs, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, in particular his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of...
. "Bill Fraccio, R.I.P.", "POV Online" (column), December 7, 2005. Archive.org archive.