Don Rico
Don Rico | |
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Lorna the Jungle Queen (1940s)Daredevil |
Donato Francisco Rico II (
Biography
Early life and career
Don Rico was born in
At 16, under artist
He began his comics career in 1939, during the period fans and historians call the
His first story for
Timely artist Allen Bellman recalled in 2005, "Don and some of the other artists didn't bother with [artist] Syd Shores, who was the unofficial bullpen director. Rico was the ringleader of this 'ignore Shores' group. He was always causing small problems in the office and publisher [Martin] Goodman knew this, and hence the name 'Rat Rico' he referred to Don with."[6] Artist Gil Kane recalled that, "Timely was my second job after MLJ. ... Stan [Lee] was the editor at 19 years old but all the day-to-day managing of the work was done by Don Rico, who also did most of the hiring and firing."[7]
Other credits during the 1940s include
1950s
In 1949, Rico began working again for Timely Comics as a writer-editor as the company was transitioning to become Marvel's 1950s predecessor,
In 1958, Rico moved to Los Angeles, where he began writing for film and television.[4]
1960s
In California, Rico began writing
Rico wrote only thrice for Marvel during the
Later career
Rico co-wrote, with Don Henderson, the story basis for the
In 1977, Rico,
During the mid-1970, Rico taught a college course on comic books at
Death
Rico lived in Los Angeles at the time of his death in 1985. He was survived by his second wife, Michele Hart-Rico; his son, Donato "Buz" Rico III; and his daughter, Dianne Marie Rico Tran (1933–2007).[13]
Awards
- The Comic Art Professional Society - CAPS presents the Don Rico Award, named in his honor that is awarded for an organization member who goes above and beyond to support CAPS.
- In 2022, Rico was chosen as one of two winners of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.[15]
Bibliography
Paperback novels
- Nikki (Midwood Books, 1963)
- The Unmarried Ones (Beacon Signal Sixty, 1964)
- The Sad Gay Life (Lancer Books imprint Domino Books, 1964; under pseudonym Donna Richards)
- The Odd World (Domino Books, 1965; under pseudonym Donna Richards)
- The Last of the Breed (Lancer/Magnum, 1965)
- The Big Blue Death (Lancer Books, 1965; under publishing-house pseudonym Joseph Milton)
- Lorelei (Belmont Books, 1966)
- The Prisoner (Lancer Books, 1966; under pseudonym Donella St. Michaels)
- The Girls of Sunset (Lancer Books, 1966)
- Counterspy (Lancer Books, 1966)
- Nightmare of Eyes (Lancer Books, 1967)
- The Man From Pansy (Lancer Books, 1967; Buzz Cardigan series)
- The Daisy Dilemma (Lancer Books, 1967; Buzz Cardigan series)
- The Passion Flower Puzzle (Lancer Books, 1968, Buzz Cardigan series)
- Casey Grant Caper #1: The Ring-A-Ding Girl (Paperback Library, 1969)
- Casey Grant Caper #2: the Swinging Virgin (Paperback Library, 1969)
- Casey Grant Caper #3: So Sweet, So Deadly (Paperback Library, 1970)
- The House of Girls (New English Library, 1969)
Other work
- Copyright: How to Register Your Copyright and Introduction to New and Historical Copyright Law by Walter E. Hurst, illustrated by Don Rico (Seven Arts Press, 1977)
References
- ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JRS6-Q68 : accessed March 2, 2013), Donato Rico, March 1985.
- ^ Donato Rico at the Social Security Death Index. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012.
- ^ a b "Donato Rico". (obituary), Associated Press via The New York Times. April 20, 1985. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Hart-Rico, Michele; et al. "Don Rico / 1912–1985: Biographical Material". Don Rico official site. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Don Rico at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Vassallo, Michael J. (2005). "A Timely Talk with Allen Bellman". Comicartville.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009.
- ^ "Gil Kane on Jack Kirby" (excerpt, Jack Kirby Collector #21 (October 1998))
- ^ Vassallo, Michael J. "Esoteric Atlas: Bible Tales for Young Folk", Comicartville Library, 2002, n.d. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Evanier, Mark (April 14, 2008). "Why did some artists working for Marvel in the sixties use phony names?". P.O.V. Online (column). Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ Evanier, Mark (October 22, 2006). "Mad Men". P.O.V. Online (column). Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. (Archive link requires scrolldown) "Go Read It!". December 25, 2009. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
- ^ Aragones in Thompson, Kim (February 19, 2011). "Doodle King: An Interview with Sergio Aragones". The Comics Journal. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
- ^ "Stan Lee's Soapbox" (column), by Stan Lee: Howard the Duck #3 (May 1976), and other Marvel Comics published that month
- ^ Home page Archived November 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine and "Diane M. Tran" at Don Rico official site. Latter page Archived November 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Inkpot Award
- File770; published June 25, 2022; retrieved June 25, 2022
External links
- Rico, Don at The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012 (requires scrolldown).
- Don Rico at the Lambiek Comiclopedia, Archived June 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- Vassallo, Michael J. "Vincent Fago and the Timely Funny Animal Dept". Comicartville.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008.
- Rozakis, Bob (April 9, 2001). "Secret Identities". It's BobRo the Answer Man. Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
- Sorceress of Zoom at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.