Frank McLaughlin (artist)

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Frank McLaughlin
BornFrancis X. McLaughlin
(1935-03-18)March 18, 1935
Justice League of America

Francis X. McLaughlin

cartooning
and comic art.

Biography

Early life and career

McLaughlin was born in

Alfons Mucha, and such comic-strip artists as Alex Raymond and Milton Caniff.[4]

He studied art at the University of Bridgeport and the New Haven State Teachers College, both in Connecticut.[4] McLaughlin's first professional art job, at "about 17," was drawing belt buckles for a Bridgeport manufacturer's catalog.[5]

After college, McLaughlin, an avid baseball player, went to work for the brake manufacturer

drafted into the U. S. Army, then returned to civilian life as a technical illustrator for Sikorsky Aircraft.[5]

McLaughlin entered the comic book industry in the early 1960s. A college friend recommended him to editor

Comics Code, and anything else, including cleaning the storeroom".[5] He did occasional, uncredited inking on late comic books, including on "a couple" of stories by Steve Ditko.[6]

Creator credits were not routinely given in comics during this era, and McLaughlin's earliest known probable credit is

penciler Dick Giordano on the cover of, and a seven-page story in, Charlton's Battlefield Action #39 (Dec. 1961).[7] McLaughlin's first confirmed credit is full pencil and ink art on the five-page story "And the Light Shall Come" in the same publisher's Reptisaurus #8 (Dec. 1962).[7]

Giordano later became Charlton's editor after, McLaughlin said, he himself had turned down the job: "[Giordano] was a freelancer at the time, and then he hired me to work with him after I got through working at Charlton 9 to 5, and I'd go over to his studio, and then later on, we kind of swapped jobs, because there was a change at Charlton, and I think Pat [Masulli] was moving up, and they offered me his job. I opted to stay freelance and suggested Dick for the job. He became editor and I took over the studio," which artist Jon D'Agostino and writer Joe Gill would soon join.[5]

Judomaster

McLaughlin, who became Charlton's

martial artist McLaughlin's backup features, "The Sport of Judo" and "What is Karate?," presaged the original character he would create with writer Joe Gill.[7]

Judomaster's debut: Special War Series #4 (Nov. 1965). The series title is visible diagonally within the red logo box. Cover art by McLaughlin

That character,

South Pacific during World War II, who, after saving a native island girl from a Japanese sniper, was taught martial arts by her grateful grandfather. He acquired a costume based on the Japanese military flag, and, in issue #93 (Feb. 1967), a sidekick, Tiger. The series ended at #98 (Dec. 1967), and the character was later purchased by DC Comics in 1983, during Charlton's final years.[7][8]

Marvel and DC

Following McLaughlin's final Charlton work, penciling the cover and both penciling and inking the seven-page story "The Living Legend" in the

soap-opera strip The Heart of Juliet Jones.[9] McLaughlin, at Giordano's suggestion, had shown samples of his work to the Westport, Connecticut-based Drake, who hired him to succeed assistant Tex Blaisdell, who had left to draw Little Orphan Annie. "I would pencil and ink just about everything that wasn't a main figure," McLaughlin said.[4]

The following year, McLaughlin began to work steadily for industry leaders DC Comics and Marvel Comics. His first work for the former was inking Win Mortimer on a Zatanna story in Adventure Comics #421 (July 1972), and his first for the latter was inking Jim Mooney on a romance comics story in Our Love Story #18 (Aug. 1972).[7]

Settling into his career as an inker, McLaughlin became ensconced at Marvel, inking the likes of

Justice League of America, and for some issues of penciler Ernie Chan's Batman stories in Detective Comics, and Joe Staton's Green Lantern. Concurrently, he wrote martial-arts articles for Marvel's black-and-white comics magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.[7]

In the 1980s McLaughlin was regular inker on penciler

Fatale #6 (Oct. 1996), inking J. G. Jones.[7]

Comic strips

Aside from his stint on

Tribune Media comic strip Gil Thorp, drawing the sports feature through 2008.[15]

Teacher and author

McLaughlin has taught at the

Nova University, in which comic-book storytelling was used to teach and encourage reading.[17]

His books include How to Draw Those Bodacious Bad Babes of Comics (

ISBN 1-58063-069-3), both with Mike Gold
.

Personal life

McLaughlin practiced judo from ages 18 to 50, initially studying at Joe Costa's Academy of Judo.[18] He married at age 30, in 1965, living then in Derby, Connecticut, and working in a studio in nearby Ansonia before moving back to his home town of Stratford.[3] As of 2000, he had two grown children: daughter Erin and son Terry.[5] His brother James’ daughter, Anne McLaughlin, is also a professional artist.[19]

McLaughlin died March 4, 2020, age 84, at Milford Hospital in Milford, Connecticut.[1]

Bibliography

Archie Comics

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

  • Planet of Vampires #1–2 (1975)

Broadway Comics

  • Fatale #1–6 (1996)

Charlton Comics

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

Valiant Comics

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Francis X. McLaughlin". Connecticut Post. March 5, 2020. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Leiffer, Paul; Ware, Hames, eds. "McLaughlin, Frank". Who's Who of American Comic Strip Producers at The Comic Strip Project. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2010. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "Frank McLaughln interview". Comic Book Artist (9). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 87. August 2000.
  4. ^ a b c Comic Book Artist, p. 84.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Comic Book Artist, p. 85.
  6. ^ Comic Book Artist, p. 86.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Frank McLaughlin at the Grand Comics Database
  8. ^ Judomaster at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 25, 2011.
  9. ^ Leiffer; Ware, McLaughlin, Frank, Who's Who of American Comic Strip Producers: Who's Who Update. Retrieved December 20, 2010. Archived June 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ Kolson, Ann (August 10, 1987). "Big Edsel Band's on Stage and on Comic-Book Page". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on August 16, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  11. ^ Leiffer, Ware. "Credit Updates (Additions): Brenda Starr". The Comic Strip Project. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  12. ^ a b "About Me". Frank McLaughlin (official site). Archived from the original on July 11, 2011.
  13. ^ Leiffer, Ware. "Credit Updates 2 (Additions): Nancy". The Comic Strip Project. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  14. ^ Weizel, Richard (January 25, 2009). "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a superhero artist". Manchester, Connecticut: Journal Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. During the decades to follow, McLaughlin also drew for such comic strips as Brenda Starr, Nancy, and The World's Greatest Superheroes.
  15. ^ "Frank McLaughlin". Lambiek Comiclopedia. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016.
  16. Connecticut Historical Society. Archived from the original
    on September 27, 2007.
  17. ^ a b "Frank McLaughlin (Professor Emeritus)". Guy Gilchrist's Cartoonist's Academy. Archived from the original on August 15, 2006.
  18. ^ Comic Book Artist, p. 88
  19. ^ "Annie's Graphic Arts". Archived from the original on July 31, 2004.

External links

Preceded by Justice League of America inker
1975–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Dick Giordano
 Batman inker
1979–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Ray Burns
 Gil Thorp artist
2001–2008 		Succeeded by
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