Wilson McCoy

Robert Wilson McCoy (April 6, 1902 – July 20, 1961) was an American illustrator and painter, best known as the second artist on ''The Phantom'' comic strip. He always went by his middle name and signed ''The Phantom'' as Wilson McCoy, but his other artwork was signed R. Wilson McCoy.

Biography

Early life and education

Wilson McCoy was born April 6, 1902, in Troy, Missouri, the sixth of seven children born to Edward Fernand (a salesman by profession) and Theodosia Turnbull McCoy. Before the age of seven, he was determined to become an artist. His father died when he was eleven years old, leaving his mother with seven children and no money. She opened a boarding house with borrowed funds, and young Wilson got a job in a drugstore, working eight hours a day after school and twelve hours on Saturdays and Sundays for $3 a week, which went into the family treasury. After two years of high school, he went to work as an errand boy for a St Louis advertising agency, D'Arcy Advertising Co., and practiced drawing during errands. Ultimately, he was taken on the firm's art staff, and after four years, he had saved enough money to attend Washington University's art school before branching out professionally.

McCoy studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the American Academy, and Washington University's School of Fine Arts (now the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts), where he later served on the faculty.

He was a member of the National Cartoonist Society Foundation (NCSF).

Marriage and family

McCoy met Dorothy Rainwater at Washington University and married her in September 1925. His son Robert ("Bob") McCoy was born in 1927 and his daughter Carol was born on the 17th of November 1933. In 1930, the McCoy family lived at 7603 Forsyth, Clayton, Missouri, before moving to 100 N. Bemiston Avenue.
When daughter Carol was born, they lived at 6748 Crest Avenue, University City. By 1940, they had moved to 7035 Ethel Avenue, St. Louis.

In 1931, McCoy miraculously escaped death in an auto accident where a reckless driver hit his car, causing it to rest on McCoy’s chest, crushing both his lungs. He made history as the first man to survive such an injury.

One year when Robert was a teenager, a birthday gift for him was that he was the "handsome prince" in one ''Phantom'' continuity. Wilson made a very accurate drawing of Robert for the story. That strip hung in the McCoy family home for many years.

The couple had moved to Barrington, Illinois 13 years prior to Wilson's death and lived on E. County Line Road. Later, McCoy's Barrington home, located on Donlea Road in Barrington, was used as a model for the Phantom's girlfriend Diana Palmer's house in the comic strip. McCoy used the study to draw the ''Phantom'' strips. The house was on a five-acre lot, and Wilson had a full-size farm tractor to mow it.

Wilson was also a volunteer fire marshal in Barrington. His fire chief helmet from the city is still with the family today as a souvenir.

During the year 1960, Wilson McCoy and his wife frequently visited Mrs. McCoy's sister, Mrs. Terrell Croft, an artist who lived on the Austin Highway, as well as the other sister, also an artist, Mrs. Robert Falmar.

Commercial artist

His first commercial art job of creating posters for the Radio Deith Orpheum Company lasted three years, after which he spent five years designing billboards for the General Outdoor Advertising Company. He made paintings for ''Liberty'' magazine covers, calendars, prints, pin-ups, and advertisements for major companies such as Shell Oil, Tums, Dr Pepper, and U.S. Rubber.

St. Louis city directories from the 1930s show that McCoy was associated with several studios:
* 1930: McCoy & Quest (2313 Washington Avenue) — with Charles Francis Quest
* 1933: Windsor Studio (2670 Washington Blvd) — with William E. Heede, Martin C. Kaiser, Robert McRoy, Everett Hayden Parks, Elise B. Parks, Lester Harry "Tex" Willman, and Co Windsor
* 1936: Associated Artists of St Louis (2670 Washington Blvd) — with William H. Cramer, Ralph Wesley Guze, William E. Heede, Martin C. Kaiser, Marjorie M. Lippman, Everett Hayden Parks, Elise B. Parks, Lester Harry "Tex" Willman, John Hamilton Stevens. and Fred Adolph Toerper
* 1937: Advertiser’s Artists Co. (2670 Washington Blvd) — with Kenneth Cowhey, Ralph Wesley Guze, Martin C. Kaiser, Lester Harry "Tex" Willman, John Hamilton Stevens, and Benjamin Stalker Read

''The Phantom''

Wilson McCoy had initially shared an art studio with Ray Moore, the original ''Phantom'' artist. When Moore went to serve in the military during the Second World War, McCoy took over the responsibilities of illustrating ''The Phantom''. McCoy started signing the strips and was fully credited as the artist from the daily story "Queen Astra Of Trondelay" (1946), although he started drawing the strip from 1941, when he first filled in for Moore.

Differing sources conflict in their accounts of the transition from Moore to McCoy. In one account, after his return from the war, Moore focused on the Sunday page only but was forced to retire in 1947. In a 1978 interview with ''Phantom'' writer Falk, he described the change this way: McCoy was Moore's assistant and good friend. When Moore was called into the military in 1941, McCoy took over and he also continued when Moore came back. From then on Moore drew on extremely rare occasions, but he was still on the pay list, and at first his signature was also on some of the series he did not draw.Nerem, Ann-Louis. "The Phantom's Father in Norway," ''Lee Falk Storyteller'', p. 164. In yet another interview, Falk stated, "Ray only drew it for three or four years, then he went off to war as a pilot. Then Wilson McCoy, who was a friend of his, an art director of some company, took over in his absence. But he kept Ray's name on it right through the war.

McCoy's wife, Dorothy, was also an artist, and she penciled in the lettering and panel borders on her husband's strips.

In an interview with Ed Rhoades, Bob McCoy confided: "Initially, Wilson McCoy was paid $75 a week to sub for Moore, an arrangement that ticked him off" when he discovered how much more Moore was getting paid. But conditions improved, and the family moved to a prosperous Chicago suburb. Wilson McCoy built a studio. Robert regained a bedroom."

In describing his workload and schedule, McCoy explained in an interview, "King Features Syndicate, which distributes ''The Phantom'', prefers the artists keep six weeks ahead of their weekly strips and three months ahead for Sunday material." He added: "But few artists ever reach this goal, especially if they are not also the author. Lee Falk writes the story of ''The Phantom'' as well as the story for ''Mandrake the Magician''; girls at King Features Syndicate do the coloring for the Sunday comics."

As for help in drawing the strip, Today’s Cartoon (publication) said, Don Moore, a cartoonist and a survivor of WWII after being wounded, treated and discharged from hospital, worked as an assistant to Wilson McCoy who was drawing The Phantom. “I did the background and lettering,” Moore said. The exact date of his time on the Phantom is not known.

''The Phantom'' had its fair share of criticism. The strip was branded as "very objectionable ... in terms of cultural, moral and emotional tone and impact" by "50 trained reviewers" rating comic strips in ''Parents'' magazine in 1949. Also in July 1949, censorship laws struck the publication of ''The Phantom'' in France. (It should also be noted that in March 1960 ''The Phantom'' was being published in 467 newspapers, with half of them being outside the U.S.)

McCoy ceased drawing the strip after he became ill in 1961. His last daily strip was dated 19 August 1961, and his last Sunday strip was dated 17 September 1961; the following Sunday strip, dated 24 September 1961, was drawn by Carmine Infantino. The strip was continued by Bill Lignante for a short while, and then by Sy Barry