Al Fagaly (January 5, 1909 – April 23, 1963) was an American cartoonist and creator of

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Super Duck Super Duck was a comic book character created in 1943 for what was then MLJ Comics (now Archie Comics) by staff artist Al Fagaly. As his name implies, Super Duck (nicknamed "Supe") was originally a parody of Superman, even down to a red and blue c ...

and the syndicated gag cartoon ''

There Oughta Be a Law! ''There Oughta Be a Law!'', or ''TOBAL!'', was a single-panel newspaper comic strip, created by Harry Shorten and Al Fagaly, which was syndicated for four decades from 1944 to 1985. The gags illustrated minor absurdities, frustrations, hypocrisies ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Waynesburg, Kentucky Waynesburg is an unincorporated community in southern Kentucky. Waynesburg is located Lincoln County, Kentucky along U.S. Route 27, Kentucky Route 328 and the Norfolk Southern Railway north of downtown Somerset. Waynesburg has a post office wi ...

, Fagaly later moved to Oregon before settling in Vancouver, Washington. He was a neighbor of Basil Wolverton. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, Fagaly returned to Vancouver in the mid-1930s and founded Columbia Photoengraving in order to get the local newspaper, '' The Columbian'', to publish his cartoons. He offered to supply the newspaper engraving plates for free if the newspaper would pay him for the cartoons. Since the cost of photoengraving was much more than the going rate for artwork, the newspaper agreed, and Mr. Fagaly became the staff cartoonist for ''The Columbian''. In 1935, he created a comic strip, ''Skip Logan'', for the Thompson Service in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1943 Fagaly was a staff artist at MLJ Comics (now

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

parody

Super Duck Super Duck was a comic book character created in 1943 for what was then MLJ Comics (now Archie Comics) by staff artist Al Fagaly. As his name implies, Super Duck (nicknamed "Supe") was originally a parody of Superman, even down to a red and blue c ...

. He went on to be the lead artist on ''Super Duck Comics'', which debuted in 1944; Fagaly was a main contributor to the title at least through the early 1950s. Fagaly was also the main contributor to ''Fauntleroy Comics'', a spin-off from ''Super Duck'' that published three annual issues from 1950 to 1952. In 1944, while he was living in

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, Massachusetts, Fagaly and MLJ managing editor Harry Shorten co-created the daily gag cartoon ''

'' (modeled after Jimmy Hatlo's '' They'll Do It Every Time'')Markstein, Don
"THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW!,"
''Toonpedia''. Accessed October 22, 2018. and syndicated by

McClure Newspaper Syndicate McClure Newspaper Syndicate, the first American newspaper syndicate, introduced many American and British writers to the masses. Launched in 1884 by publisher Samuel S. McClure, it was the first successful company of its kind. It turned the marke ...

). Shorten supplied the stories and Fagely the art, until his death in 1963."GREEN SHEET, THROWBACK THURSDAY — COMICS EDITION: 'There Oughta Be a Law!' tapped readers for material,"
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (May 5, 2016). ''There Oughta be a Law!'' ran from 1944 to 1984, and was later produced by Frank Borth, Warren Whipple, and

Mort Gerberg Mort Gerberg is a multi-genre American cartoonist and author whose work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, books, online, home video, film and television. He is best known for his magazine cartoons, which have appeared in numerous and diver ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fagaly, Al 1909 births 1962 deaths American comic strip cartoonists People from Lincoln County, Kentucky People from Vancouver, Washington Artists from Washington (state) United States Marines