Emmanuel "Mac" Raboy (April 9, 1914 – December 12, 1967) was an American comics artist best known for his comic-book work on Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Jr.Brent Frankenhoff & Maggie Thompson ''The Greatest Comic Book Covers Of All Time''. Iola, WI : Krause Pub.; F+W Media, Inc., 2012. (p. 26-7). and as the Sunday

comic-strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

artist of '' Flash Gordon'' for more than 20 years.Marguerite Cotto, "Flash Gordon", in Ray B Browne; Pat Browne,''The Guide to United States Popular Culture'' Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 2001. (p. 283) Cartoonist Drew Friedman has stated, "Raboy was an expert technician with pen and brush, and his lush covers are some of the most unusually beautiful ever to grace comic books".Drew Friedman, ''Heroes Of The Comics: Portraits of the Pioneering Legends of the Comic Books''. Seattle, Washington:

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

Books, 2014. (p.82)

Early life

Raboy was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on April 9, 1914, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. (The April 9 date is taken from Roger Hill's biography ''Mac Raboy: Master of the Comics''. His birthdate has also been cited as April 17, 1914, in other sources.Social Security Death Index, SS# 075-14-1435 Hill's biography also gives his birth name as "Manuel", but Friedman's book ''Heroes Of The Comics'' lists it as "Emmanuel.") Raboy's father had emigrated from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

; the family name's spelling was changed from "Raboi". His father worked in a hat factory before moving to

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

for a time to work as a blacksmith and horse handler. He moved to

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

to work on the family dairy farm, and finally settled in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. His father wrote poetry, political essays, and several books, including ''The Jewish Cowboy,'' about his North Dakota experience.

Career

Raboy began his art career with the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. In the 1940s he began working with the Harry A. Chesler studio of comics artists. Raboy began drawing comic books and gained fame as the illustrator for '' Captain Marvel, Jr.'' and the '' Green Lama''. Raboy was a great admirer of Alex Raymond, and "kept a portfolio of Alex Raymond's "Flash Gordon" comics by his side for inspiration and guidance as he worked". In the spring of 1946, King Features hired Raboy to continue the Sunday page adventures of '' Flash Gordon'', which he continued to work on until his death.

Death

Raboy was diagnosed with cancer in 1967, and died that December. Hill's biography gives the date as December 22; other sources have listed it as December 12.

References

American comic strip cartoonists Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees Federal Art Project artists Artists from New York City 1914 births 1967 deaths Jewish American comics artists American science fiction artists {{US-cartoonist-stub