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.

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).

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.

St. Louis city directories from the 1930s show that McCoy was associated with several studios:

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.

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.

By 1940, they had moved to 7035 Ethel Avenue, St. Louis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In a 1978 interview with Phantom writer Falk, he described the change this way: McCoy was Moore's assistant and good friend.