Fernando Fusco biography

Fernando Fusco (1 August 1929 - 10 August 2015, Italy)
Born in Ventimiglia, Fernando Fusco was a prolific artist for both the French and British markets, working in varying genres like romance and western. He made his debut in 1948 with the series Jeff Cooper - his style strongly influenced by the great American writers of the time - that was published by Chiavari. 

During his military service he worked for Il Vittorioso (The Victorious). Afterwards, in 1955, he moved to France and during this period he worked for publishers Editions Mondiales of Cino del Duca, Éditions Montsouris and the World Press agency.

For the Intermonde agency, he adapted Victor Hugo's L'Homme qui Rit under the pseudonym Rifer, Salambo based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert, as well as Cosmos An 2200 written by Claude Vaincourt and published in L'Union. In addition, at Sagéditions he drew the comic adaptations of the television series Bonanza and Tarzan.

From 1958, he was present in L'Intrépide with Commado du Silence (script by Georges Sandier), Pirates du Ciel, La Flèche Brisée and the heroic-science series Scott Darnal. The latter was later continued in Mireille. Also for Mireille, he created Magali, one of his few humorous works. From 1960, he contributed to La Sage and produced series like Aigle Noir, Bonanza and Willie West.

He was also present in Lisette with Cendrine (script by Cendrine Rochemond) and Espéranza (script by Montaubert). The fruitful collaboration with the French publishing house continued with Willie West, Plume de Falco or rewriting comics for other television series like Rin Tin Tin and Le Cheval de Fer.

In addition, he worked for the British market through the Temple Art Agency, focusing mainly on romance stories. In 1970, he returned to his native Italy and started series like Lone Wolf and I Due dell'Apocalisse (The Two Apocalypses) with Luigi Grecchi in Intrepido of the publishing house Universo.

From 1973, he was part of Bonelli's team of artists that worked on the Tex Willer stories. Fusco worked exclusively on this character until 2010, when he decided to focus on painting.

With nearly 7,000 pages to his name, Fusco's version is one of the best-loved among 'Tex Willer' fans, with his style combination of very refined and simple at the same time, combined with gentle humor and his acknowledged expertise representing horses.

Fernando Fusco passed away on 10 August 2015.

Source: Illustration Art Gallery