Don Rico

Don Rico
Don Rico circa 1942
Born	Donato Francisco Rico II (1912-09-26)September 26, 1912 Rochester, New York
Died	March 27, 1985(1985-03-27) (aged 72) Los Angeles
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Penciller
Pseudonym(s)	Dan Rico Donella St. Michaels Donna Richards Joseph Milton N. Korok
Notable works	Jann of the Jungle Lorna the Jungle Queen Daredevil (1940s)

Donato Francisco Rico II (September 26, 1912 – March 27, 1985) was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters Jann of the Jungle, with artist Arthur Peddy, Leopard Girl, with artist Al Hartley, and Lorna the Jungle Girl, with an artist generally considered to be Werner Roth. His pen names include Dan Rico, Donella St. Michaels, Donna Richards, Joseph Milton, and N. Korok.

Don Rico was born in Rochester, New York, the eldest of nine children. His parents were immigrants from Italy: father Alessandro was a shoe designer from Celano, Abruzzi, and mother Josephine was from the Basilicata region. At age 12, Rico received a scholarship to study drawing at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. The following year, his family moved to The Bronx, New York City.

At 16, under artist H. J. Glintenkamp, Rico learned to make wood engravings. Prints of his engravings of Depression-era life for the W.P.A. Federal Art Project in the mid-to-late 1930s, under the supervision of Lynd Ward would eventually become part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and elsewhere.