Stripper's Guide: Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Walter Galli

Monday, July 31, 2023

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Walter Galli

Walter Galli was born on January 4, 1913 in Turner's Fall, Massachusetts, according to his World War II draft card. Galli’s marriage license said his parents were Anthony Galli and Sophia Duzcak, both from Austria-Hungary.

Galli has not yet been found in the 1920 and 1930 censuses.

According to Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999, his career began in the 1930s with his Stranger Than Fiction, which was published by the Centaur Comics Group. Galli also produced material for a handful of comic book publishers.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle published the Stranger Than Fiction series, which was written by Richard W. Thomas. The series ran from April 1, 1935 to June 4, 1937, according to American Newspaper Comics (2012). That panel was followed by Galli’s But It’s True which ran from May 11, 1937 to July 4, 1940.

Brooklyn Eagle 6/28/1936

In the 1940 census, Galli and his mother, Sophia, resided in Brooklyn at 217 Bainbridge Street. He was a commercial artist who had completed two years of high school.

On October 16, 1940, Galli signed his World War II draft card. His home address was 325 East 16th Street in Manhattan. Apparently he had an office at 110 West 40th Street. His description was five feet eleven inches, 187 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Commercial artist Galli enlisted in the Army on April 7, 1942. He was stationed in the Pacific Theater and saw combat at Guadalcanal.

Brooklyn Eagle 6/27/1943

After his discharge, Galli and Dorothy Roubicek obtained a Manhattan marriage license on February 26, 1944. They married two days later. (Roubicek left the editor position at All-American Comics according to Julius Schwartz in All-Star Companion, Volume 1 (2004)). Their marriage ended in divorce. Roubicek remarried and is best known as Dorothy Woolfolk.

Galli was listed in the Manhattan city directories at 110 West 40th Street, for the years 1946, 1948 and 1949. In 1959 he was at 31 West 11th Street.

During the 1940s, Galli contributed to several pulp magazines including Wings, Detective Book Magazine, and Planet Stories. Galli produced illustrations, maps and charts for Scholastic publications.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Galli illustrated several books including Mountains in the Sea: Japan’s Crowded Islands (1957), Skyscraper Island: How Ships Built New York (1957) and Light in the Dark Forest (1961). He also drew sports cartoons for the Brooklyn Eagle here and here.

In 1955 Galli married Grace Mahon in Manhattan.

In the early 1970s Galli drew the panel, Did You Know, which was about horse racing. It was sponsored by the New York Racing Association (NYRA).