Ham Fisher

Ham Fisher (24 September 1900 – 1955)

Hammond Edward Fisher was an American comic strip writer. His most famous creation is Joe Palooka.

Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1900 (some sources indicate 1901), Fisher successfully published Joe Palooka in New York in 1928. Searching for others to work on the strip for him, Fisher hired, amongst others, Al Capp, author of such comic strips as Li'l Abner. Fisher was infamous for the low wages he paid his employees, and when Capp later complained, Fisher falsely accused Capp of using obsceneties in Li'l Abner. Fisher fabricated his own 'examples' in an attempt to make his case. He later lost and was dismissed from the National Cartoonists Society.

Sadly, in 1955 Ham Fisher committed suicide. His creation, Joe Palooka, remains a tribute to a time in American History, however, when a moral athletic male figure represented the nationalism and patriotism of the early 20th century.