Career
In addition to his work on that magazine, he was closely involved in many of the Mad paperbacks, editing Clods" Letters to Mad and many other reprints and spin-offs. Some of his contributions to European Commission Comics appeared under the pseudonym Jerry Dee. Guests and visitors to Mad usually wound up chatting in DeFuccio"s office.
As noted by Mark Evanier: Anyone who visited the Mad offices during his years there probably met and spent time with Jerry.
He was the magazine"s historian, researcher and unofficial greeter. He was also a devout student of comic book history who was responsible for unearthing much that is today known about vintage funnybooks.
At European Commission Comics during the early 1950s, DeFuccio was an assistant editor and researcher on Harvey Kurtzman"s war comics, Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales, research that on one day involved taking a trip underwater in a submarine. He wrote scripts for European Commission and also contributed one-page text pieces to several European Commission titles.
Foreign Two-Fisted Tales #33 he wrote "Outpost" (illustrated by John Severin and Will Elder.
Foreign Frontline Combat he wrote "War Dance!" and "Belts n" Celts" (both illustrated by Severin) and "Wolf!" (illustrated by Wally Wood). He later wrote scripts for the line of war comics published by District of Columbia Comics, including Star Spangled War and Our Fighting Forces. DeFuccio teamed with artist Mart Bailey to create a superhero newspaper comic strip, "The Owl" (not to be confused with the comic book character The Owl from 1940).
DeFuccio"s book introductions include Bud Blake"s Tiger (Grosset & Dunlap, 1969).
As an expert on comic book history, he contributed to such publications as Squa Tront, Graphic Story Magazine, The Comics Journal, Wonderworld and The Comic Book Price Guide. He also worked briefly for Mad"s rival, Cracked, after leaving Mad.
DeFuccio died of cancer on August 10, 2001.
