Stan Fine, was an American gag cartoonist. He contributed to major magazines, signed his work with his full name but sometimes reversed his last name to submit cartoons under the signature Enif. Born in Pittsburgh, Fine studied at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art and then launched his cartoon career. His work appeared for decades in a wide variety of publications, including The American Magazine, Cartoon Spice, Collier's, Good Housekeeping, Look. National Enquirer, National Lampoon, The Saturday Evening Post and Woman's World.
King Features
For a year in the mid-1960s, he entered into newspaper syndication with Art Linkletter's Kids, a daily gag panel featuring a cast of child characters—Klunkhead, Powder Puff, Specs Webster and Terry the Terror. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the series began November 4, 1963 and continued until October 1964. He also worked on the syndicated Hazel, as recalled by Ted Key's son, Peter Key: Before moving to Florida, Fine's studio was at 125 Montgomery Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his wife, the former Renee Fox. Between sessions at the drawing board, Fine found time for his hobbies, woodworking, golf and reinventing himself as a cartoonist. Fine used the services of several gagwriters, including Terry Wampler. In later years, Fine's most prolific work appeared in the pages of several men's magazines, most notably Hustler. The days of old school cartoonists had passed and Fine found a new home in the "adult" market - Hustler in particular, where the perfect medium came into play with Fine regularly drawing single page cartoons depicting devious little kids, a far cry from the familial tapestry woven into Hazel. Many of his associates knew in actuality they were references to his estranged son, one Stan would internally struggle with during his final years in Florida. The other side of Stan's iconic humor was found in Wampler's contributions, acknowledged in one National Enquirer cartoon showing kids in Halloween costumes, outside a darkened house, saying, "We know you're in there, Mr. Wampler, so turn on the light and come out with your hands full."
Books
Books with Fine's byline include How to Stop Smoking Without Hardly Trying which displayed "16 detachable jumbo picture postcards". His cartoons were reprinted in many collections, including The Little Monsters and the hardcover You've Got Me in the Suburbs, cartoons about commuters and suburbanites, edited by Lawrence Lariar. Fine was often represented in Lariar's Best Cartoons of the Year annuals. His work is in the Daniel McCormick Collection at Wayne State University.
