A new local comic book illustrates the life and career of a Filipino immigrant to Cincinnati who gained prominence as a professional boxer.
Author Jay B. Kalagayan wrote "Filipino Assassin: The Untold Story of Vincent Manago Hambright," based on the research of local historian James Tecco. Artist Dylan Speeg illustrated the book.
"It's a graphic comic book unearthing a forgotten boxing legend in Cincinnati," Kalagayan told WVXU. "It's the late 1920s. Vincent Manago Hambright 鈥� dubbed the 'Filipino Assassin' by The Cincinnati Enquirer because of his knockout punch 鈥� boxes his way through fame in the Midwest. This comic book charts his rise, military service as a Navy Seabee in World War II, and a tragic death after he moved back here to Cincinnati in 1946."
Vincent Manago Hambright's life
The roughly 30-page book starts with Vincent's birth in Cebu City, Philippines, in 1906, the oldest child of American soldier John Hambright and Filipino nurse Flavia Manago. Vincent grew up there and started boxing at age 14, before moving to his father's hometown in Tennessee at age 15.
He returned to the Philippines for a few years after graduating high school, then moved to Cincinnati in 1924 to attend the University of Cincinnati and start his professional boxing career. He fought 78 recorded matches, winning 53, and earning the nickname "Filipino Assassin."
The comic book quotes a 1926 article from the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune about a particularly significant fight: "...the Red McDonald-Vincent Hambright battle ... was one of the most sensational scraps ever staged in Cincinnati ... the monster crowd of fight fans was hoarse from shouting."
Over the course of his career, Hambright fought Tony LaRosa (father of LaRosa's Pizza founder Buddy LaRosa), future World Champion Paulie Walker, five-time Welterweight Champion Mickey White, and World Middleweight Champion Teddy Yarosz. His boxing career ended in 1933.
Hambright joined the Naval Reserve in 1942 and served nearly three years during World War II in the Seabees, a construction battalion. He was honorably discharged in 1945 and returned to his wife and children in Cincinnati.
Hambright was killed in 1946, shot in the back five times while he stood in the doorway of his tenement on Race Street. The shooter, Arnold Spivey, was eventually acquitted of murder, despite eyewitness accounts and Spivey's own confession. All evidence points to a crime motivated by racial hatred 鈥� Spivey was heard saying he intended to confront Hambright after a bar fight earlier that evening, stating he was going to "see a dead Jap."
Telling an 'untold story'
A grant from ArtsWave helped fund the creation and printing of the comic book.
Historian James Tecco says he wanted to make sure one aspect of Hambright's story didn't dominate the rest.
"We could have emphasized the murder because that's such a heavy part of his story," Tecco said. "But just finding that balance to reach the audience, to allow a way for the people, the readers, to connect with who he was as a person."
Artist Dylan Speeg incorporates some photographs, newspaper clippings, and images of anti-Japanese and anti-Filipino propaganda from the time.
"It wasn't hard to make the story interesting," Speeg said. "I felt like they brought to me such a compelling story."
Author Jay Kalagayan works with Speeg on another series: MeSseD Comics, a science-fiction story set in a sewer system. Kalagayan says as a Filipino American himself, working on this project felt especially meaningful.
"I feel like I can see myself in this historic figure," Kalagayan said.
Tecco says that's exactly why people need to ask the question: What is missing from our history?
"It takes individuals like us to get out there, to highlight those voices, to really dig deep into the archives to give them the remembrance that they deserve," he said.
How to learn more
The comic book is available for sale .
James Tecco highlights the history of Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders in Cincinnati on his Instagram account:
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