Writing as: George Merkle
According to intel provided on Stripper's Guide: Anton George Marko was [likely born on] September 2, 1901 in Hungary but emigrated to the States while still a baby.
"He may have taken correspondence courses or may have known some Cleveland cartoonists and gotten advice from them. In the late 1930s his comic book career began. Using the name George Merkle, his first creation was the Master Mind which appeared in Detective Picture Stories, January 1937; Funny Pages, January 1938; Amazing Mystery Funnies, August 1938; and Keen Detective Funnies, August 1939. The sporadic appearances of the Master Mind suggests the stories were used as fillers.
With some comic book work under his belt, Marko sold Hy Score to the Chicago Tribune Comic Book; his character ran from June 30, 1940 to October 31, 1943. Next, he found work with comic book publisher Fawcett and produced a large volume of Dopey Danny Dee filler material that occupied a page or less. The character continued to appear five years after Marko’s death. It’s not known he if traveled to Chicago and New York City to sell his works. Evidently, he kept his comics credits to himself, as any mention of it has not been found in the Plain Dealer.
In addition to a day job and freelance comic book work, he continued his stage appearances according to the Plain Dealer.