Romeo Tanghal was born and raised in the Philippines. A self–taught artist, he started doing comics illustrations after graduating high school. He briefly worked with various local publications before emigrating to the United States in 1976.[2] His first published work in the U.S. was "If There Were No Batman... I Would Have to Invent Him" in Batman #284 (Feb. 1977) for DC Comics.[3] He then drew short stories for House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and Weird War Tales.[3] He later became the inker on such features as Super Friends, "Scalphunter" in Weird Western Tales, and "Gravedigger" in Men of War. In 1980, Tanghal became the inker of George Pérez's penciled artwork on The New Teen Titans.[3] Tanghal drew two origin stories for DC's digest line during this time, a ten-page short story in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #5 (Nov.–Dec. 1980) featuring Zatara and Zatanna[4] and the origin of the Penguin in The Best of DC #10 (March 1981).[5] Tanghal began working for Marvel Comics as well in 1986. He inked the comics adaptations of such films as Labyrinth,[6]Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Willow.[3] Tanghal did character design and storyboards for Sunbow Entertainment from 1985 to 1987.[7]
^Wells, John (October 2014). "Buried Treasures in DC's Reprint Digests". Back Issue! (76). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 55–56.
^Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "1980s". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 139. ISBN978-1465424563. After 40 memorable years as Batman's bird-obsessed number two foe, the Penguin had his bizarre beginnings finally revealed to a curious readership in this completely new origin tale...written by Michael Fleisher with pencils by Romeo Tanghal.
^Friedt, Stephan (July 2016). "Marvel at the Movies: The House of Ideas' Hollywood Adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s". Back Issue! (89). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 72.