Category: Joltin’ Joe Sinnott

The late, great Marvel Comics Legend, Joe Sinnott

Get me to the church on time!

For the first time in decades, this non-practicing Lutheran has attended a Catholic Church. Joe Sinnott’s son Mark told me we’d better not be late for Sunday morning Mass or Joe would give me heck. So I made sure we were there on time! Joe and Mark are in the area for the Super MegaFest Comic-Con in Framingham, MA, and I’ll be heading back there shortly.

A contemporary of Joe’s, the artist Ramona Fradon, is traveling with them. Ramona had a long and notable run drawing Aquaman for DC Comics, and I am a big fan of her work on “Super Friends”. Ramona was later hired to draw the comic strip “Brenda Starr”, which she did for fifteen years.

Speaking of Catholicism, if you’re a Silver Age fanboy you know that Joe inked Jack Kirby’s pencil art for Fantastic Four #5, the story that introduced the quartet’s most infamous villain, Doctor Doom. Get out a reprint of FF #6 (I assume if you have an original comic it’s sealed) and take a look at page #2. Most of that single page was inked by Joe, but everything else in the book was inked by Dick Ayers. Why? Because Treasure Chest, a publisher of comic books that were distributed to Catholic parochial schools, made Joe an offer he couldn’t refuse, to illustrate the life story of Pope John XXIII.

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The story was released in serial form and now, for the first time, all of the installments are being collected in a single volume, scanned from the original art in Joe’s archives. This project, which means so much to Joe, is thanks to the hard work of Mr. James Tournas, otherwise known as Jimmy T., who ran a successful Kickstarter project to get the money together. See that $1500 pledge down on the right? I wonder who contributed that princely sum? đŸ˜‰ There are 25 paperback artist’s proofs that were printed locally in Boston, and I’m looking at one of them right now. The final print run of 500 10″x15″ hardcover copies should arrive on (literally) a slow boat from China the first week of December.

Joe also has all of his original art to the story of the Beatles, authorized by Brian Epstein’s NEMS Enterprises and published in 1964 by Dell Comics.

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It would have been great if a similar deluxe hardcover edition of the Beatles book were done, but a certain someone, through Apple Records, nixed it. “Saint” Paul said no, and so the decision was made for the Pope John book. A higher power than the Beatles must have been at work!

Click Me Deadly

Last week, Denro tipped me off to a half-price sale of Criterion videos at Barnes & Noble. I picked up the Blu-ray release of “Kiss Me Deadly” for twenty bucks. It’s based on a Mike Hammer story by Joe Sinnott’s longtime buddy, Mickey Spillane. Mickey was supposedly not happy with the ending, where director Robert Aldrich managed to bring the Cold War into the story, but I think this quirky and murky movie is both entertaining and fascinating. The whole thing is on YouTube, for now anyway, and I suggest kicking it up to full screen mode at 720p and kicking back.

Joltin’ Joe under the weather

Joe Sinnott, Jim Steranko, Mark Sinnott
Joe Sinnott, Jim Steranko, Mark Sinnott

Joe Sinnott hasn’t been feeling well lately, and he even pressed his son Mark into service finishing the inking job on the latest Sunday installment of the Spider-Man syndicated comic strip for Stan Lee. Although Joe checked out fine on Monday he’s suddenly come down with a case of pneumonia and he’ll be at a hospital for a couple of days. Mark’s wife Belinda says that Joe should be okay, dehydration is his biggest problem, and I’m looking forward to hearing that he’s home again and resting and back as his drawing table.

Happy Birthday, Joe Sinnott!

I have to post this fast, before Joe’s 87th birthday is over! This is the first photo I’ve seen of Joe since his shoulder replacement surgery. Haven’t heard yet if he’s added working at his drawing board to his physical therapy routine.

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While I’m on the subject of comic books, a couple of things. PBS has made a big splash with the 3-part documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, and if you go that link the entire thing is supposed to be online for a limited time.

My interest level dropped off quickly in the third part of Superheroes, and I could nit-pick the first two parts — Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko deserved even more attention than they got — but as I said six years ago, when In Search of Steve Ditko by Jonathan Ross came out, I’m happy that comic books are now widely accepted as a valid creative medium. My mother sure didn’t think they were more than trash when I was a kid, because that’s where she threw my collection. In the second part of the documentary I was pleased to see Jim Steranko being featured prominently.

IDW Publishing has announced something that has me ignoring my self-imposed restriction on buying more big books, and these are REALLY big books! The Steranko Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition, and the Steranko Nick Fury and Captain America Artist’s Edition. What makes these IDW editions special is that they’re scanned from the original art. After all these decades, Steranko has held onto all of the original pages — well, most — of his ground-breaking comic book work, and for fans like me this is the payoff.

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There is at least one piece of Steranko original art that isn’t in the possession of its creator. To scan the original cover art for Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8, IDW will have to borrow it from none other than Jonathan Ross.

J. David Spurlock with Jonathan Ross

Joltin’ Joe on the mend

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That’s Joe Sinnott, a Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame inductee, with Tommy John. Yes, Tommy John the former Major League pitcher, famous for a particular type of elbow surgery. On Thursday Joe had some orthopedic surgery himself, but it wasn’t on his elbow. He had a shoulder replacement done and, yes, it’s his pitching arm — I mean his drawing arm! So Joe needs a lot of “GET WELL SOON” wishes while he heals and goes through physical therapy. Joe’s not an online guy, and he can be reached at this address:

Joe Sinnott
PO Box 406
Saugerties, NY 12477

I have something very unique and special. It’s a Sinnott-Sinnott Mighty Marvel Team-Up. A tapestry made by Joe’s daughter-in-law, Belinda, based on a drawing by Joe.

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Belinda is a whiz at making hooked rugs, and she’s been at it for a long time. When I saw her work for the first time, my immediate, spontaneous reaction was, “do one with Lockjaw!” Lockjaw is one of my favorite Fantastic Four supporting characters, created by Jack Kirby. He’s a giant 4th dimensional bulldog that can transport himself, and others, through space. But you knew that. đŸ˜‰

At first Belinda thought I was kidding, but I persisted and convinced her that I was serious about commissioning her to do a Lockjaw tapestry. Belinda is quite creative on her own, and she suggested that Lockjaw by himself may not be enough for visual interest, and she asked if I had another character in mind. Well, that was easy. Dragon Man, of course! And so, the team of Sinnott and Sinnott started working.

Here are Joe and Belinda with the completed preliminary drawing. That’s probably the last photo taken of Joe holding his right arm up so high, before his shoulder gave out for good.

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And here’s the finished masterpiece. Joe said, “Belinda put blood, sweat, and tears into this one, Doug!” And I don’t doubt it! Click to enlarge and see all of the detail and texture that Belinda put into this one-of-a-kind Marvel Masterwork.

Lock Jaw and Dragon Man. I love these guys!
Dragon Man and Lockjaw. I love these guys!

P.S. By the way, this was posted on the 7th anniversary of the blog.