Joltin’ Joe Sinnott – Page 16 – Prattling before the Pratfall

Sinnott’s Brush Strokes With Greatness

Author Tim Lasiuta has posted a comment reminding me to mention his great book Brush Strokes With Greatness, The Life And Art of Joe Sinnott. Glad to do it, Tim! Love the book. I couldn’t find a good scan of the cover online, so I did one myself. Click to enlarge. I gave a copy to my best buddy Dennis Rogers for his birthday. Dennis rated special mention on the Joe Sinnott Web site, as seen at this link. Joe autographed my copy last month at The National in New York, aka: the Big Apple Con.

Joe Sinnott, Brush Strokes With Greatness

Anybody who has dipped a #2 sable brush into a bottle of india ink and tried with all their heart to draw a controlled and clean line with it, as I have, can really appreciate just how masterful Joe Sinnott is at his craft. What’s amazing is that at age 81 he’s a good as ever!

Bob Andelman, Mr. Media

Bob Andelman, aka Mr. Media, makes a comment on one of my posts about Monte Schulz, at this link. Andelman has posted an audio interview with David Michaelis, the author of the controversial book Schulz and Peanuts.

I’m going to do something I don’t normally do, and that’s hotlink to Mr. Andelman’s MP3 file. I think he should give streaming audio a try, and this is my way of nudging him in that direction. I would also suggest editing the properties of the MP3 files to include an artist and title, so the player could display something like “Mr. Media” and “David Michaelis Interview.” First, the David Michaelis interview…

[audio:http://www.andelman.com/mrmedia-pod/MM-DavidMichaelis101707.mp3]

I recommend listening to what Michaelis has to say, but as I’ve said before, while reading the book I’ve come around to an understanding what Monte and his sisters Amy and Jill are getting at in their criticism of Michaelis’ analysis of Charles M. Schulz as a man and as a father.

I’m very pleased to see that Andelman has also posted an interview with none other than Joe Sinnott, who I saw in New York a week ago. Thanks very much for this, Bob!

[audio:http://www.andelman.com/mrmedia-pod/MM-JoeSinnott071007.mp3]

Big Apple Con — Sinnott and Son and Steranko

A big highlight at the Big Apple Con in New York last weekend was seeing legendary comic book artist Joe Sinnott, who is featured at this link. It’s been thirty years since Dennis and I first met Joe. Dennis saw him earlier this year, a few months after Joe lost his wife Betty, and shortly before Joe had a heart attack! So it was with great relief that we saw Joe looking hale and hearty, with the ol’ Sinnott gleam and glint in his eyes. Here’s Joe with Dennis and myself.

Dennis Rogers, Joe Sinnott, DOuG pRATt

At a panel moderated by Mark Evanier (more about that later), Sinnott commented that he felt he’d reached his peak in 1962 and hadn’t diminished since then. Joe is a modest fellow, so that isn’t boasting, it’s just plain fact! At the convention Dennis bought an original Spider-Man strip from this past August that Joe had inked over Alex Saviuk’s pencils, and it looks as clean and slick and snappy as anything Joe has ever done. The man is amazing, especially considering that he’s retired!

Dennis spotted Joe talking with Steranko (with a name like Steranko, I wouldn’t bother with my first name either!) and snapped this great picture. That’s Joe’s son, Mark Sinnott, behind these two titans of comic book art.

Joe Sinnott and Jim Steranko

One of the many memorable examples of Sinnott inking over Steranko’s pencil drawings can be found in Strange Tales #167, from almost exactly 40 years ago. The story was called “ARMAGEDDON!” In it is something that had never been seen before — an extravaganza of four full pages that formed a single picture. I’ve always wanted to see these pages put together, and thanks to my scanner I’ve finally done it!

Click to enlarge

I was 12 years old when I saw that. What a time it was to be a comics fan! These gifted gentlemen were paid so relatively poorly, for turning out page after page of stunning material like this! I’m so glad that I can tell them how much their talents are appreciated.

Did you see the Zaro’s black and white cookie I got at Penn Station? While Dennis was at the counter I saw Joe and Mark Sinnott outside of Zaro’s, deciding if they were going to eat there. Well, I wasted no time helping them decide! What a surprise Dennis had when he came back to the table! We sat and ate and chatted with Joe and Mark, and for me it was the highlight of the weekend — yes, even more special than meeting Stephen Colbert.

P.S. The man in the blue shirt behind Joe is Mike Burkey, otherwise known as Romitaman, the highly reputable dealer in original comic book art. Dennis and I will probably be doing some business with Mr. Burkey in the near future.

Dog Rat In New York

For the next couple of days D.F. Rogers and I will be at the Big Apple Con in — where else? — the Big Apple. I hope to finally meet Mark Evanier in person. Dennis and I also hope to talk to comic book artist Joe Sinnott, just like we did 30 years ago! I’m traveling light, and won’t be taking a laptop computer, so unless the hotel has more than just Wi-Fi hot-spots for Net/Web access, my next post will be sometime Sunday.

Joe Sinnott Interview — October 15, 1977

Joe Sinnott is one of the greatest comic book inkers of all time. Actually, he’s the greatest. No finer hand has ever held pen and brush. I’ve been a fan of Joe’s work for over 40 years. Thirty years ago, when Joe made an appearance at a Boston comic book convention, I called him “a God of the industry,” and he still is.

Being a radio announcer at the time, I had access to a good quality portable tape recorder, making it possible for me to record an impromptu interview with Joe and a group of enthusiastic fans, including my best buddy, Dennis F. Rogers. Out of half an hour of tape I’ve spliced together a couple of clips.

In this part of the discussion, Joe Sinnott comments on comic books. That’s me asking the first question, sounding overly hyperbolic and just plain hyper.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/OCT07/JoeSinnott.mp3]

And in this segment, Joe talks about being a lifelong fan of Bing Crosby, who had died the day before this recording was made! That’s Dennis asking Joe about his hobby.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/OCT07/SinnottOnCrosby.mp3]

In retrospect, Dennis and I have always kicked ourselves for not spending the entire time talking with Joe about Bing, because we were plenty interested in the subject, and it was what he wanted to talk about. In recognition of Joe Sinnott, Der Bingle fan, here is Bing from one of Joe’s favorite periods, the early 30’s, singing “Pennies From Heaven.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/OCT07/PenniesFromHeaven.mp3]

Additional Note: This recording of “Pennies From Heaven” came from a 1973 German LP that I own. D.F. Rogers, an amateur but highly proficient musicologist, believes this performance is most likely the original version, recorded for the Decca label on August 17, 1936.