Category: Joltin’ Joe Sinnott

The late, great Marvel Comics Legend, Joe Sinnott

A Tale of Suspense! A Tale to Astonish! A Strange Tale!

As a sensitive 10-year-old kid, the first time I saw Jack Kirby’s art it looked, well, scary. As I liked to tell my dearly departed buddy Joe Sinnott, his “friendly faces” on Kirby’s art got me started buying the Fantastic Four.

My first comic book from the Marvel Comics Group was Daredevil #19. It was drawn by John Romita, who had previously worked for DC, drawing romance comics. In hindsight, this made the art less intimidating for me.

Daredevil #19, 1966, John Romita (penciler), Frank Giacoia (inker).

As a kid I thought of Stan Lee as a sort of Walt Disney, but saying that to anyone in Hollywood would have, at best, elicited a loud laugh. I say “at best” because that would have at least meant the person laughing knew who Stan Lee was. Much more likely would have been a puzzled expression and “who?” Forty years later, after Disney bought Marvel, that’s where Joe Sinnott’s retirement money came from. Joe would joke with me that he’d finally arrived as a Disney artist.

For most of my life, the question of who did what in creating the MCU (Marvel Comics Universe), as it’s now called, was a topic of heated debate only among comic book fans and the True Believers of the M.M.M.S. (Merry Marvel Marching Society). How times have changed. The New Yorker is weighing in with an historical analysis. I haven’t read it yet, so I don’t know what conclusions it reaches.

Getting Back to Getting Rid of

Yesterday I received my copy of Atlas at War!, an excellent collection of pre-Marvel war comics. The book includes six stories illustrated by Joe Sinnott, whose passing continues to sadden me.

I am enjoying the Atlas war book, and the recently released Marvel mini-comics book, and the new CD compilation of psychedelic singles from the defunct White Whale record label. I am looking forward to an upcoming graphic novel illustrated by Colleen Doran and, most of all, a companion book to Peter Jackson’s long-anticipated re-release of Let It Be in a greatly expanded edition.

But I have a problem with all of this enjoyment by acquisition. It goes back to everything I had to do after my father’s death, nearly three years ago. One part of that was the monumental amount of work clearing everything out of the house. It was a painful process, from first shipping the items that were wanted by my siblings, through making the threat of legal action to get money from the company that ran the estate sale. Dealing with the Kia dealership in Peoria, Arizona that bought my father’s 2014 Soul was a comparable nightmare.

My point is that, being an old retired guy, I want to begin the process of de-cluttering my possessions and, in turn, my life. Buying more stuff isn’t the way to do that.

Joltin’ Joe Lives!

A magnificent example of Joe Sinnott’s skill and artistry.

Thor #236

Here I am in 1977, after buying the page and having Joe sign it. Look to the left on the bed. Dig that crazy 70’s hotel decor! The tape recorder strategically placed on the phone switchhook came from the radio station where I worked at the time. My pal Denro and I used it to record an interview with Joe.

Getting an Inkling

Joe felt his inking style meshed best with John Buscema’s pencil art, and I agree with him about that. Joe always said that he considered Buscema to be the finest illustrator working in comics, while Jack Kirby was the greatest comic book artist. It’s an important distinction.

Joe’s work finishing Jack’s art on The Fantastic Four represented only about five years of his professional life, but they were extremely important years, which was why Stan wanted Joe on the book. Because of Kirby’s enduring legacy as a creative force, Joe’s FF comics are his most recognized period, and with that in mind here is a page of art from a few issues into Joe’s run on the FF…

… and a page from a few issues before the end, when Jack left Marvel.

Of particular interest to me about these pages is that issue #46 was drawn with an image size of 12″x18″, and the image from issue #100 is 10″x15″. When the drawing paper got smaller, Kirby often drew only four panels per page, but these pages are exceptions. The large art has four panels, and the smaller art has nine panels.

Looking back at his early FF issues, Joe said that he put too much of his own style on Kirby’s faces. I made a point of telling Joe that his “friendly faces” were exactly what made Kirby’s “scary art” attractive to me, as a sensitive 10-year-old kid.

Mighty Young Joe

I’ve been trying to work through my thoughts and feelings about Joe Sinnott, but I haven’t made much progress. Although Joe’s passing was not due to the coronavirus, I feel the crisis had an indirect effect, because he couldn’t have visitors. Joe wasn’t able to see his family and friends, and Joe had a lot of friends and fans. I was proud and happy to have been one of them.

Joe was buried yesterday with military honors, following a private service with his family. There will be a future public event celebrating Joe’s life, if the pandemic ever releases its grip. Marvel Comics has published a remembrance of Joe at this link.