Category: Comic Books

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.

Make Mine Mini

The 60’s had miniskirts and, at Marvel Comics, mini-books. Mark Evanier explains.

I had the Cap and Hulk mini-books, both long gone, so I’m looking forward to getting this little set. I have it on pre-order.

With six kids in my family, growing up I probably had less spending money than Evanier. I was also into model building, which forced me into making some extremely difficult purchasing decisions with my $1/week allowance (equivalent to about $7.50 today). I’m sure that was why, without realizing it at the time, I majored in Economics in college.

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.