Biography
Early life and career
George Tuska was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the youngest of three children of Russian Americans, Russian immigrants Harry and Anna Onisko Tuska, who had met in New York City. George's siblings Peter, the eldest, and Mary, the middle child, were born in New York City. Years later, Mary died while giving birth to her second child, who was stillborn.Cassell, p. 9 Harry, a foreman at a Hartford auto-tire company, died when George was 14. Anna then opened a restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, where she had relatives, and later remarried. At 17, Tuska moved to New York City, rooming with his cousin Annie, and a year later began attending the National Academy of Design.Cassell, p. 10 His artistic influences included illustrators Harold von Schmidt, Dean Cornwell, and Thomas Lovell (artist), Thomas Lovell, and comic strip artists Lou Fine, Hal Foster, and Alex Raymond. At some early point, he took his first job in art, designing women's costume jewelry. Tuska then began working for comic book packager Eisner & Iger, one of a handful of companies at the time that supplied comics on demand for publishers entering the new mass media, medium. His first known published comic-book work appeared in Fox Comics' ''Mystery Men Comics'' #1 and ''Wonderworld Comics'' #4, both cover date, cover-dated August 1939. Tuska in the mid-2000s recalled: At Eisner & Iger, Tuska said in 2001, "I worked alongside Bob Powell (comics), Bob Powell, Lou Fine, and Mike Sekowsky". His studio colleagues later grew to include artists Charles Sultan, John Celardo, and Nick Cardy, and writer Toni Blum. Writer-artist and company co-founder Will Eisner recalled of the period, "It was a friendly shop, and I guess I was the same age as the youngest guys there. We all got along. The only ones who ever got into a hassle were George Tuska and Bob Powell (comics), Bob Powell. Powell was kind of a wiseguy and made remarks about other people in the shop. One day, George had enough of it, got up, and punched out Bob Powell". The otherwise mild-mannered Tuska, thinking comic books "would last two or three years — a fad",Cassell, p. 26 later left to seek non-comics work. After two weeks, however, he came across colleagues Sultan and Dave Glaser, on their way to meet with comics packager Harry "A" Chesler. Tuska, invited along, joined Chesler's studio, working there in 1939 and 1940, earning $22 a week, increased to $42 a week within six months.Cassell, p. 27 Alongside colleagues that included Sultan, Ruben Moreira, Mac Raboy, and Ralph Astarita, Tuska helped to supply content for such Fawcett Comics publications as ''Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel Adventures''. Later, when Eisner-Iger client Fiction House formed its own bullpen to produce work on staff, Tuska left Chesler to join Cardy, Jim Mooney, Graham Ingels and other artists there.Cassell, pp. 29-30 Tuska produced a prodigious amount of work that included, for Fiction House, the Pacific Ocean, South Sea adventure feature "Shark Brodie" (under the pen name George Aksut)Cassell, p. 22 and the investigative feature "Hooks Devlin", both for ''Fight Comics''; the rich-vigilante feature "Glory Forbes" in ''Ranger Comics''; and "Jane Martin" in ''Wings Comics''. Before and during his six years at Fiction House, Tuska freelanced such features as the North Atlantic seafaring adventure "Spike Marlin" (as Carl Larson)Cassell, p. 20 in Harvey Comics' ''Speed Comics''; "Wing Turner" (as Floyd Kelly) for Fox Comics' ''Mystery Men Comics''; "Archie O'Toole" (as Bud Thomas) in Quality Comics' ''Smash Comics'' and "Cosmic Carson" (as Michael Griffith) in Fox's ''Science Comics''. At some point, Tuska again worked for Will Eisner, now split from Jerry Iger, with a group of artists including Alex Kotzky and Tex Blaisdell. "While with Eisner, I penciled some Spirit (comics), Spirit and Uncle Sam (comics), Uncle Sam stories". (Tuska's first Uncle Sam work was the cover and virtually every story in ''Uncle Sam Quarterly'' #3, cover-dated Summer 1942.) Independently, he was assigned by Fawcett art director Al Allard to draw "a few more Captain Marvel stories. Allard had asked me to draw as close as possible to the way Captain Marvel had first appeared in ''Whiz Comics''. ... After those freelance jobs, I never worked for Fawcett again". Tuska's earliest Captain Marvel work appeared in ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' #2-4 (Summer 1941, Fall 1941, and the oddly dated Oct. 31, 1941). Drafted into the United States Army, U.S. Army circa 1942, Tuska was stationed at the 100th Division (United States), 100th Division at Fort Jackson (South Carolina), Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina where he worked in headquarters drawing artillery.Cassell, pp. 32-33 He was honorably discharged as a Private first class#United States, private first class after a year for reasons the artist did not specify.Cassell, pp. 32-33 Returning home, he took up again with Fiction House, drawing a host of stories featuring Reef Ryan, Rip Carson, Lady Satan, the Western fiction, Western hero Golden Arrow (comics), Golden Arrow, and Camilla, Queen of the Jungle.''Crime Does Not Pay''
Following the huge popularity of superheroes during the World War II years, those characters' appeal began to dwindle in the post-war era. Comic-book publishers, casting about for new subjects and genres, found a hit in crime fiction, the most prominent comic of which was Lev Gleason Publications' ''Crime Does Not Pay (comics), Crime Does Not Pay''. Tuska would soon make a name for himself as one of the genre's top comics artists. After starting with short backup features and spot illustrations for text stories, Tuska was drawing the lead stories and more by ''Crime Does Not Pay'' #50 (March 1947).1950s
Tuska's first work for the future Marvel Comics came in 1949, when Marvel's predecessor company, Timely Comics, was transitioning to its 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics. His first confirmed credit is the seven-page story "Justice Has a Heart" in ''Casey - Crime Photographer'' # 1 (Aug. 1949).George TuskaThe Silver Age
Near the cancellation of the daily ''Buck Rogers'' strip, Tuska again found a freelance home at what was by now Marvel Comics, then in the full breadth of what historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books. "I called [editor-in-chief] Stan Lee, Stan [Lee] and he said, 'Come on up', Tuska recalled in the mid-2000s. His first Marvel story, a "Uatu, Tales of the Watcher" feature in ''Tales of Suspense'' #58 (Nov. 1964), included a special introduction by Lee, hailing the return of the Golden Age of comic books, Golden Age great. Tuska became a Marvel mainstay, penciler, penciling and occasionally inker, inking other artists on series as diverse as ''Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Ghost Rider'', ''Sub-Mariner'', and ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men''. His signature series became ''Iron Man (comic book), Iron Man'', on which he enjoyed a nearly 10-year, sometimes briefly interrupted, run from issue #5 (Sept. 1968) to #106 (Jan. 1978). He and writer Archie Goodwin (comics), Archie Goodwin created the Controller (Marvel Comics), Controller as an antagonist in ''Iron Man'' #12 (April 1969). Comics historian Les Daniels noted that when Goodwin, Tuska and inker Billy Graham (comics), Billy Graham launched ''Luke Cage, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' in 1972, "it was the first Marvel comic to take its title from a black character." Shanna the She-Devil was created by Carole Seuling, Steve Gerber, and Tuska in the eponymous first issue of that character's own series. He was one of the artists on the Brand licensing, licensed movie tie-in series ''Planet of the Apes (comics), Planet of the Apes''. Due to Marvel not having the Personality rights, likeness rights for Charlton Heston, the star of the film, one of the lawyers at 20th Century Fox insisted on changes to Tuska's art. Editor Roy Thomas believed that Tuska "just made a handsome looking guy, but it didn't look like Heston ... you can't argue. If somebody says it looks like Charlton Heston and they're worried he's gonna sue, you can't say 'no' because they just weren't going to give the approval." ''The A.V. Club'' insert of ''The Onion'' wrote, shortly before Tuska's death in 2009, that, That assessment of Tuska's Marvel work is not widely shared. John Romita Sr., Marvel's de facto and later official art director during this period, found Tuska "so versatile. He could do everything. When Stan knew that a guy could do anything, he used him in every possible, conceivable way. George was a helluva artist and very versatile and very fast. ... He was in demand". Comics writer and Tuska collaborator Tony Isabella wrote, "I would love to see a ''Best of George Tuska'' collection which included his crime, mystery, romance, war, and western stories. He brought as much excitement and talent to those genres as he did to superhero comics". Comics journalist and historian Tom Spurgeon wrote that,Later career and death
Later, for DC Comics, Tuska drew characters including Superman, Superboy, and Challengers of the Unknown. He had a four-year run drawing ''The World's Greatest Superheroes'' comic strip from 1978–1982, inked by Vince Colletta. By this time, his health had become a handicap; Jim Shooter, who scripted an issue of ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series), Daredevil'' penciled by Tuska in 1977, recalled that, "George Tuska was at the end of his brilliant career, he was mostly deaf, communication was difficult, and though he showed occasional flashes of the chops that made him a big name artist in his day, I don't think his work on ''Daredevil'' was anywhere near his best." Tuska drew DC's ''Masters of the Universe (comics)#DC Comics limited series (1982), Masters of the Universe'' limited series in 1982. Retired from active comics work as of the 2000s, Tuska late in life moved from Hicksville, New York, on Long Island, to Manchester Township, New Jersey, with his wife Dorothy ("Dot"), where he did commissioned art. The couple had three children, Barbara, Kathy and Robert. Tuska died in 2009 "near the stroke of midnight between October 15 and October 16," officially on the latter date. His last published comic-book art was one of four variant covers for Dynamite Entertainment's ''Masquerade'' #2 (March 2009).Awards
Tuska was a 1997 recipient of the industry's Inkpot Award.Bibliography
Comics work includes:DC Comics
* ''Action Comics'' #409, 486, 550 (1972–1983) * ''Adventure Comics'' #493–494 (1982) * ''The Brave and the Bold'' #88 (1970) * ''Challengers of the Unknown'' #73–74 (1970) * ''Detective Comics'' #486, 490 (1979–1980) * ''Falling In Love'' #118, 141, 143 (1970–1973) * ''Firestorm (comics), Fury of Firestorm'' #17–18, 31, 45 (1983–1986) * ''Ghosts (comics), Ghosts'' #2–4 (1971–1972) * ''Girls' Love Stories'' #144, 152, 154–155, 158, 160, 165 (1969–1972) * ''Girls' Romances'' #147, 150, 154, 157 (1970–1971) * ''Green Lantern (comic book), Green Lantern'' #166–168, 170 (1983) * ''Heart Throbs'' #128–129 (1970) * ''House of Mystery'' #207, 293–294, 316 (1972–1983) * ''House of Secrets (DC Comics), House of Secrets'' #86, 90, 95, 104 (1970–1973) * ''Infinity, Inc.'' #11 (1985) * ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #153, 228, 241–243 (1978–1985) * ''Legion of Super-Heroes (1958 team), Legion of Super-Heroes'' vol. 2 #308 (1984) * ''Masters of the Universe (comics), Masters of the Universe'' #1–3 (1982–1983) * ''Mystery in Space'' #115, 117 (1981) * ''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #4, 9 (1986) * ''Superboy (comic book), Superboy'' #172–173, 176, 183 (1971–1972) * ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #235 (1978) * ''The Superman Family'' #203, 207–209 (1980–1981) * ''Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #314–317 (1984) * ''Tales of the Unexpected (comics), Tales of the Unexpected'' #34 (1959) * ''Teen Titans'' #27, 31, 33–39 (1971–1972) * ''The Unexpected (1968 comic book), The Unexpected'' #117–118, 120, 123–124, 127, 129, 132, 134, 136, 139, 152, 180, 200 (1970–1980) * ''Weird War Tales'' #103, 122 (1981–1983) * ''Wildcats (comics), Wildcats: Mosaic'' #1 (2000) * ''The Witching Hour (DC Comics), The Witching Hour'' #11–12, 19 (1970–1972) * ''World's Finest Comics'' #250–252, 254, 257, 283–284, 308 (1978–1984) * ''Young Romance'' #172 (1971)Fawcett Comics
* ''Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel Adventures'' #2–4 (1941) * ''Captain Marvel Jr.'' #10 (1943) * ''Master Comics'' #12–19, 21–23 (1941–1942)Lev Gleason Publications
* ''Black Diamond Western'' #10, 48 (1949–1954) * ''Boy Comics'' #30, 57, 70, 98, 101, 105, 113, 115 (1946–1955) * ''Boy Loves Girl'' #42, 46 (1954) * ''Boy Meets Girl'' #1 (1950) * ''Crime and Punishment'' #2–3, 28, 30, 33, 42, 64–64, 70 (1948–1954) * ''Crime Does Not Pay (comics), Crime Does Not Pay'' #22, 47–54, 56–64, 66–68, 71–74, 77–78, 80–81, 86–87, 99, 110, 114, 129–140, ''Annual'' #1 (1942–1954) * ''Desperado'' #4 (1948) * ''Lovers' Lane'' #2, 6, 40 (1949–1954)Marvel Comics
* ''3-D Action'' #1 (1954) * ''Adventures into Terror'' #14, 18 (1952–1953) * ''Adventures into Weird Worlds'' #1, 12, 15 (1952–1953) * ''All-True Crime'' #48, 51 (1952) * ''Amazing Detective Cases'' #10 (1952) * ''Arizona Kid'' #6 (1952) * ''Astonishing'' #27 (1953) * ''Astonishing Tales'' #5–6 (Doctor Doom); #8 (Gemini (Marvel Comics), Gemini) (1971) * ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers'' #47–48, 51, 53–54, 106–107, 135, 137–140, 163 (1967–1977) * ''Battle'' #11, 15, 23, 30, 32 (1952–1954) * ''Battle Action'' #2, 29 (1952–1957) * ''Battle Ground'' #11, 15–16 (1956–1957) * ''Battlefield'' #3 (1952) * ''Battlefront'' #22, 37 (1954–1955) * ''Bill Foster (comics), Black Goliath'' #1–3 (1976) * ''Black Rider'' #12, 18–21 (1951–1954) * ''Captain America (comic book), Captain America'' #112, 215 (1969–1977) * ''Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Captain Marvel'' #54 (1978) * ''Casey – Crime Photographer'' #1 (1949) * ''Champions (1975 team), Champions'' #3–4, 6–7, 17 (1976–1978) * ''Cowboy Action'' #11 (1956) * ''Creatures on the Loose'' #30–32 (John Jameson (comics), Man-Wolf) (1974) * ''Crime Can't Win'' #3 (1951) * ''Crime Cases Comics'' #5, 9, 12 (1951–1952) * ''Crime Exposed'' #3–4 (1951) * ''Crime Must Lose'' #9 (1951) * ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series), Daredevil'' #39, 145, ''Annual'' #4 (1968–1977) * ''Defenders (comics), Defenders'' #57 (1978) * ''Dracula Lives!'' #13 (1975) * ''Frontier Western'' #2, 10 (1956–1957) * ''G.I. Tales'' #4 (1957) * ''Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Ghost Rider'' #13–14, 16 (1975–1976) * ''Gunhawk'' #13, 33–34 (1951–1956) * ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1–3, 5, 7–12 (1972–1973) * ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 2 #102, 105–106, 218 (1968–1977) * ''Iron Man (comic book), Iron Man'' #5–13, 15–24, 32, 38, 40–46, 48–54, 57–61, 63–72, 78–79, 86–92, 95–106, ''Annual'' #4 (1968–1978) * ''Journey into Mystery'' #11 (1953) * ''Journey into Unknown Worlds'' #3, 10, 14 (1951–1952) * ''Jungle Action'' #2 (1954) * ''Jungle Tales'' #2 (1954) * ''Justice'' #15, 18, 31, 33, 37, 40–41, 48 (1950–1954) * ''Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder), Ka-Zar'' #2–3 (Warren Worthington III, Angel backup stories) (1970–1971) * ''Kent Blake of the Secret Service'' #5 (1952) * ''Kid Colt Outlaw'' #16, 24, 32, 34–35, 63 (1951–1956) *''Lorna the Jungle Girl'' #6 (1954) * ''Man Comics'' #1–2 14, 16, 21, 23–24 (1949–1953) * ''Marines in Battle'' #15, 18, 20 (1956–1957) * ''Marvel Chillers'' #7 (Tigra) (1976) * ''Marvel Premiere'' #26 (Hercules (Marvel Comics), Hercules) (1975) * ''Marvel Super-Heroes (comics), Marvel Super-Heroes'' #19 (Ka-Zar) (1969) * ''Marvel Tales (1949–1957), Marvel Tales'' #114 (1953) * ''Marvel Tales (1964–1994), Marvel Tales'' vol. 2 #30 (Angel backup story) (1971) * ''Marvel Treasury Edition'' #13 (1977) * ''Marvel Two-in-One'' #6 (1974) * ''Masters of the Universe (film), Masters of the Universe The Motion Picture'' #1 (1987) * ''Men in Action'' #2, 6 (1952) * ''Men's Adventures'' #12, 24 (1952–1953) * ''Menace (Atlas Comics), Menace'' #1–2, 5 (1953) * ''Chamber of Darkness, Monsters on the Prowl'' #10 (1971) * ''Monsters Unleashed (comics), Monsters Unleashed'' #3 (1973) * ''My Love'' #2 (1949) * ''My Love'' vol. 2 #17 (1972) * ''My Own Romance'' #10 (1950) * ''Mystery Tales'' #10, 12, 14 (1953) * ''Our Love Story'' #20 (1972) * ''Outlaw Fighters'' #1–3 (1954) * ''Planet of the Apes (comics), Planet of the Apes'' #1–6 (1974–1975) * ''Power Man and Iron Fist, Power Man'' #17–20, 24, 26, 28–29, 47 (1974–1977) * ''Private Eye'' #1–3 (1951) * ''Quick-Trigger Western'' #17 (1957) * ''Rawhide Kid'' #14 (1957) * ''Red Warrior'' #1 (1951) * ''Shanna the She-Devil'' #1 (1972) * ''Space Squadron'' #1–3 (1951) * ''Spaceman'' #5 (1954) * ''Sports Action'' #7 (1951) * ''Spy Cases'' #7 (1951) * ''Spy Fighters'' #1-2 (1951) * ''Strange Tales'' #1, 12, 14, 18–19, 94, 166 (1951–1968) * ''Namor, Sub-Mariner'' #41–42, 69–71 (1971–1974) * ''Super-Villain Team-Up'' #1 (1975) * ''Supernatural Thrillers'' #6 (Headless Horseman) (1973) * ''Suspense'' #5–6, 12, 24 (1950–1952) * ''Tales of Justice'' #57, 61–62 (1955–1956) * ''Tales of Suspense'' #58 (Watcher (comics), Watcher); #70–74 (Captain America) (1964–1966) * ''Texas Kid'' #1, 6 (1951) * ''Tower of Shadows'' #3 (1970) * ''Two-Gun Kid'' #11, 45 (1953–1958) * ''War Action'' #2, 8, 10 (1952–1953) * ''War Adventures'' #1 (1952) * ''War Comics'' #22 (1953) * ''Western Outlaws'' #2, 6, 15 (1954–1956) * ''Western Outlaws and Sheriffs'' #64, 69–72 (1950–1952) * ''What If (comics), What If ... ?'' #5 (Captain America) (1977) * ''Wild Western'' #21, 27, 29, 32, 37 (1952–1954) * ''Worlds Unknown'' #7–8 (''The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'' adaptation) (1974) * ''Uncanny X-Men, X-Men'' #40–46 (1968) * ''Young Men'' #6–7, 21–23 (1950–1953)Quality Comics
* ''Hit Comics'' #6–8, 18 (1940–1941) * ''National Comics (series), National Comics'' #1–9 (1940–1941) * ''Uncle Sam (comics), Uncle Sam Quarterly'' #3–4 (1942)Tower Comics
* ''Dynamo'' #2–3 (1966–1967) * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #7–8, 10, 13–17, 19 (1966–1968)References
Further reading
*Interview, ''Comic Book Marketplace'' #31 (Jan. 1996), pp. 25–33. Gemstone Publishing. *Tribute and Interview, ''*Comic Book Artist Bullpen'' #1, (Dec. 2003), pp. 4–19. RetroHouse PressExternal links