Peter A. Morisi (January 7, 1928 – October 12, 2003),Peter A. Morisi
Social Security Number 076-20-5733, at the

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Master File has been via the Limit ...

via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved on March 2, 2013
Archived
from the original on November 26, 2013. who sometimes went by the pseudonym PAM, was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

writer and artist who also spent much of his professional life as a

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

officer. He is best known as creator of the 1960s

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

series '' Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt'', a thoughtful

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

comic that contained some of the earliest respectful invocations of

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in American

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Biography

Early life and career

Born and reared in the

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush A ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, Morisi was educated at the

School of Industrial Art The High School of Art and Design is a career and technical education high school in Manhattan, New York City, New York State, United States. Founded in 1936 as the School of Industrial Art, the school moved to 1075 Second Avenue in 1960 and more ...

and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, both in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He broke into comics as an assistant on the comic strips ''Dickie Dare'' and ''The Saint'', and had just started at

Fox Comics Fox Feature Syndicate (also known as Fox Comics, Fox Publications, and Bruns Publications, Inc.) was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S. ...

in 1948 when he was drafted and served as a private in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

through 1950. Comics historian

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and b ...

has written that Morisi worked in the

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by A ...

production department alongside future comics artist

Don Heck Donald L. HeckComic_Media.html" ;"title="ic; actually Comic Media">ic; actually Comic Media/nowiki>, in 1952," Heck recalled in 1993, Hardy “called me up and asked me to join."Heck, ''Comics Scene'' #37, p. 55 Heck's first known comics work appe ...

in 1949. Stationed in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, Morisi wrote for such Fox romance and crime comics as ''Feature Presentations Magazine'' and ''Murder Incorporated''.Pete Morisi
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. On his return, Morisi freelanced for companies including Comic Media,

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and '' Boy Comics''. Backg ...

, Nesbitt Publishers,

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

Toby Press Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Founded by Elliott Caplin, brother of cartoonist Al Capp and himself an established comic strip writer, the company published reprints of Capp's '' Li'l Abner'' s ...

and the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

precursors Timely and

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

, where his work appeared in titles including the

Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

''Arizona Kid'', ''Cowboy Romances'' and ''Texas Kid'', and the horror/suspense anthologies ''Astonishing'', ''

Journey into Mystery ''Journey into Mystery'' is an American comic book series initially published by Atlas Comics, then by its successor, Marvel Comics. Initially a horror comics anthology, it changed to giant-monster and science fiction stories in the late 1950s. ...

'', ''Marvel Tales'', ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their debuts in ''Strange Tales''. It was a showcase for the science ...

'' and '' Uncanny Tales''. In 1954, when editor-in-chief Stan Lee expressed admiration for the cover artist of some Comic Media books, Morisi brought in the artist, his friend and future Silver Age star Heck.

Police force and Peter Cannon

In 1956, Morisi fulfilled a childhood dream of joining the police force, and became an NYPD cop stationed in Brooklyn and in lower Manhattan. To avoid the department knowing he was moonlighting, however legally, Morisi began signing his work only with his initials – PAM, the "M" rendered without connectors, as ", , , ". He retired from the force in 1976.Pete Morisi
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Archived
from the original on October 1, 2015. Additiona

on December 24, 2010. Morisi's character Thunderbolt debuted in ''Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt'' #1 (Jan. 1966), part of Charlton editor

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...

's "Action Heroes"

line. The series then took over the numbering of the defunct title '' Son of Vulcan'', and ran from issue #51–60 (March–April 1966 – Nov. 1967), by which time Morisi, time-pressed with police work, had turned it over to other hands. When

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

bought the rights to Charlton's superhero properties in 1983, Thunderbolt was one of the characters originally planned for use in writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...

''; when DC chose to save those characters for other uses, Moore adapted him into

Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's c ...

(Adrian Veidt). DC published the 12-issue, slightly retitled miniseries ''Peter Cannon – Thunderbolt'' (Sept. 1992 – Aug. 1993) by writer- penciler Mike Collins and inker José Marzan Jr. Rights to the character later reverted to Morisi. A later incarnation, ''Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt'', was published by Dynamite Entertainment for ten issues from September 2012 to July 2013, by Alex Ross, co-writer Steve Darnall, and Jonathan Lau. A trade paperback omnibus edition reprinting all ten issues was published by Dynamite Entertainment in March 2015, including a complete cover gallery and the origin story by Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt creator, Pete Morisi.

Critical reputation

English professor, columnist and critic Ken Parille in

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

writes that in comparison to the dynamism most associated with comics art, Morisi embraced "a deliberate sense of stillness": Morisi is one of several artists featured in Dan Nodel's ''Art in Time'' where he is praised for his "highly economical and even refined comic book storytelling".

Personal life

Morisi settled in the Dongan Hills section of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

borough in 1973. There he drew illustrations for the column "Staten Island Stats" in the local newspaper ''

The Staten Island Advance The ''Staten Island Advance'' is a daily newspaper published in the borough of Staten Island in New York City. The only daily newspaper published in the borough, and the only major daily paper focused on a borough, it covers news of local and ...

''. His wife of 53 years, the former Louise Massie, died in May 2003. They had three sons: Steven, Russ, and Val. He died at Staten Island University Hospital.

References

External links

* ''SF/F & Publishing News'', Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's, October 14, 2003
Original page
. *

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on October 25, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Morisi, Pete 1928 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American artists American comics artists American comics writers American writers of Italian descent Artists from New York City Charlton Comics High School of Art and Design alumni New York City Police Department officers Silver Age comics creators