Vincenzo CollettaColletta, Vince, in (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991) was an American

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and art director best known as one of

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

's frequent inkers during the 1950s-1960s period called the

Silver Age of comic books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an int ...

. This included some significant early issues of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in 19 ...

' '' Fantastic Four'', and a long, celebrated run on the character

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...

in '' Journey into Mystery'' and ''The Mighty Thor''.

Early life

Colletta was born in Casteldaccia,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, the son of Rosa and Francesco "Frank" Colletta, the latter "a pretty high-level Mafioso", according to family lore. Colletta Sr emigrated from Sicily to escape local law enforcement and served with the US armed forces in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, where he provided art on the sides of bombers. He settled in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, where his wife and child joined him 10 years later. The family then moved to New Jersey and opened an Italian market, severing any ties to the Mafia.Franklin Colletta in Colletta was educated at the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

Academy of Fine Arts.

Career

Colletta entered comics in 1952, freelancing first as a penciler,

inking Inking may refer to: * Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person *Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares The clade Anaspidea, commonly known as sea hares (''Aplysia'' species and related genera), are medi ...

his own work, for the publisher Better Publications, on the titles ''Intimate Love'' and ''Out of the Shadows'', and for publisher

Youthful Magazines Youthful (also known as Youthful Magazines) was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1949 to 1954. The company was owned by attorney Bill Friedman and his wife Sophie. Adrian Lopez (1906–2004) had the title of publisher of the co ...

' imprint Pix-Parade, on the title ''Daring Love''. The following year he began his decades-long collaboration with Marvel, at the company's 1950s iteration,

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...

. Primarily a

romance comics Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published ...

artist, he drew dozens of stories and covers for the Atlas titles '' Love Romances'', ''Lovers'', ''My Own Romance'', ''Stories of Romance'', and ''The Romances of Nurse Helen Grant'', with his earliest confirmed Atlas romance art the six-page story "My Love for You" in ''Love Romances'' #37 (March 1954). Colletta's work also appeared in such genres as jungle adventure ('' Jungle Action'', ''

Jann of the Jungle ''Jungle Tales'' (later called ''Jann of the Jungle'') was an American comic book title published by Atlas Comics, the 1950s predecessor to Marvel Comics. It was an anthology title of stories set in an African jungle. Publication history Jungle ...

'', '' Lorna, the Jungle Girl'') and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

('' Uncanny Tales'', '' Journey into Mystery'').Vince Colletta
at AtlasTales.com During an Atlas retrenchment in the late 1950s, Colletta freelanced as a penciler on the

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 their f ...

romance titles ''Falling in Love'', ''

Girls' Love Stories ''Girls' Love Stories'' was an American romance comic book magazine published by DC Comics in the United States. Started in 1949 as DC's first romance title, it ran for 180 issues, ending with the Nov-Dec 1973 issue. The stories covered such topic ...

'', and '' Heart Throbs'', and Charlton Comics' ''Love Diary'' and ''Teen Confessions''. His last confirmed pencil work for decades was "I Can't Marry Now" in ''Love Diary'' #6 (Sept. 1959). Colletta's first confirmed work as an inker of another artist's pencils is unknown, largely due to credits not being given routinely in 1950s comics. Two possibilities suggested by historians and researchers are the cover of Atlas' '' Annie Oakley Western Tales'' #10 (April 1956), co-inking with Sol Brodsky over Brodsky's pencils, and the three-page story "I Met My Love Again", penciled by Matt Baker, in ''My Own Romance'' #65 (Sept. 1958). Additionally assigned to ink stories in Atlas' emerging

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univer ...

and giant-monster comics, Colletta entered what fans and historians call "

pre-superhero Marvel Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a ...

" with three Baker-penciled stories: "The Green Fog" in ''Journey into Mystery'' #50 (Jan. 1959), "I Fell to the Center of the Earth" in ''

Tales to Astonish ''Tales to Astonish'' is the name of two American comic book series and a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics. The primary title bearing that name was published from January 1959 to March 1968. It began as a science-fiction anthology tha ...

'' #2 (March 1959), and "The Brain Picker" in ''

World of Fantasy ''World of Fantasy'' was a science fiction/fantasy comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor company, Atlas Comics. Lasting from 1956 to 1959, it included the work of several notable comics artists, including ind ...

'' #17 (April 1959). Historians pinpoint Colletta's first inking of Jack Kirby's pencils as either the cover of '' Kid Colt: Outlaw'' #100 (Sept. 1961) or (with Colletta's credit confirmed), the cover of ''Love Romances'' #98 (March 1962). Members of artist Wally Wood's studio were among those who assisted or ghosted on Colletta's mid-1960s Charlton stories.Wally Wood Studio
at Bails, Ware
Archived
from the original on April 8, 2014. Artists who assisted or ghosted through Colletta's own studio included Maurice Whitman in 1964, Hy Eisman from 1960 to 1964, and at various times Matt Baker, Dick Giordano, and Joe Sinnott,Colletta Studio
at Bails, Ware
Archived
from the original on April 8, 2014. as well as Kyle Baker.Bryant, p. 106

Marvel Comics

As an

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a penc ...

for Marvel in the 1960s, Colletta worked on nearly every title, including some of the earliest issues of ''

Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superher ...

''. He inked Kirby's '' Fantastic Four'' #40–43, as well as ''Fantastic Four Annual'' #3, featuring the wedding of Reed Richards and

Susan Storm The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four and was the first female superhero created by Marvel during ...

and guest-starring virtually all the major Marvel Comics characters of the time. Colletta began his six-year run on Kirby's "The Mighty Thor" feature with the "Tales of Asgard" backup in ''Journey into Mystery'' #106 (July 1964). Colletta graduated to the lead feature with #116 (May 1965). He continued through the book's retitling to ''The Mighty Thor'' with #126 (March 1966), and — except for one issue (#143) — inked it through #167 (Aug. 1969), picking up again from #176 (May 1970) to Kirby's final issue, #179 (Aug. 1970), inking John Buscema in #178. Colletta also inked ''Journey into Mystery Annual'' #1 (1965), which introduced

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted th ...

to the Marvel universe, and ''The Mighty Thor King-Size Annual'' #2. Historians and critics consider Colletta's Thor work to be his creative highlight. Historian Nick Simon said, "For me, the Kirby/Colletta version of Thor is the definitive one." Author and

Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an int ...

historian Pierre Comtois wrote that, Colletta would also pencil stories in many 1960s issues of Charlton Comics' ''Teen-Age Love'' and ''First Kiss'' (at least some of which has been credited in reprints as by "Vince Colletta Studio"). He occasionally inked romance stories penciled by Joe Sinnott, and other pencilers on such titles as Charlton's ''Gunmaster'', and

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

' ''Guerrilla War'', ''

Jungle War Stories Jungle War Stories was a Dell Comics American comic book first published in 1962. It was the first American war comic to cover the Vietnam War. Though the cover of the first issue read "The Jungles of Africa and Asia Have Become Flaming Battlegro ...

'', and Western series ''Idaho''.

DC Comics

In 1970, Colletta — who had been freelancing for

since 1968 on the romance titles ''Falling In Love'', ''Girls' Love Stories'', ''Secret Hearts'' and ''Young Romance'' — stepped up his inking for the company following

's move there from

. Colletta inked Kirby's two black-and-white magazine one-shots, ''In the Days of the Mob'' and ''Spirit World'' (both Oct. 1971), and the initial issues of Kirby’s '' Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen'' and "

Fourth World The Fourth World is an extension of the three-world model, used variably to refer to # Sub-populations socially excluded from global society, such as uncontacted peoples; # Hunter-gatherer, nomadic, pastoral, and some subsistence farming peoples ...

" titles: ''

The Forever People Forever People are a fictional group of extraterrestrial superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They first appeared in ''Forever People'' #1 (cover-dated February–March 1971), and were created by Jack Kirby a ...

'', '' Mister Miracle'' and '' The New Gods''. While Colletta's rates were good and he brought "an innocent Marvel Age look to Jack's new heroes", he was prone to "erasing background characters" and transforming " stling crowd scenes ntoeasier silhouettes".Ro, Ronin. ''Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution'' (Bloomsbury, 2004) Kirby confidante Mark Evanier and inker Wally Wood eventually convinced a reluctant Kirby to ask DC Publisher Carmine Infantino to remove Colletta from inking Kirby's titles. He was replaced by inker

Mike Royer Michael W. Royer (; born June 28, 1941) is an American comics artist and inker, best known for his work with pencilers Russ Manning and Jack Kirby. In later life Royer became a freelance product designer and character artist for The Walt Disn ...

, causing some fans to write to DC in complaint, denouncing Kirby for "abandoning the Marvel-style look". Colletta's frequent assistant Art Cappello did much of the background inking on these comics. Vincent Colletta Portrait

Colletta went on to ink a large array at DC, including a variety of

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

, Superman and

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness ...

titles; the TV tie-in series ''

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...

'' and '' Super Friends''; and nearly every issue of ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as being ...

'' from #206 (July 1973) to #270 (Aug. 1980), over pencilers including Don Heck, Dick Dillin,

Curt Swan Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comics artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans call the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 195 ...

, José Delbo and Michael Netzer (Nasser). He was named DC's art director in May 1976, resigning the post in May 1979. His time there included discovering future industry star Frank Miller. As one-time Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter described, Miller had broken in with "a small job from Western Publishing, I think. Thus emboldened, he went to DC, and after getting savaged by Joe Orlando, got in to see art director Vinnie Colletta, who recognized talent and arranged for him to get a one-page war-comic job". Before and after his tenure, Colletta continued to do a small amount of inking for Marvel, as well as for Skywald Publications' black-and-white

magazine ''Psycho''. Well into the 1980s, Colletta continued to ink a wide assortment of comics for both DC and Marvel. His last known credit is a Marvel humor one-shot, ''Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe'' (July 1989). In late 1987 after editor-in-chief Jim Shooter was fired from Marvel, Colletta sent Marvel a scathing, profanity-laced letter highly critical of the company's action, which became widely circulated.

Analysis

Colletta was regarded as one of the American comics industry's fastest inkers and a reliable professional to call upon when a comic was in danger of missing a printing deadline. He nonetheless has been criticized by a range of fellow professionals and comic historians for erasing various details in a penciler's work, both in order to lessen the inking burden and to help meet time constraints during an industry era when printers charged then-prohibitive thousands of dollars for missed deadlines, which resulted in idle presses. As comics artist Joe Sinnott told author Marc Flores, who writes under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Ronin Ro, "When I penciled the romance stories, I used to tell myself, Vince wrecked what I did. ... He would eliminate people from the strip and use silhouettes, everything to cut corners and make the work easier for himself." Writer Len Wein told an interviewer what he enjoyed most about working on '' Luke Cage'' was, "Getting to work with the wonderful George Tuska, before Vinnie Colletta got his hands on the pencils and ruined them". Colletta was reassigned from inking '' The Tomb of Dracula'' when publisher

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

determined Colletta had taken unacceptable shortcuts on issue #9.

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Mark Evanier said, "In 1970 when Steve Sherman and I met

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

, he asked us about the new Kirby books that were then about to debut at DC. When we told him Colletta was handling the inking, he winced and said that he would probably not look at the comics. Back when he was working for Marvel, Ditko said he'd pick up the latest issues in the office and always check the credits before taking the comics home. If he found Colletta's name — especially as Kirby's embellisher — he would make a point of putting the comic back, or even in a wastebasket. And he'd make sure Stan eesaw what he was doing and knew the reason why." Conversely, Colletta's admirers point to the speed with which Colletta was often required to work, and the results he could produce when given time. Critic Tony Seybert wrote that "for tales set in the distant past of myth and legend, Colletta's soft delicate inks evoke the vapors of ancient times nd arejust as effective on Asgardian crags as on the sylvan glades of

Olympus Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to: Mountains In antiquity Greece * Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology * Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Les ...

. The Kirby/Colletta

is a mighty blond deity with a hint of Norse faerie-dust.

is a roughly hewn sculpture, almost incomplete, like one of the unfinished prisoners of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...

." Colletta himself described his methods as a necessity of the industry. When asked to describe his philosophy of inking, he said, "Well, first of all, some inkers like to pick and choose... and they'll take their time, no matter what the deadline is, even if the editor is in a jam, or a colorist is waiting for pages to come in so they can earn a living, too. I can't be that way."Colletta interview with Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, "Bullpen Bulletins", Marvel Comics

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d May 1983, including ''The New Mutants'' #3 (May 1983).

Personal life

By the early 1950s, Colletta was married to his wife, Viola. The couple had a son, Franklin. Circa 1962, the family began living at 3 Old Woods Road, in

Saddle River, New Jersey Saddle River is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located just over northwest of Manhattan. The town is known for its natural fields, farmland, forests, and rivers, and has a bucolic atmo ...

.Bryant, p. 17 Some time after having recovered from a heart attack, Colletta was diagnosed with cancer; three weeks later, on June 3, 1991, aged 67, he died at Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, New Jersey.Bryant, p. 115 At least one obituary, 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 ...

'', erroneously stated he died at age 65 and in "late June", and claimed the cause was heart disease.

Awards

Colletta was posthumously awarded the Inkwell Awards Special Recognition Award in 2016. His son, Frankie, extended his thanks on the awards' official site.Inkwell Awards 2016 Winners
/ref>

References

External links

at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
Archived
October 18, 2011.

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators * * *

Evanier, Mark 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 bl ...

"POV Online"
(column), March 19, 2003 *

Larsen, Erik Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marve ...

"One Fan's Opinion"
(column), ''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom ...

'', May 9, 2008 * * Archive of McQuarrie, Jim, , "Oddball Comics" (column) #1156, May 14, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Colletta, Vince 1923 births 1991 deaths American comics artists Italian emigrants to the United States Artists from the Province of Palermo People from Saddle River, New Jersey Silver Age comics creators DC Comics people Marvel Comics people