Alfred Dean Avison (July 7, 1920 – December 1984) 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 ...

artist known for his work on 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 ...

characters the Whizzer, which he co-created, and Captain America during the 1930–1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of comic books.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of artist and

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

muralist George Avison, Al Avison was influenced by the work of his father and of commercial illustrator Albert Dorne.Alfred Avison
at Ask Art: The American Artists Bluebook. . He studied art at Pratt Institute in

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 ...

.Al Avison
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
Archived
from the original 2009-11-23 His first known comics work is co-

inking Inking may refer to: *Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person *Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares * Inking (comic book production) *Pen computing Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using ...

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

's lead story in

Novelty Press Novelty Press (a.k.a. Premium Service Co., Inc.; a.k.a. Novelty Publications; a.k.a. Premier Group) was an American Golden Age comic-book publisher that operated from 1940 to 1949. It was the comic book imprint of Curtis Publishing Company, publ ...

' ''Blue Bolt Comics'' #4 (

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 Sept. 1940).Al Avison
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 ...

Timely Comics

For

' 1940s predecessor,

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, penciler Avison and an unknown writer co-created super-speedster the Whizzer in '' U.S.A. Comics'' #1 (Aug. 1941). The character would appear in most issues of that comic, and was part of Timely/Marvel's first superhero team, the

All-Winners Squad The All-Winners Squad is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The company's first such team, it first appeared in ''All Winners Comics'' #19 (Fall 1946), published by Marvel predecessor Timely Co ...

. After Captain America creators

and Joe Simon moved on following ''Captain America Comics'' #10 (Jan. 1942), Avison and

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. Bi ...

became regular pencilers of the title, with one generally inking over the other. Avison had been the inker over penciler Kirby on ''Captain America Comics'' #4-6 (June-Sept. 1941), and had penciled or inked that character's stories in ''

All Winners Comics ''All Winners Comics'' was the name of two American comic book series of the 1940s, both published by Marvel Comics' predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. A superhero anthology comic i ...

'' as early as issue #3 (Winter 1941-42). Shores would take over as regular penciller, inked by

Vince Alascia Vincent Alascia (January 14, 1914 – September 3, 1998),
at the

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

.Additional created September 26, 2010. Avison also worked as a penciler or, more often, as inker on characters including the

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

(in ''

Marvel Mystery Comics ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' (first issue titled simply ''Marvel Comics'') is an American comic book series published during the 1930s–1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. It was the first publication of Mar ...

''); the

Blonde Phantom The Blonde Phantom (Louise Grant Mason) is a fictional masked crime fighter appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created for Marvel predecessor Timely Comics, she first appeared in '' All Select Comics'' #11 (cover-dat ...

; the

Young Allies Young Allies, in comics, may refer to one of the following superhero teams: * Young Allies (DC Comics), a team made up of young heroes from the Allies and featured in a story arc in ''Young All-Stars'' published by DC Comics. * Young Allies (Marvel ...

(in ''Amazing Comics'', ''Kid Komics'' and ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans an ...

''); the

Black Marvel The Black Marvel (Daniel Lyons) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Al Gabriele with an unknown writer, he first appeared in ''Mystic Comics'' #5 (March 1941), published by ...

(in ''All Winners Comics''); and Tommy Tyme (in ''Mystic Comics''). With Joe Simon, he was one of two inkers on the Kirby-drawn debut of Marvel Boy in ''Daring Mystery Comics'' #6 (Sept. 1940). Avison's Timely work appears as late as ''Captain America Comics'' #71 (March 1949).

Other work

Avison additionally worked on the original Captain Marvel for

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel, the alter ego of ...

in 1941-42. He also freelanced for

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 ...

both during and after his Timely stint, on such features as "The Red Blazer" (introducing him in ''Pocket Comics'' #1, Aug. 1941), "

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. The ...

", "Captain Freedom" (including inking Jack Kirby's cover art on ''Speed Comics'' #16 & #18, Jan. & May 1942), " Joe Palooka", "

The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of med ...

", "Humphrey", " Little Dot" and " Shock Gibson" (including the cover of ''Speed Comics'' #14, Dec. 1941), through at least the early 1950s. Avison's last known work is penciling and inking the cover of Harvey's horror anthology ''Chamber of Chills'' #26 (Dec. 1954). Avision was married to Margaret Bernice Callaway, and had children Todd Christopher Avison and Kimberly Dean Avison. According to his son and widow, Avison was at least one of the artists who contributed to the design of Mr. Met, the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

mascot that debuted in 1963. Avison died in December 1984 in

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It has the youngest population of any ...

References

External links

*
Heroes of the Golden Age
2009-10-24) {{DEFAULTSORT:Avison, Al American comics artists Golden Age comics creators 1920 births 1984 deaths Marvel Comics people Pratt Institute alumni