Alfred Dean Avison (July 7, 1920 – December 1984) was an American

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

known for his work on the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

characters the Whizzer, which he co-created, and

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

during the 1930–1940s period known to fans and historians as the

Golden Age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

Biography

Early life and career

Born in

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

, the son of artist and WPA 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 Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

.Al Avison
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, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

Archived
from the original 2009-11-23 His first known comics work is co- inking

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

'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, pu ...

' ''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 unusu ...

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 use ...

Timely Comics

For

' 1940s predecessor,

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

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

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. After Captain America creators

and

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

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. B ...

became regular

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

'' 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

.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 by Stan Lee and Syd Shores, the character first appeared in ' ...

; 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 superheroes featured in ''Young All-Stars'' published by DC Comics * Young Allies (Marvel Comics), several superher ...

(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 a ...

''); 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 Mar ...

(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 M-11 M-11 is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally known as the Human Robot, the character was named "M-11" in the 2006 to 2007 ''Agents of Atlas'' miniseries as an allusion to its first ...

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, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

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 Alf ...

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 a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...

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

Joe Palooka ''Joe Palooka'' is an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984. The strip was adapt ...

", "

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 (director), James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas i ...

", "Humphrey", " Little Dot" and "

Shock Gibson Shock Gibson is a fictional comic book superhero who first appeared in ''Speed Comics'' #1 (Oct. 1939), from Brookwood Publications (a company later absorbed by Harvey Comics). He was created by artist Maurice Scott, who drew it through issue #11, ...

" (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 In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''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 Mr. Met is the official mascot for Major League Baseball's New York Mets. Mr. Met first appeared in 1963 as a cartoon drawing in programs. When the team moved to Shea Stadium the following year, he came to life in the form of a costumed mascoth ...

, the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

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 , it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast. Situated on the Long Island ...

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