Brush Strokes With Greatness: The Life & Art of Joe Sinnott by TwoMorrows Publishing

Brush Strokes

With With

Greatness

THE LIFE & ART OF by Tim Lasiuta

Acknowledgements Brush Strokes With Greatness: The Life and Art of Joe Sinnott by Tim Lasiuta Book Design & Production by Jon B. Cooke Proofreading by Christopher Irving Published by TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 www.twomorrows.com • twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • April 2007 • Printed in Canada Softcover ISBN: 978-1-893905-72-6 Trademarks & Copyrights Arrowhead, Annihilus, The Avengers, Captain America, Contest of Champions, Crystal, Devil-Dog Dugan, Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, The Falcon, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Gorgon, The Hulk, Human Torch, The Inhumans, Invisible Girl, Kent Blake, Kid Colt Outlaw, Kid From Texas, Loki, Matt Slade, Mephisto, Mr. Fantastic, Ms. Marvel, Namorita, Nick Fury, Outlaw Kid, Rawhide Kid, Ringmaster, Sif, Silver Surfer, SpiderMan, Spider-Woman, Sub-Mariner, Super Pro, The Thing, Thor, Titano, Two-Gun Kid, Warriors Three, The Watcher, Wundar ©2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. Clark Kent, The Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Lois Lane, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Wonder Woman ©2007 DC Comics Conan ©2007 Conan Properties, Inc. John Carter of Mars © ERB, Inc. The Shadow ©2007 Condé Nast. Terry and the Pirates ©2007 Tribune Syndicate. The Phantom ©2007 King Features. Gawain, Mopsy, Trudi ©2007 the respective copyright holders.

Table of Contents DEDICATION In Memory of Betty Sinnott by Mark Sinnott ..................................................................6 INTRODUCTION Stan the Man & Jovial Joe by Stan Lee ........................................................................7 WORD FROM THE WATCHER In the Beginning ..................................................................................8 CHAPTER ONE Out of School and Into Print........................................................................................9 CHAPTER TWO Enter Stan Lee ..........................................................................................................21 Found Treasure The Treasure Chest Comics Years ........................................................................33 Junior Effort Working for Classics Illustrated ..............................................................................41 COLOR GALLERY ................................................................................................................................49 CHAPTER THREE The Fantastic Four and Beyond ..............................................................................57 The Lost Superman/Spider-Man Pages by Terry Austin ..........................................................76 CHAPTER FOUR With One Single Panel ............................................................................................78 Sinnott Strips ..............................................................................................................................82 CHAPTER FIVE Penciler Up! ..............................................................................................................86 CHAPTER SIX A Thing for Bing..........................................................................................................88 CHAPTER SEVEN Appreciations: Speaking of Joe… ..........................................................................92 CHAPTER EIGHT Pin-Up, Anyone? ..................................................................................................111 CHAPTER NINE While Bing Gently Sings ........................................................................................116 SINNOTT GALLERY ..........................................................................................................................121 CHECKLIST Joe Sinnott Comicography............................................................................................124 AFTERWORD Just A Guy Named Joe by Mark Evanier ....................................................................128 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................130 SPECIAL THANKS ............................................................................................................................131 A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTIST From Joe, With Love ..................................................................132

A Word from the Watcher

In the Beginning... “I am the Watcher, guardian of a thousand worlds and countless sentient life forms. Universes have passed away before my eyes, and galaxies born while I observe, and learn. Many are the chroniclers of my observations, and many are the visualizers. Of these, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott have pleased me with their tellings of our encounters... “Of Sinnott, I could tell you much. Born in the Catskill Mountains, Saugerties, New York, on your planet in the United States, October 16th, 1926, to Catherine and Edward Sinnott. He was, as you Earthlings say, a precocious child. Athletic, artistic, and hard working, he was destined for greatness... “I leave you now to explore Brushstrokes With Greatness: The Life and Art of Joe Sinnott.” 8

Chapter One

Out of School and Into Print oe Sinnott got his early professional art education at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in the late 1940s. But his interest in art had started years before that. “My mom had run a boarding house in Saugerties, where many local teachers would stay. At the tender age of three, in 1929, one of the teachers gave me a box of crayons with a decorated top, and after that, I drew all the time. Whatever I could find, I’d draw on [it]. “One of our boarders, a German cook named Bill Theison, used to draw on his clothes at night. When he finished, his pants looked like an artist’s sketch pad filled with cowboys, Indians, and soldiers of various types. He inspired me to draw whatever I could, as often as I could. And, like many of the kids at the time, I loved the comic strips in the local papers. As a young man, I copied as many of them as I could. Terry and the Pirates, Smilin’ Jack, Jungle Jim and Flash Gordon were my favorites at the time, and I learned so much from them about art, or at least I thought I did.”

“A GREAT TIME TO BE A KID!” The late 1930s was a time of cultural explosion. Big Little Books, with content culled directly from the comic strips, were everywhere! Comic books first appeared in 1934 and, when Action Comics #1 rocked the world in 1938, the invasion had started. Movie serials from Republic Studios brought heroes to life on the big screen. The Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and Dick Tracy entertained children in theatres week after week. Joe Sinnott was no exception. “Believe it or not, Superman was not my favorite character as a child. I leaned more towards Congo Bill (from Action Comics #1) because he was similar to Jungle Jim by Alex Raymond. As kids, my friends and I ate up the serials. Our dimes sure went a long way! A main feature, and a movie serial chapter… If we were lucky, a

cartoon, too. Of course, radio drama at the time was no slouch either. [It was] the Golden Age of Radio, the Golden Age of Hollywood (and movie serials), and the Golden Age of Comic Books, even though we didn’t know it. It was a great time to be a kid!” High school was no different for Joe. “I was still drawing in high school. So much so, that I was the art director for our class yearbook. In our school there were only two art classes, Representation and Design, so I had to learn anatomy from the comic strips. That’s where [Flash Gordon artist] Alex Raymond and [Wash Tubbs artist] Roy Crane were so instrumental. I loved their work then, and still do.” PLAYING BALL “I had come out of the Navy in 1946 after serving with the Fighting Seabees over on Okinawa during the war. And when I came out, I knew I wanted to go to art school, but I was piddling around. You know, I loved playing ball. I was playing baseball and working up in a limestone quarry. The winter of ’48 was one of the worst in New York

ABOVE: Joe Sinnott, 1932.

LEFT INSET: Is it Jungle Jim or Congo Bill? Joe Sinnott drawing from 1941.

BELOW: The Sinnott Family in 1931. Art & photos courtesy of the Sinnott family.

Chapter Two

Enter Stan Lee he comic racks and newsstands of the early 1950s were a wonderful place to linger. Colorful images of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Lone Ranger, The Two-Gun Kid, Kent Blake, screaming horrific covers from EC, tantalizing images of The Ghost Rider and Gene Autry, alongside romance comics, drew young eyes back and forth. Pulp novels, lurid paperback covers, Amazing and Astounding, and celebrity tell-all magazines pulled readers of all ages and demographics into a world of fantasy and make-believe. But comic books were the king, and a young Stan Lee, working for his uncle Martin Goodman at Atlas Comics was at the top of his game. Writing piles of stories for artists like Jack Keller, John Severin, Al Williamson, and Paul Reinman, another freelancer was always welcome. Enter Joe Sinnott. By 1950, Joe was working with Tom Gill producing filler stories for Stan and Atlas Comics. And with Red Warrior and Kent Blake under his belt, Joe was ready to join the ‘big boys’ at Atlas.

guys are doing great work on those fillers for me.” Joe just smiles. “I’d like to go freelance, on my own and work for Atlas/Timely, if you’ll have me. After all, I have done most of the Red Warrior book we just handed in. And Kent Blake is one of my jobs, too.” Stan nods. “Well, in that case, I’ll give you a script… Here, a short western called ‘The Man Who Wouldn’t Die’ [published in Apache Kid #8]. Bring it in when you’re done.” And that was it. “I’ve known Stan for 56 years now, and still work with him on the Spider-Man Sunday strips, inking Alex Saviuk. I worked very hard to impress Stan on my first story for him. Looking back on it now, I know I put a lot of time and

ABOVE: Splash page of first Sinnott-published Atlas work, Apache Kid #8. ©’07 Marvel Characters, Inc.

FOLLOWING BETTY’S ADVICE Imagine this scene if you will: Stan at his desk. Piles of legal pads to his left. Cup of coffee steaming at one edge near a half-eaten sandwich, telephone at the other edge. Behind him, on a table, stacks of artwork ready to be proofed and lettered. A knock comes at the door. “Come in,” Stan says. A tall, well-dressed artist enters. He offers his hand. “Mr. Lee, my name is Joe Sinnott. I have been working with Tom Gill as his assistant over the last few months.” Stan looks up and smiles. “Pleased to meet you, Joe. So, you are the guy who helps Tom! You

Professional comic book artist Joe Sinnott in his studio, circa 1950s.

Chapter Three

TheFantastic Four and Beyond ith the departure of Jack Kirby from Marvel Comics, The Fantastic Four fell into good hands. “I continued to ink The Fantastic Four until the early #300s on a more casual basis. Having worked on it so long, I think I added a sense of continuity to the title that helped make it a fan favorite. Big John Buscema penciled The Fantastic Four for around 30 issues, and he was an amazing draftsmen to work with. He could draw anything. I had inked him on The Silver Surfer and The Mighty Thor before this, so I appreciated his talents already. His greatest comic book achievement was Conan, of course, with Roy Thomas for more than 20 years. “Then along came Richard Buckler Sr. for a couple dozen issues. Rich’s art always reminded of a cross between Kirby and Buscema, and it worked very well with my inking once I got used to his pages. George Pérez, Keith Pollard, John Byrne, and Ron Frenz also worked on the title, too, over the next few years, each adding their own unique touch.”

BYRNE LONG NECKS “I remember when I first started working with John Byrne. He was very young at the time and he was still living in Canada and he did a Fantastic Four. They asked if I would ink a Fantastic Four that he did so when I got it — and, of course, John and I have become very good friends since then. John drew very long necks and I didn’t know whether to lower the heads or to erase the body. So, I had to erase the heads and lower them. I called up John and I said, ‘John, I’d like to offer just a little opinion. You’re making your necks too long…’ You see, John didn’t know he was making his necks long, and you could hear a pin drop. Then I told him, ‘You’re parting Johnny’s hair on the wrong side of his head.’ I tell you, you could hear a pin drop again. So it’s strange. “When you work on The Fantastic Four for all those issues that I did, you draw Johnny’s hair parted on the left; then all of a sudden, when you get where it’s parted on the right, it throws you all off. I mean it’s amazing. But

John was one of the cleanest pencilers that I ever worked with. His pencils were immaculate.” PÉREZ, MAN OF DETAIL

“George Pérez and I worked on a few issues of the Fantastic Four and other titles over the years. Even as a young artist, he was a great storyteller and his pencils showed just how much work he put into them. His panels were always so busy with detail, cross-hatching, checker-

Chapter Four

With One Single Panel... he comic pages of the major newspapers were packed with fantasy during the 1930s and ’40s. Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, Buck Rogers, Tarzan, Mandrake the Magician, and other adventure strips inspired youths all over the nation. Outstanding draftsmen like Raymond, Hogarth, Flanders, McManus, Caniff, Crane, Andriola, Gould, Foster, and Sickles served up creative masterpieces daily to hungry comic strip fans. Joe Sinnott was no different than any of a hundred comic book professionals. “I used to copy, when I was a kid, Flash Gordon and Terry and the Pirates, but I think I was more influenced by Milton Caniff, Terry and the Pirates, than I was by Raymond, although I loved Raymond’s Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, of course,” Joe said.

“DOLPH FINLAY” THIS SPREAD: Joe Sinnott produced a sample Terry and the Pirates strip, as well as these character studies, in the late 1950s. Terry and the Pirates ©2007 Tribune Syndicate. Art ©2007 Joe Sinnott.

“I had been a successful comic book artist for over a decade already. And given my early inspiration from the newspaper strips, I wanted to try my hand at a daily strip. That chance didn’t come until the late ’50s. After Marvel Comics went belly-up [in 1957], a lot of the guys who lived in New York scrambled over to DC and the other

companies to get work. Living in Saugerties, I couldn’t do it so readily, but before I could, I got a call from one of the editors at Watson Guptill (who published an art magazine). He told me, ‘My son has written a strip called Dolph Finlay and we have both admired your style. We want you to draw it for us.’ So I said, ‘Okay.’ He said he had contacts in the industry and could help with King Features. The script came up and it was about a Navy frogman (now he’d be a Navy Seal) and it was pretty good. I inked and penciled it in the evenings (as I had just picked up some work with Charlton and Treasure Chest) and they showed it to King. It seems all the syndicates were looking for funny stuff and that continuity strips were on the way out. “What was amazing about it was that, even though we got good reaction, they still said no! One year later, Lloyd Bridges came out with Sea Hunt, which was a great success. Editors may be smart, but they don’t always make great decisions!” THE GHOST WHO WALKS “Another character I loved as a kid was The Phantom. I marveled at the artistry of Wilson McCoy and when he passed away in 1961 from jungle fever, I wanted

When the jungle vapors cleared, Sy Barry was given the job instead of Joe Sinnott, after one strip by Carmine Infantino, and he worked on the Phantom until his retirement in the early ’80s. JOHNNY HAWK, ALL AMERICAN

to do The Phantom. I had already practiced my craft at Atlas, Marvel, Treasure Chest, and Dell, and felt confident enough to do a good job. So, I worked up a sample and sent it in.”

In the early 1960s, Joe Sinnott was working full-time for Dell, Treasure Chest and Marvel Comics. “My editor at Treasure Chest, Bob Wischmeyher, called me up one day and told me he had an idea for a strip called Johnny Hawk, All American. He wanted to collaborate with me. It was about a college athlete trying to make the team. I knew how hard it was to sell a strip, so I worked on it at night after supper. Looking back, I thought I did some of my best work ever on it. It would have been popular in 1939, but in 1962 with college age youths

Chapter Seven

Speaking of Joe... uch as Jack Kirby codified the language of comic book storytelling, his illustrious cohort Joe Sinnott wrote the rules for comic book brush technique. The study of his sinuous, thickand-thin India ink lines are a required procedure for anyone who hopes to understand even the most basic elements of classic comic book inking. In fact, for the Comic Book Art and Graphic Novel classes that I’ve taught at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, I make the study of Sinnott’s work a key part of my

courses. His technique is so perfect, so seminal, and so influential on modern comics that he’s one of the few inkers whose work has become a mandatory cornerstone of my lessons. I explain to students that they can certainly branch out from there, but the classic rudiments that they’ll need all begin with Joe Sinnott. With a deft swoop of ink line to the curve of a bicep, Sinnott can convey more form than a hundred crosshatched pen lines or feathered brush strokes could convey. It’s quite astounding. As far as I’m concerned, in theory and practice, comic book inking technique all starts with Sinnott. He’s one of the true icons of the field. Absolutely.

--Timothy Truman Back in the ‘old’ days, if someone asked me who the best three inkers in the business were, I would say Frank Giacoia, Dick Giordano and Joe Sinnott. As a ‘Marvel’ mate, I have always loved Joe’s work. No matter how simple the pencils were, the result was always beautiful. We haven’t worked much together; primarily on The Hulk comic strip in the 1980s and his inking over Frank’s pencils were wonderful. As penciler on the Spider-Man daily strip, I watch with awe his inking on the Sunday panel and still wonder, after almost 50 years in the business, how he can turn squiggles into the most amazing backgrounds. He is still at the top of his game. He is more than an inker; he is a stylist, and the best finisher we have in the industry today.

-- Larry Lieber Joe Sinnott was the first professional inker I ever had. I had entered a Fantastic Four piece in a fanzine contest (EPOCH) and Joe had been contacted to ink it. When it came back, Joe had some nice things to say about my pencils. Later on, when I was writing and penciling The Fantastic Four, whatever I asked for, Joe delivered. I remember one scene where I had asked for a black marble

floor, and Joe, being the professional he is, worked very hard to get the floor right. As a writer, I knew absolutely that I could trust him. Whatever I penciled, no matter how rough it was, I knew what it would turn out like. That’s the mark of an exceptional inker.

-- John Byrne Joe Sinnott is, and has been, the best inker in comics for almost 60 years. He has also done countless books for alternate publishers penciling and inking to show what a complete artist he is. Any aspiring comics artist would be wise to check out his body of work to see the polished, consistent quality he is noted for. Beyond that, there has never been a more reliable artist or a better person in the business. It’s a pleasure to know him and to be his friend and colleague.

-- John Romita Sr. As far as I know, I’m one of the few people who has ever inked Joe’s pencils (very intimidating). He drew a few figures for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Joe is a sweet lovely guy who reminds me a lot of a children’s host on a TV show when I was a kid, Officer Joe Bolton, friend of the Three Stooges. Joe loves his family, his God, baseball and drawing pictures.

-- Josef Rubinstein I first met Joe Sinnott at a New York City convention back in the mid-’70s. I remember having a really nice conversation with Joe which made me realize why he was considered one of the truly nice guys in the business. We were both asked to judge the comic book costume contest (which incidentally were outstanding). This was, unfortunately for me, the only encounter I had with Joe in all the years he and I have been in this industry. Of course, I was fortunate enough to have Joe ink my penciling many times (Rom, among others), and as he did with everyone he inked, he made me look good! There is no question that Joe is a consummate professional. He

recently celebrated his 80th birthday, and as far as I know he is still working.

ABOVE: From left, it’s John Romita Sr., Joe Sinnott and Stan Lee in a recent photo.

-- Sal Buscema I was very late discovering Joe Sinnott’s magnificent talents. During the ’60s, when most comic book fans were eagerly awaiting the next issue of Kirby and Sinnott art on The FF or Thor or Cap, I was reading Mad magazine and totally oblivious to the Marvel explosion. When I finally did turn my attention to super-hero comics in 1973, I fell under Neal Adams’ spell and was totally absorbed in trying to learn his type of detailed, realistic comic art. But, as I began to try to add more dynamics to my penciling, I started studying Kirby and Buscema, and I finally noticed Joe Sinnott. His inking always streamlined the pencils in such a confident, informed way. He knew just how thick or thin to make a line, where to add a black, and where to add rendering or leave it out. He made the extremely difficult art of inking over another artist look easy, and that’s the true sign of a master. Of course, part of the reason for this is that Joe is a very skilled penciler as well, as his Pope