Round about 2008 an upstart comic book blogger who went by the name of Dan McFan burst onto the scene. It seemed as if his very existence revolved around the rumors and myriad stories swirling throughout the comic book art community about Vince Colletta. Talk about infamous – McFan exposed more misconceptions and outright lies being told about that man than any ten of his peers. Without going into all of the posthumous stories swirling around the halls of fandom concerning Vinnie, it was accepted by one and all that Colletta was a well-liked gentleman. I am privileged to be in possession of all of Dan’s e-Mails, notes and articles. Many professionals who wrote to him attested to Vinnie’s professionalism and good-natured spirit.
So, it was with great concern when Dan read comments by a black artist named Denys Cowan hinting that Vince Colletta was a racist. Supposedly, Cowan came into DC (or was it Marvel?) to show his portfolio and was told by Vinnie “We already have a black artist here at DC (Trevor Von Eeden – who got his first big break, interestingly enough, from Vince Colletta). McFan immediately wrote to Denys. This very short exchange followed:
Dan McFan: You wrote that Vince Colletta rejected you saying that “DC already has a colored artist”. Is this true?
Denys Cowan: Hey Dan,
Why do you need to verify this info?
Vinnie’s been gone a long time….
That was, as they say, all he wrote.
Fast-forward to 2024. Denys Cowan is being interviewed by a knob named John Siuntres and appears in a You Tube by Michael Stradford (Comments turned off…) where he repeated the story, this time with a few embellishments. Supposedly it was Rich Buckler, a protégé of Vinnie’s, who arranged the meeting between fifteen year-old Artist Cowan and Art Director Colletta. Same story, we already have a colored artist working here, blah-blah, but in this version, after Denys tells Buckler, Rich runs into Vince’s office to criticize him. According to Cowan, Vince didn’t back down but try to imagine the incredulity of the scene. Vince was a mentor to Rich Buckler. Rich wrote a very moving piece for my book about his time working with my father. Rich Buckler has since passed and it occurred to me that Cowan could have simply answered Dan McFan’s question in 2008 and had a real-live Rich Buckler to corroborate it.
Another interesting comment was made by Denys that Vince kept puffing on a cigar between looking at the individual pages in his portfolio. I just happened to be speaking with my sister Rosie an hour ago and shared the story with her. I asked “Did you ever once see daddy smoke a cigar?” Oh, how she laughed at the notion before saying “No!”
Cowan concluded with a years-later tale of Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter asking Vince to offer an apology to Denys. According to Cowan, it went something like “I don’t remember the incident but if what I said hurt you, I apologize.” Did Vinnie make a “we already have a colored artist” crack to Denys? Perhaps he did but, if so, it was most assuredly said in jest with no disrespect intended. I must say that I am skeptical about this part but, since Jim Shooter is still alive and well, perhaps he would like to weigh in.
I knew Vince Colletta like only a son can know his father and if there were even one racist bone in his body, I’d recognize it and freely admit it. I should simply stay silent and let Cowan’s story die its richly-deserved death except that dirt bag will come out of his rat-hole ten years from now to repeat it once again. Maybe its your only claim to fame, Denys; you sad, whimpering clown.
