Tag: John Morrow

Thank you two times, John Morrow. Initially, for having the courage to publish the first book to feature the notorious Vince Colletta. The Thin Black Line, while not nearly as comprehensive as DRAWN TO BEAUTY and not even close on the number and quality of images, presented a balanced view of the oft-maligned artist. Readers expressed surprise at how many positive comments from both professionals and fans were contained in the book. The author, Robert Bryant, went to great lengths to uncover rare admirers of Vinnie the artist and the man. Undoubtedly, Kirby purists had a bad taste in their mouths as the majority of these people have “learned” to hate Colletta. Morrow could have pandered to the Kirby crowd by exercising editorial control over Bryant’s manuscript but didn’t do so.

The cover of Morrow Publishing’s new book, Dingbat Love, contains Jack Kirby pencils that were inked by Vince Colletta and Kirby Klub fan favorite Mike Royer. The cover of this publication is responsible for the second THANK YOU, JOHN! The three-panel wrap shows an example of Jack’s pencils on the left, a Vinnie-inked image in the center and Royer’s inks on the right. The chief reason that Mike’s work is preferred by aficionados of all things Kirby is that he faithfully inked every line that Jack laid onto paper. Colletta, on the other hand, both added to and subtracted from Kirby’s pencils according to his own artistic sensibilities and time constraints. While any hard core Kirby fan considers this heresy, thanks to the cover of Dingbat Love, it is likely obvious to anyone how much more accomplished and nuanced is the center panel inked by Vince Colletta. The Kirby pencils on the left are primal. The woman is more scary than she is attractive. Colletta’s delineation is exquisite in its attention to detail. The woman, as are all of Vinnie’s girls, is stunning. Royer’s example basically consists of thick lines and blobs of India ink. Enjoy Vinnie’s art and, by all means, pick up a copy of Dingbat Love if, for nothing else, to view Colletta’s elegant inking of the story Soul Love.

Jack Adler (Former DC Editor and Colorist): Vinnie….Vinnie was a peach!

Elliott S! Maggin (Former DC Writer): Hey Frank, it’s great to trip over you. I liked Vinnie quite a lot. He was a great character and had a good deal of character to boot.

Stan: My man, Vinnie Colletta, beautiful women, intricate well thought-out inks, always on time-every time. Rest in Peace, Vince.

Jason Shayer: Let me preface this post by saying that I haven’t read much about Vince Colletta the man (and from the brief mentions of him that I have, he was a rather nice guy) and that this is a criticism of his work and not him personally…… Colletta’s inks always seemed to impose its own style rather than embellish the style of the penciller…. Vinnie erased background figures and simplified backgrounds and turned fully realized drawings into silhouettes….. As long as editors gave him work, he’d take the money and spit back the work as quickly as possible. Doing that meant taking shortcuts and Vinnie took shortcuts aplenty.”…… There’s no doubt over his career that Vince Colletta rescued hundreds of Marvel comics that were on the brink of missing deadlines. However, his work, in my opinion, left a lot to be desired……

Liquidwater: Web of Spider-Man illustrated by Silvestri and Colletta provides us with breathtakingly beautiful women – one of Vinnie’s trademarks. I also loved his Thor inks, the hell with what he erased, the finished products are masterpieces.

Jason Shayer: Hey Liquidwater, fair enough. Colletta’s early work on the Atlas/Marvel Romance books was quite good as well, especially the ladies.

Gormuu: It’s commonly accepted that Colletta drew the most beautiful women in the history of illustration.

ElectricPeterTork: Well, of course! He erased all those unsightly lines and wrinkles!

John Morrow (Publisher): Has this book changed my opinion of Vinnie and his work? In a lot of ways, it has, and I think that, love him or hate him, you’ll walk away from this book with a new appreciation and understanding of this colorful and controversial comic professional. I know I did.

Allen Smith: I can’t make any judgments about whose life was more exciting (Kirby or Colletta), but I’d buy a book about Vinnie.

CaptainJersey: As I was growing up I think two of the first artists that stood out for me were Dick Giordano and Vince Colletta… both for the beautiful women they drew. To this day, I’ll always think of Vince Colletta as a man who drew beautiful women. I have learned more about his inking habits over the years, but whenever someone shows me one of his panels, I always marvel at the lovely ladies, rather than what is not present.

Michael Netzer (Former Marvel and DC penciler): When looking at Vinnie’s work from outside of the context of being a comics penciler, it’s usually very proficient and has a special quality to it. The way he was judged was similar to how Michelangelo’s students would react to Van Gogh or Picasso. That’s probably why some people simply love his Thor run on Kirby while others despise it because they judge it based on Kirby’s pencils.

Vinnie was a very helpful art director at DC. He always took time to engage artists about their work and help them approach it more professionally. For all that’s said about him, he was very suitable for that position and elevated the art craftsmanship at DC during his tenure. He was also a very nice guy who helped artists move ahead in their career. It was Vinnie who once suggested to me that I come up with a new female character because DC was looking for one – and that’s how the idea for Ms. Mystic was born.

On the one hand, it’s unfortunate that an unflattering reputation stuck to him. On the other, this has spawned a new look at his work since his passing away, and has raised a strong voice of admiration and support for him in fandom. That’s certainly better than if no one cared about it one way or the other.

JACK KIRBY, VINCE COLLETTA, MIKE ROYER AND THE KULT

DREAM GIRLS COURTESY OF VINCE COLLETTA