Joe Sinnott: 1926 to 2020

Legendary comic book artist Joe Sinnott passed away on June 25th at the age of 93.  Sinnott had such a long and distinguished career as an artist that I really could not do him justice in a short blog post.  I will touch upon a few highlights, but for a much more detailed examination of his career I strongly urge everyone to get a copy of Brush Strokes With Greatness: The Life & Art of Joe Sinnott written by Tim Lasiuta from TwoMorrows Publishing.

Fantastic Four #57 (Dec 1966) cover artwork by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

Joe Sinnott was born in Saugerties, NY on October 16, 1926, and he lived in that area for almost his entire life.  Following service in the U.S Navy during World War II, Sinnott attended the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now known as the School of Visual Arts). 

One of his instructors was artist Tom Gill, who asked Sinnott to work as his assistant. Sinnott assisted Gil for nine months in 1949.

In 1950 Sinnott decided to find work on his own, and he was soon receiving regular assignments from Atlas Comics, the precursor to Marvel.  Atlas editor Stan Lee assigned numerous stories for Sinnott to illustrate which saw print in the company’s war, horror, science fiction and Western anthologies.

“Invasion From Outer Space!” from Journey Into Mystery #52 (May 1959) penciled & inked by Joe Sinnott

In 1957 Atlas experienced a severe contraction due to its distributor American News Company being shut down by the federal government in an anti-trust case.  Sinnott was one of the many freelancers let go by Atlas, and so he had to find work elsewhere.  He worked for a number of clients, including Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact, an educational, Catholic-oriented comic book published by George A. Pflaum that was distributed to parochial schools in North America.

Stan Lee asked Sinnott to return to Atlas in 1959.  Within two years the company had transformed into Marvel and begun its successful superhero revival.  During this period Lee first had Sinnott work as an inker over Jack Kirby, initially on stories for Atlas war and monster anthologies, and then on some of the early Marvel superhero books, such as Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962) the first appearance of Doctor Doom, and Journey Into Mystery #83 (Aug 1962) the first appearance of Thor.  Sinnott also contributed the full artwork for some of the early Thor stories that appeared in Journey Into Mystery in 1963.

Artwork from The Beatles published by Dell Comics (Sept 1964) penciled & inked by Joe Sinnott

Lee had actually wanted Sinnott to become the regular inker over Kirby on Fantastic Four following issue #5.  However at this time Treasure Chest assigned Sinnott to draw the 65 page biography “The Story Of Pope John XXIII, Who Won Our Hearts,” which was serialized in nine issues between September 1962 and January 1963. 

Treasure Chest vol 25 #16 (May 14, 1970) cover artwork by Joe Sinnott

Soon another ambitious project was assigned to Sinnott, a biography of the British rock band the Beatles published by Dell Comics in 1964.  Sinnott was given a mere month within which to illustrate the entire 64 page book.  It speaks highly of both his talent and professionalism that he turned in the job on time while doing quality work. And, as I’ve observed before, drawing likenesses can be very tricky. All things considered, I think Sinnott did a fair job capturing the appearances of the Fab Four.

Following the completion of these two biographies, Sinnott began to work for Marvel almost exclusively.  He also continued to illustrate stories and covers for Treasure Chest up until the title came to an end in 1972.

Sinnott did finally became the regular inker over Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four beginning with issue #44 (Nov 1965).  The art team of Kirby & Sinnott on FF in the second half of the 1960s is highly acclaimed.  As historian Mark Alexander stated in his book Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years (TwoMorrows, 2011)…

“In an uncanny stroke of luck and perfect timing, just when Kirby gained the time to improve his artwork, Joe Sinnott became the FF’s regular inker. Sinnott was a master craftsman, fiercely proud of the effort and meticulous detail he put into his work. … That slick, stylized layer of India ink that Sinnott painted over Kirby’s pencils finished Jack’s work in a way that no other inker ever would. Comic fans had never witnessed art this strange and powerful in its scope and strength.”

A scan of the original artwork for Fantastic Four #81 page 1 (Dec 1968) penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Joe Sinnott. I think this is a really good example of Sinnott’s polished inking over Kirby. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Following a falling-out with Marvel, Kirby departed Fantastic Four with issue #102 (Sept 1970).  Sinnott, however, remained on as the FF inker / finisher for 15 years, until issue #231 (June 1981).  In the post-Kirby decade Sinnott inked pencilers John Buscema, Rich Buckler, George Perez, Keith Pollard, Bill Sienkiewicz and John Byrne on Fantastic Four.  It’s generally regarded that Sinnott helped maintain artistic consistency on the title during the Bronze Age.

Sinnott became a much in-demand inker / finisher at Marvel from the mid 1960s thru the early 1990s.  He was paired with numerous pencilers during this 27 year period.  As longtime Marvel editor Tom Brevoort explained on his blog:

“Joe Sinnott defined the look of the Marvel art style as much as anybody this side of John Romita, and more than any other inker in the business. His smooth linework and clean finish gave a pristine, sleek, modernistic flavor to any assignment he worked his brush over, regardless of the penciler. He’s absolutely my favorite inker of all time, a guy who improved the quality of any series he was working on. Additionally, Joe is an absolute professional, and a hell of a nice guy.”

Thor #407 (Sept 1989) penciled by Ron Frenz & inked by Joe Sinnott

Sinnott’s last regular assignment for Marvel was Thor, paired with penciler Ron Frenz from 1989 to 1991, another wonderful collaboration.  In 1991 Sinnott made the decision to retire from monthly comic books, although over the next 28 years he continued to contribute to various miniseries, special editions, pin-ups and other projects, and to ink the Sunday installment of the Spider-Man newspaper strip.  In March 2019, at the age of 92, he FINALLY made the decision to completely retire as a professional artist, although he continued to draw for pleasure until nearly the end of his life.

The news of Sinnott’s passing this week was met with sadness.  This was not only because he was an incredibly talented artist who worked on hundreds of great comic book stories, but because he was also a genuinely good person, beloved by friends, colleagues and fans alike.  As comic book writer & historian Mark Evanier opined on his blog this week:

“If you were in a crowd of folks who worked in the comic book industry and announced, “Joe Sinnott was the best inker who ever worked in comics,” you wouldn’t get a lot of argument. If you said, “Joe Sinnott was the nicest guy who ever worked in comics,” you’d get even less.”

Fantastic Four #181 (April 1977) autographed by Joe Sinnott

I was one of the many fans who was fortunate enough to meet Joe Sinnott when he was a guest at comic book conventions.  He always came across to me as friendly, warm and down to Earth.

Sinnott was one of those people whose work I enjoyed before I met him, but afterwards I became even more of a fan by virtue of the fact that he was such a good guy.

Joe Sinnott leaves behind a rich, creative legacy, and he will definitely be missed.  I wish to offer my condolences to his family and friends for their loss.

This King… This Kirby!

One hundred years ago today, on August 28, 1917, Jacob Kurtzberg was born in the Lower East Side slums of New York City.  Kurtzberg would grow up to become Jack Kirby, one of the most innovative, creative, prolific individuals to ever work within the comic book industry.

There is absolutely no way that I can do justice to the memory of Jack “King” Kirby, to the literal legion of amazing characters he created over the decades, in a single blog post.  Entire books can, and have, been written about the man and his works.  The Jack Kirby Collector, published by TwoMorrows, is a magazine devoted entirely to the life, work & legacy of Kirby, and it has been in continuous publication since 1994.  If you do a Google search, you will find numerous other tributes to Kirby that have been prepared to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

If I had to pick one piece to which I would want to direct your attention, it would be “Kirby at 100” by Mark Evanier.  A comic book writer & historian, Evanier worked as Kirby’s assistant in the early 1970s, and is one of the definitive authorities on the man.

I would also like to direct your attention to “The Top 10 Reasons Jack Kirby is the King of Comics” at Between the Pages.  In addition to spotlighting some really great examples of Kirby’s work, Between the Pages also offers up an amazing Kirby-themed cake!

Kirby’s work often had very political overtones.  Captain America’s Creator Spent a Lifetime Punching Nazis examines Kirby’s service in the armed forces on the battlefields of World War II, and his continuing struggle against fascism & injustice in his stories throughout the decades.

It is very difficult to imagine what comic books would be like without Kirby, or even IF there would have been a comic book industry today without him.  That is how incredibly important and influential he was.

Or, to put it another way, recently commenting on Facebook about Jack Kirby’s importance to the comic book biz, writer / artist Howard Chaykin bluntly stated “He’s why all of us have jobs, for fuck’s sake.”

To celebrate Kirby’s 100th birthday, I’ve begun re-reading (for the upteenth time) his astonishing “Fourth World” saga, beginning with New Gods.  These stories were originally published by DC Comics in the early 1970s, and they are among my all-time favorite works by Kirby.  Issue #7 of New Gods, “The Pact,” was once cited by Kirby himself as his favorite single issue that he ever created.  It is indeed a magnum opus, at once both epic in scope and intimate in it’s tragedy, an examination of the terrible losses war inflicts, the corrupting influence of conflict upon even the best among us.  The artwork by Kirby and inker Mike Royer is both breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Tonight I expect that I’ll dig out my copy of Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 3 and re-read the classic tale “This Man… This Monster!” Kirby, working with co-writer / editor Stan Lee and inker Joe Sinnott, produced Fantastic Four #51, one of the finest single issues of that series.  One can endlessly debate “who did what” in the Lee/Kirby collaborations at Marvel Comics, but whatever the division of labor, there is no doubt that together the two men crafted some wonderful stories, including this one.  That first page splash from FF #51 by Kirby & Sinnott of Ben Grimm, the Thing, standing forlornly in the pouring rain, is one of the most iconic images in the history of comic books.

Jack Kirby was a genius.  As longtime comic book writer Roy Tomas observed today, “We’ll never see his like again. But then again why should we think we would? After all, we never saw his like BEFORE, either!”

Comic book reviews: Jack Kirby’s Silver Star

Jack Kirby was, without a doubt, one of the most influential comic book creators of the 20th Century.  His dynamic art style and storytelling techniques influenced dozens upon dozens of other artists.  Kirby was also responsible for creating or co-creating literally hundreds of characters for both Marvel and DC Comics.  Among these were Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, the original X-Men, the New Gods, Darkseid, the Demon Etrigan, OMAC, and Kamandi, just to name some of the major ones!

Unfortunately, Kirby spent the majority of his career working during a time when the legal rights of comic book creators were few and far between.  Both financial benefits and creative control were almost unheard of.  So, despite creating a major share of the Marvel universe, and contributing key concepts to DC, Kirby was sadly denied both creative and financial recognition by the owners of those two companies.

Nowadays, of course, this situation has improved somewhat.  If a successful creator chooses to, he has the option take his brand new ideas to a publisher such as Image Comics, Dark Horse, or IDW, where he will retain ownership of a series.

Creator-owned titles really did not become prevalent in the marketplace until the early 1990s, though.  By this time, Kirby was already in his seventies, suffering from poor health, and had retired several years before.  He would pass away on February 6, 1994 at the age of 76.  I’ve always thought it was a great tragedy that Kirby did not live longer, and of course retain his health & drawing ability, so that he could have brought some of the many unpublished concepts he had conceived to a company such as Image and produced a long-lasting series on which he held full ownership and creative control.

Fortunately, Kirby did have the opportunity to work on a small number of creator-owned projects a decade before, in the early 1980s.  One of these was Silver Star, which was published for six issues by Pacific Comics in 1983.

Silver Star Graphite Edition, by Jack Kirby

In 2006, TwoMorrows Publishing released the Silver Star: Graphite Edition, a black & white trade paperback collection.  It was printed from photocopies of Jack Kirby’s penciled pages from before they were inked by Mike Royer, D. Bruce Berry and Mike Thibodeaux.  There are a handful of pages, mostly splashes and double page spreads, that there aren’t any photocopies of.  In those cases, the pages were printed from the inked artwork.

I had seen scans of the some of the original artwork from the Silver Star books posted on Comic Art Fans, and was intrigued, especially because of some striking pages from the sixth issue.  So when I found a copy of the Graphite Edition for sale at the Jack Kirby Museum table during MoCCA Festival 2010, I immediately purchased it.

(There is also a collection of the Silver Star material that was issued by Image Comics in 2007, an oversized hardcover printed in full color on glossy paper, with selected new coloring by Erik Larsen.  I’ve been meaning to pick up this edition for a few years now, but I’ve yet to come across a copy in the comic shops.  Sooner or later, once I have some extra funds, I’ll buy it at Amazon or Ebay.)

Silver Star is the story of “Homo Geneticus,” the next stage in human evolution, artificially jump-started by Doctor Bradford Miller.  Hoping to find a way for humanity to survive a nuclear holocaust, Miller created a “genetic package” that he injected into a number of pregnant women, including his own wife.  All of these women’s offspring were subsequently born with various superpowers, including “atomic manipulation,” the ability to reshape matter itself.

Miller’s son Morgan first manifests his abilities during the Vietnam War, when he unexpectedly uses them to save his comrades from an enemy attack.  However, Morgan’s body immediately begins emitting massive amounts of energy.  The military is forced to encase him in a metal suit.  This silvery outfit, combined with the medal for valor Morgan receives, causes the government to give him the code name “Silver Star.”

Unfortunately, not all of the recipients of the genetic package are as altruistic as Morgan.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is Darius Drumm.  Born to a stern, wife-beating evangelical preacher, leader of the “Foundation for Self-Denial,” Drumm grows up in a strict, puritanical environment.  This upbringing, coupled with the discovery of his seemingly unlimited powers, leads Drumm to become a very twisted individual.  Mentally unbalanced, convinced of the inherent corruption of all humanity, Drumm is determined to wipe the world clean of sin.  He is the ultimate nihilist, ready to reduce the entire Earth to a sterile globe.

Before Drumm can proceed, he feels obligated to kill all of the other members of Homo Geneticus he can locate, lest they pose a threat to his scheme.  This he does via some particularly violent and gruesome acts, ones that not only take out his quarry, but also cause an immense loss of innocent life.

One of Drumm’s targets is Norma Richmond, an attractive stuntwoman whose main Homo Geneticus ability is near invulnerability.  At first, as with his other prey, Drumm attempts to kill her.  Morgan thwarts this attempt, and rescues Norma, but Drumm strikes again, this time kidnapping her.  At this point Drumm is unable to decide if he wants to seduce Norma or kill her, violently torn between his lust for the beautiful woman and his father’s strict discipline of self-denial.

In the final issue, Drumm, fully committed to his apocalyptic mission, uses his atomic manipulation on himself.  He transforms into the horrific, towering figure of the Angel of Death.  Spreading vast wings, Drumm sweeps out, scorching the surface of the planet with his flames.  Morgan sets off in pursuit, desperate to halt Drumm before mankind is completely annihilated.

Jack Kiirby’s uninked pencils for Silver Star #6 page 10

I have to admit, as a great fan of Jack Kirby’s work, I was a bit underwhelmed by Silver Star.  The story is not his best writing.  I think he probably hit his high point, both as a writer and an artist, a decade or so earlier, when he was creating the Fourth World books featuring the New Gods at DC Comics.

By the time Kirby was working on Silver Star in 1983, it’s quite likely that he may have been burned out on comic books, due to his shoddy treatment at the hands of Marvel and DC.  I cannot say I can blame him for that.  His advancing age & declining health may also have been a factor.  That said, Silver Star is not without its merits.

While it appears that while Kirby intended for the conflict with Darius Drum to conclude in Silver Star #6, he may have believed the book would last on past that as an ongoing series.  Kirby spends a significant portion of the first four issues establishing a supporting cast and status quo.  As a result, the pacing on these issues is too leisurely.  Things only kick into high gear with the final two issues, as Drumm becomes the Angel of Death, and the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.  It’s possible that if Kirby had known he would only have half a dozen issues to work with, he would have structured the story somewhat differently.

At least the conclusion, while somewhat abrupt, is quite inventive.  Realizing that he has little hope of physically besting Drumm in a contest of superpowers, Morgan instead is forced to use psychology to defeat his nigh-unstoppable opponent.

One story point that I felt was much too casually brushed aside was Doctor Miller conducting genetic experimentation on unborn babies.  I do not know if he ever received the parents’ consent, but even if he did, there are still ethical issues.  One can argue that Miller is at least partially responsible for the massive destruction Darius Drumm subsequently wrecks.

Kirby did something similar with “The Project” in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen.  In that case, the government cloned numerous copies of Jimmy Olsen without his permission.  Jimmy, rather than expressing outrage at this violation of his person, merely seemed in awe by the whole accomplishment.  It’s strange, in that Kirby appeared to view concepts such as cloning and genetic engineering with a black & white morality.  In his stories, he either presented well-intentioned scientists such as The Project or Doctor Miller experimenting with human DNA for the selfless betterment of mankind, or he had insane nut jobs like Simyan & Mokkari or Arnim Zola transforming & twisting organic life out of some sort of sadistic, perverse curiosity.  Kirby didn’t seem to acknowledge that the act of genetic engineering itself, regardless of the intent of the scientists behind it, can have a host of complicated moral issues.

Looking at the Graphite Edition, it’s worth mentioning the penciling appears on the sketchy side.  There could be a few reasons for this.  I don’t know if Kirby’s art looks unpolished because these are reproductions of quarter century old photocopies, because he was getting on in age, or because he simply didn’t finish his pencils as tightly as he could have since he knew they were going to be inked.  As I said, there are several pages where TwoMorrows needed to print from the inked art by Royer, Berry and Thibodeaux.  This finished art looks fantastic.  Obviously, I understand the archival and instructional value of presenting Kirby’s rough, uninked pencil art, as it reveals a lot of the creative process.  And there is always the alternative of the Image hardcover to see the series fully inked.

That said, Kirby’s unlinked, black & white pencils for Silver Star #6, with the titanic Angel of Death unleashed upon the Earth, are amazing.  Perhaps the excitement of illustrating the end of the world inspired Kirby, because his artwork on these pages is dramatic, horrifying, and riveting.

Silver Star originated as a pitch for a film that Kirby and Steve Sherman wrote in 1977.  It was never produced, and Kirby used many of the ideas from the film treatment several years later in the Silver Star comic, albeit with certain alterations.  The entire story treatment by Kirby & Sherman is reprinted in the back of the Graphite Edition.  It’s interesting to compare their initial premise to the finished comic book version.  And, y’know, with today’s special effects technology, Silver Star would make a fantastic movie!

I also thought it noteworthy that Kirby suggested actor Jack Palance to play Darius Drumm.  According to Kirby’s former assistant Mark Evanier, the grand cosmic villain Darkseid from the Fourth World books was also modeled on Palance (an early concept drawing for Drumm printed in this book bears a more than passing resemblance to Darkseid).  Kirby obviously thought very highly of Palance’s acting abilities & screen presence.  Certainly he wasn’t the only comic book artist to feel that way, as Gene Colan acknowledged that his version of Dracula from Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula series was also based on Palance.

Jayne Davidson concept artwork by Jack Kirby

There are several other concept illustrations and previously unpublished drawings by Kirby contained in the trade paperback.  My favorite would have to be the original design for Norma Richmond, or “Jayne Davidson,” as she was originally called in the Kirby/Sherman film pitch.  Several years ago, someone on a message board once suggested that Kirby was incapable of drawing sexy women.  That, I argued, was pure nonsense, and I listed at least half a dozen examples of curvy Kirby women who were absolutely gorgeous.  I have to add Norma to that list.

I don’t know if I would recommend Silver Star to a Kirby newcomer.  It is something of an acquired taste, and a better intro to Kirby’s tremendous body of work would be the Fourth World Omnibus editions from DC, or the various Essential Fantastic Four volumes published by Marvel.  But if you are already a fan of Kirby, then Silver Star is worth picking up.  It’s an unusual but memorable story, and one of the last complete works in Kirby’s long & varied career.