Wikipedia

Joe Giella

Joe Giella(June 27, 1928 – March 21, 2023) was an Americancomic bookartistbest known as aDC Comicsinkerduring the late 1950s and 1960s period which historians and fans call theSilver Age of Comic Books.Due to his long and prolific career, Giella has been described as "one of the creators synonymous with the Silver Age of Comics."[2]

Joe Giella
Giella in 2009
Born(1928-06-27)June 27, 1928
United States
DiedMarch 21, 2023(2023-03-21)(aged 94)
Area(s)Penciller,Inker,Painter
AwardsInkpot Award(1996)[1]
Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame(2018)

Biography

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Early life and career

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Born on June 27, 1928,[3]Giella grew up in theAstorianeighborhood ofQueens,and attended theSchool of Industrial ArtinManhattan.[2]He also studied at theArt Students Leaguein Manhattan, alongside future comics professionalsMike SekowskyandJoe Kubert,and took commercial art courses atHunter College.[3]He began working in art at 17, he said in a 2002 interview, explaining that "when your parents are struggling to keep the house going, the first son in the family, especially in an Italian family, had to go to work." He described his first professional job as the humor feature "Captain Codfish", which the interviewer described as "a less-eccentric 1940s ancestor ofSpongeBob SquarePants".[4]A standard reference, theGrand Comics Database,lists one "Captain Codfish" feature, running six pages with the art signed by Giella, inHillman Periodicals'Punch and JudyComics#11 (cover-datedJune 1946).[5]

Golden Age of comic books

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Giella later freelanced forFawcett Comics,commuting by bus toC. C. Beck's andPete Costanza's studio inEnglewood, New Jersey,to inkCaptain Marvelstories. In either 1946 or 1947, he began freelancing forTimely Comics,the 1940s precursor ofMarvel Comics,and shortly afterwards joined the staff. His start was rocky, however; as a 2012 article related,

What he needed was a regular paycheck, so he kept dropping by the offices of Timely Comics... hoping to get a job. [Editor]Stan Leerewarded his persistence with a tryout inking a strip that cartoonistMike Sekowskyhad penciled. Giella's elation on his trip home soon turned to panic. "The first job he gave me I lost on the train. No one slept at my house that night," Giella jokes. "I went in the next morning and thought that's the end of my job." He was nearly right. As a frantic Lee screamed at Giella for his carelessness, Sekowsky came to his defense. "Mike repenciled the whole job that I lost on the train and I did the inking," he says. "Stan liked what I did and I got the staff position. I never left anything on the train again."[4]

"I would do any work that they offered," Giella had recalled in a 2005 interview. "I started out doing a little touch-up work, a little background work, a little inking, redraw this, fix this head, do something with this panel".[6]Later, he assistedSyd ShoresonCaptain America Comics,finishing backgrounds, making pencil corrections and inking occasional pages. Giella did similar duty onHuman Torch,Sub-Mariner,andhumorstories. Inking soon became his specialty. In 1948, he joined theNaval Reserves,continuing with them for eight years.[3]

His friendFrank Giacoiabegan drawing forDC Comicsin the late 1940s; Giella joined him at that company in 1949.[2]There, Giella inked stories featuring theFlash,Green Lantern,Black Canaryand other characters under editorJulius Schwartz.

Into the Silver Age

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During the early-1950s lull insuperheroes,Giella inkedWesternspenciled byAlex Toth(including the feature "Sierra Smith" ) andGene Colan(on the seriesHopalong Cassidy,splitting the work with fellow inkerSy Barry).[5]

When the era called theSilver Age of comic booksbegan with the resurgence of superheroes in 1956, Giella began inkingscience-fictionstories, including the feature "Adam Strange"inStrange Adventures,andBatmanstories pencilled by the likes ofSheldon Moldoff(ghosting forBob Kane), andCarmine Infantino.In the 1960s, he prominently inked Carmine Infantino on the reboots of theFlashandGil Kaneon the seriesGreen Lantern.[5]

Comic strips

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Giella also assisted on suchKing Featuressyndicatedcomic stripsasFlash Gordon(inkingDan Barryin 1970), andThe Phantom,on which he worked for 17 years (sometimes helpingSy Barrywith pencilling when deadlines became too consuming for Barry). In 1991, Giella succeededBill Ziegleras artist on theMary Worthdaily and Sunday newspaper strip.[7][3]Giella retired fromMary Worthin 2016, with his last strip appearing on July 23, 2016.[8]

Other work

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Outside comics, Giella did commercial art for advertising agencies such asMcCann EricksonandSaatchi & Saatchi,[3]and publishers such asDoubledayandSimon & Schuster.[citation needed]

Personal life and death

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As of 2010, Giella lived inEast Meadow, New York,onLong Island.[7]His son Frank is anart historyand cartooning instructor atForest Hills High School,[4]and acoloristfor the comic stripMary Worth,which Giella penciled and inked until 2016. He died on March 21, 2023, at the age of 94.[9][10]

Accolades

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Giella received theInkpot Awardin 1996.[11]In 2016, he received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award at theHarvey Awards.[2]In 2017, Giella was the Guest of Honor at the 2017Inkwell Awardsceremony atHeroesConin Charlotte, NC (June 2017).[12][13]In 2018, Giella was awarded theInkwell AwardsJoe Sinnott Hall of Fame Awardfor his many years of inking.[14]

References

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  1. ^Inkpot Award
  2. ^abcdDueben, Alex (2019-03-01).""I'm Ninety and Sometimes When I Think About It I Get Worried.": An Interview with Joe Giella ".The Comics Journal.Retrieved2022-06-27.
  3. ^abcdeJoe Giellaat theLambiek Comiclopedia.Retrieved February 11, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on October 16, 2016.
  4. ^abcBubbeo, Daniel (August 16, 2012)."Long Islanders behind Batman comics".Newsday.Long Island.pp. B4–B5.Archivedfrom the original on December 3, 2013.RetrievedAugust 18,2012.
  5. ^abcJoe Giellaat theGrand Comics Database.
  6. ^Joe Giella interview,Alter Egovol. 3, #52 (Sept. 2005), p. 6
  7. ^abBubbeo, Daniel (May 5, 2010)."LI cartoonists, animators drawn to evolving industry".Newsday.Long Island.Archivedfrom the original on August 19, 2012.RetrievedAugust 18,2012.
  8. ^Moy, Karen (2016-07-23)."Joe Giella Retires From Drawing" Mary Worth "".Mary Worth.Retrieved2016-07-23.
  9. ^Sheriff, Amand; Vaughn, J.C. (March 22, 2023)."In Memoriam: Joe Giella".Scoop.Archivedfrom the original on March 22, 2023.RetrievedMarch 25,2023.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^"Silver Age Comics Artist Joe Giella Dead at 94".
  11. ^"Congratulations to the recipients of the 2011 Inkpot Awards".San Diego Comic-Con International.Archived fromthe originalon July 25, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 15,2011.
  12. ^Inkwell Awards 2017 Winners
  13. ^Newsarama 2017 INKWELL AWARD Winners
  14. ^"2018 Winners".
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Media related toJoe Giellaat Wikimedia Commons

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