• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

The Colletta Problem

Started by drdroom,

135 posts in this topic

Jeffro.

Jeffro.

Posted
Posted
It's kind of a moot point as Kirby art is out of my league price wise, however given the op (at the same price) to buy a Kirby/Colletta piece, or a Kirby/whomever piece, I would be strongly motivated to go for the Kirby/whomever piece.

 

......I just can't generalize like that. But then, Kirby is at the top of the heap for me. There are some Kirby / Colletta Thor pages that I would take over almost anything else....but those are mainly splashes and full page threads....but then the Chic Stone pages are awesome to me....even though many relegate them to the back burner. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

That's why I said strongly motivated.

If I had the opportunity to buy a Kirby/Colletta piece I wouldn't reject it unilaterally because of the inks. It is a Kirby page after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
stinkininkin

stinkininkin

Posted
Posted
As I suggested before, everyone should grab a copy of "THE BLACK THIN LINE" and judge for yourself. When it comes right down to it, I think a lot of this "hate" comes from second or third person stories and Colletta bashing seems to be extremely popular at the moment in the world of original art.

 

Uh, no. Colletta bashing has been going on since I was old enough to be aware of what an inker can do and had friends with which to talk to about it. So the late 60's in my case. It's not recent and it's not a "world of original art" thing. He was just a hack more often than not. But again, if you dig it, more power to you. But I can assure you this is no recent turn of events or conspiracy.

 

Scott

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
drdroom

drdroom

Posted
  • Author
Posted
As I suggested before, everyone should grab a copy of "THE BLACK THIN LINE" and judge for yourself.

 

While it's always good to read a (well done) book on the inner workings of a hobby you're interested in, I'm not sure why someone would need to read that book on Colletta in order to judge for themselves. All they need do is pick up some comics with his inks, and decide if they personally like what he brings to the table or not

 

 

Agreed. Still, the pencils-to-inks comparisons in Thin Black Line are pretty revelatory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Niblos!

Niblos!

Posted
Posted

Here is a free glimpse at "THE BLACK THIN LINE" and it even changed publisher, John Morrow's opinion on Colletta. Heck, what have you got to lose?

 

John Morrow says:

 

07/07/2010 at 6:42 pm

On July 30, TwoMorrows Publishing is releasing THE THIN BLACK LINE: PERSPECTIVES ON VINCE COLLETTA, by Robert L. Bryant Jr. You can download a FREE 5mb PDF preview of the chapter on Colletta’s THOR work at this link:

 

http://twomorrows.com/media/CollettaPreview.pdf

 

In a lot of ways, this book has changed my opinion of Vinnie and his work. I think that, love him or hate him, readers will walk away from this book with a new appreciation and understanding of this colorful and controversial comics professional. I know I did.

 

 

http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.com/2007/05/vincent-colletta-my-favourite-1960s.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites
original art-migration

original art-migration

Posted
Posted

 

can you show me some artists who liked being inked by Colletta? Doesn't have to be the greats of the industry. Any pro that endorsed Colletta will be interesting.

 

The great Giordano, of course!

 

A few other pencilers come to mind who have said they were happy with Colletta's inks were Ernie Chan, Mike Netzer, Rich Buckler, Rik Estrada, Mike Vosburg....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
drdroom

drdroom

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

can you show me some artists who liked being inked by Colletta? Doesn't have to be the greats of the industry. Any pro that endorsed Colletta will be interesting.

 

The great Giordano, of course!

 

A few other pencilers come to mind who have said they were happy with Colletta's inks were Ernie Chan, Mike Netzer, Rich Buckler, Rik Estrada, Mike Vosburg....

 

Are these cited in the book? I only looked at the pictures!

I've heard that Giordano in fact ghosted Colletta at times. Not over Kirby. Maybe on some of his romance stuff?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimjum12

jimjum12

Posted
Posted
It's kind of a moot point as Kirby art is out of my league price wise, however given the op (at the same price) to buy a Kirby/Colletta piece, or a Kirby/whomever piece, I would be strongly motivated to go for the Kirby/whomever piece.

 

......I just can't generalize like that. But then, Kirby is at the top of the heap for me. There are some Kirby / Colletta Thor pages that I would take over almost anything else....but those are mainly splashes and full page threads....but then the Chic Stone pages are awesome to me....even though many relegate them to the back burner. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

That's why I said strongly motivated.

If I had the opportunity to buy a Kirby/Colletta piece I wouldn't reject it unilaterally because of the inks. It is a Kirby page after all.

 

.....and you, sir, DO have excellant taste.....I'm sure it would be a jaw dropper. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Niblos!

Niblos!

Posted
Posted

 

Honestly, you don't see these inks as a tragedy? That would have been an all-time great Orion panel with Royer inks.

 

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder and if I beheld the funds, I would hold this page.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
drdroom

drdroom

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

Honestly, you don't see these inks as a tragedy? That would have been an all-time great Orion panel with Royer inks.

 

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder and if I beheld the funds, I would hold this page.

 

Hah! Well said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MR SigS

MR SigS

Posted
Posted
Considering how dearly I love Jack Kirby's work on JIM/Thor, I'd love to own a Colletta-inked page. I might even prefer it, as he inked my favorite (the best ever) Thor stories.

 

And I'd trade two Royer-inked Kirby pages to get one.

 

 

 

To get a Kirby drawn Thor from that era, so would I.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
drdroom

drdroom

Posted
  • Author
Posted

If Royer was Kirby's favorite, it's probably because Kirby liked his own drawing style, as do I. But a lot of people seem to like his storytelling while preferring a more conventional appearance to the rendering, and perhaps less crowded compositions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dave Aikins

Dave Aikins

Posted
Posted

Royer was Jack's employee. Mike wasn't hired by Marvel or DC, he was hired by Jack, and worked under Jack's direction, and with Jack. So there's a HUGE reason why Jack liked Mike's inks. Plus, Mike has the mind set as an inker that his job is to follow the work of the penciler to carry their style and work into final inked art. Mike doesn't really have a "style", he's a fantastic mimic, which is why he was so successful working for Disney for 20+ years.

 

I happen to like Mike's inks just fine. He's damn good. Plus, he made Jack happy... and kept up with Jack's pace. Plus, Mike lettered everything as well.

 

yikes!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rrichards

rrichards

Posted
Posted

 

 

 

I’d like to offer a couple of observations on some of the previous posts.

 

To the member that said that Jack couldn’t draw women , I would like to respectfully differ as I spent many a private moment with his renderings of the Enchantress as a young man.

 

As for the Neal Adams story that he redrew the Colletta inks .

As this is quite a statement , I would like to know the source. Was this also a third hand story or was that from Adams himself? Was it published somewhere as I would love to read it myself?

 

I don’t know if I read this somewhere or formed the opinion on my own ,but I’ve always thought that Colletta’s almost too delicate line was an attempt to mimic Hal Fosters “Prince Valiant” strip that was popular at the time and was also from the medieval “Sword and Sorcery” genre and also had very delicate linear inks

Again Colletta was not my favorite , but after Sinnott, Royer and Ayers I think the rest of his inkers are pretty much the same .All had their strengths and weaknesses.(Bill Everitt would be in this top group but he only inked a few issues.)

I don’t see that Colletta’s work as any worse than Chic Stone’s inks . If we are going to talk about an inker forcing his style on a page let‘s start with Chic Stone!

Stone’s inks seemed to abbreviate Kirby’ efforts ,all of his faces have these cute little interpretations which would seem better suited for Archie Comics than Thor and the FF but Stone seems to get a free pass! Did he just do a better job of erasing what he had changed or eliminated?

I mentioned in a previous post that I thought that Roussos work on the FF /Avengers crossover was one of the worst editorial decision in comics history, but again he gets a pass also!

 

Those are my thoughts! I’m going to go back and look at those Kirby/Enchantress issues!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing