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Post by chadwilliam on Sept 30, 2016 21:52:05 GMT -5
After re-reading Batman 296 last night I found myself wondering why I haven't seen more work from that issue's artist Sal Amendola. After all, it's hard for a cover such as this
to not leave an impression. Amendola also handled the interior pencils for this issue and while they stay within the parameters of what would be considered the standard house style of the time, his style is nevertheless his own.
Amendola also penciled the classic Night of a Stalker from Detective Comics 439 so it isn't as if he should be easy to miss.
(Amendola's work is on the left).
And yet, Sal Amendola isn't a name you hear a lot. Perhaps that's due to finding himself wedged between Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, and Marshall Rogers during that decade and his not being very prolific. Nevertheless, it seems to me that his being no more than a blip on comic history's radar (or at least as it pertains to Batman) is a mistake.
Anyone feel this way about any other artists, writers, editors, what have you? |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,408
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Post by shaxper on Sept 30, 2016 21:58:09 GMT -5
Don Newton. Unexpected death sucks.
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 30, 2016 22:48:32 GMT -5
Amendola was Dick Giordano's brother-in-law. I think he did a good deal of ghosting , IIRC.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 30, 2016 23:03:52 GMT -5
Amendola was Dick Giordano's brother-in-law. I think he did a good deal of ghosting , IIRC. He also did a lot of editorial and production type work, both at DC and Marvel. And he taught at a number of art schools including The Kubert School. |
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Oct 1, 2016 0:03:31 GMT -5
Off topic but Night of the Stalker really is one of the greatest flippin Batman stories of all time.
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 1, 2016 7:14:15 GMT -5
Amendola was Dick Giordano's brother-in-law. I think he did a good deal of ghosting , IIRC. Nope. Sal Trapani was Giordano's brother-in-law. Trapani is probably best known around these parts for a long run inking Herb Trimpe on Incredible Hulk, where they sometimes signed their covers TNT (for Trimpe 'n' Trapani). Cei-U! I summon the different guy altogether! |
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 1, 2016 8:05:12 GMT -5
Amendola was Dick Giordano's brother-in-law. I think he did a good deal of ghosting , IIRC. Nope. Sal Trapani was Giordano's brother-in-law. Trapani is probably best known around these parts for a long run inking Herb Trimpe on Incredible Hulk, where they sometimes signed their covers TNT (for Trimpe 'n' Trapani). Cei-U! I summon the different guy altogether! I should have put the IIRC after my first sentence. Mixed up my paisans. I summon the shame-faced emoji! |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 1, 2016 8:42:33 GMT -5
The tragic death of Joe Maneely in 1958. He was only 32 years old when he died, a speed demon artist but maintained great quality a la Jack Kirby. Was able to handle all genres. Really excelled on the Atlas series Black Knight. Was supposedly Stan Lee's favorite bullpen artist at the time of his passing If he had lived it would be fun to speculate which super-hero titles he would have helmed during the Marvel Age. For sure Kirby and Ditko would be part of the team, but one or two other artists would never had been hired since Stan would not have any work for them. Which Marvel artists would be the odd man out?
  
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 1, 2016 8:47:16 GMT -5
It's hard to say. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say Maneely would have displaced Dick Ayers, who might've been limited to inking and Westerns. Maybe Heck. I gotta say the thought of a Joe Maneely Giant-Man or Human Torch story is both thrilling and sad.
Cei-U!
I summon the crystal ball!
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Post by rom on Oct 1, 2016 16:28:30 GMT -5
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Post by Icctrombone on Oct 1, 2016 17:16:18 GMT -5
It would have been nice to have Dave Stevens around for a while longer.
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Post by Phil Maurice on Oct 1, 2016 18:09:53 GMT -5
It's hard to say. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say Maneely would have displaced Dick Ayers, who might've been limited to inking and Westerns. Maybe Heck. I gotta say the thought of a Joe Maneely Giant-Man or Human Torch story is both thrilling and sad. That's a solid guess, and one that carries considerable weight since I know you're a fan of both Ayers and Heck, Kurt. I am too.  Stan obviously loved Maneely's art and featured it on numerous covers that carried no interior work by him. Perhaps that trend would have continued, with Maneely functioning as a sort of Alex Schomburg of the Marvel Age. That said, given the gift Maneely had for both anatomy and drapery, I would have loved to see his Hulk and Doctor Strange. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Oct 1, 2016 18:46:52 GMT -5
Regarding Maneely if he had lived,I would hazard the guess that Iron Man would have been his assignment among others. I would have relegated Heck to mostly the remaining Western titles since I always thought his style fit that genre.
I'm not too clear on Maneeley's plotting contributions before his demise or if, as he aged, he would have developed them further. Did he contribute to the story plot as much as Kirby and Ditko did?
From what I've read this past day about Maneely, Stan Lee claimed he was as fast, if not faster than Jack Kirby. His pencils were just ovals or circles denoting characters on the page and he did all his actual drawing when he inked. Easily he could have done 2 monthly titles regularly
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Post by MWGallaher on Oct 1, 2016 20:39:25 GMT -5
If Maneely had lived, I suspect the Marvel super-heroes of the 60's would have included a much earlier debut of a heroic, modern day Black Knight. I could also see him doing the Sub-Mariner, or perhaps a revival of the Yellow Claw, which would still have been palatable in the 60's.
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Post by MDG on Oct 3, 2016 8:46:59 GMT -5
I get the feeling Maneely's presence could've shaped early Marvel into something very different than what it became. His style doesn't seem to meld with traditional superhero work (which you could argue was true of Ditko as well), and he might've pulled Marvel in a different direction by diluting Kirby's influence on the early titles.
I know his work mainly from horror reprints, and the "texture" of his work would be pretty unusual for superhero books at the time. And his style leaned more to "caricatured reality" (think Bill Elder or Johnny Craig) rather than "hyper-reality" (like Kirby and Ditko). Then again, he might've meant less of a focus on costumed superheros.
The final question is how he would've adapted to "Marvel Method" and what kind of concepts/stories he would've come up with in a primary creative role.
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