Vic Carrabotta
Encyclopedia
Vic Carrabotta is an American
comic book artist
and advertising
art director
whose career stretches to the early 1950s. His comic book
art includes much work for Marvel Comics
' 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics
.
of New York City
, Vic Carrabbotta attended Catholic elementary school
, followed by Manhattan
's High School of Music & Art and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (later named the School of Visual Arts
). Drawing since grade school, Carrabotta as a teen became friendly with fledgling professional comic-book artist Jerry Grandenetti
, who lived near Carrabotta's home and taught him inking
, the step in the comic-book process where the pencil artist's work is embellished with ink for stylistic and print-reproduction reasons.
After serving in the United States Marine Corps
from 1948–1951, where he performed with the Marine Band
, Carrabotta worked in construction, sketching his co-workers while on break. A foreman whose uncle worked at Famous Studios
helped Carrabbota obtain a job inking at that animated cartoon
production company. That in turn led to a job working the studio of Will Eisner
, writer-artist of the Sunday- newspaper comic-book section starring Eisner's celebrated character The Spirit
.
Attempting to break into comic books, Carrabotta found himself turned away at several publishing houses, including by Stan Lee
, editor-in-chief of Atlas Comics
, the future Marvel
. In a 2006 interview, Carrabotta credits industry legend Jack Kirby
for his entrée to comics, describing how Kirby turned him down for comics-studio work, but then upon finding Carrabotta's pregnant wife in the lobby as he seeing Carrobotta out, he gave the struggling artist a break:
That five-page story, "The House on the Hill" in Astonishing #13 (May 1952), led to a stream of regular work as a freelance penciler for Atlas Comics, with Carrabotta initially inking himself and later being inked by Jack Abel
.
stories, Carrabotta did work for early issues of such Atlas anthologies as Adventures into Terror, Journey into Mystery
(including issue #1), and Strange Tales
prior to the imposition of the industry's self-censorship Comics Code, and science-fiction/fantasy
suspense stories afterward for titles including some of those as well as Journey into Unknown Worlds, Marvel Tales
, Mystic, Uncanny Tales
, and others. Carrabotta was one of the few Atlas artists to regularly sign his work, aiding in compiling his bibliography.
After moving from New York City to Lone Star, South Carolina
, his wife's hometown, Carrabotta continued to draw for Marvel long-distance. Expanding to other genres, he drew stories for such war comics
as Battle, Battle Action, Battlefront, Battleground, and the aptly named War Comics; such Westerns
as Apache Kid, Kid Colt: Outlaw, The Outlaw Kid, and Western Outlaws; the crime
anthologies Caught and Police Action; the jungle title Jann of the Jungle
; and the men's adventure
anthology Rugged Action.
Carrabotta also did a limited amount of work in the 1950s for Youthful Comics (Chilling Tales, Atomic Attack!), Fiction House
(Planet Comics
), and Lev Gleason Publications
(The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe
, Black Diamond Western, fillers in Crime Does Not Pay and that company's Daredevil).
Carrabotta's last work before leaving comics in the wake of an industry downturn was a story in Gunsmoke Western #49 (Nov. 1958), though Carrobotta did return for a single Marvel comic during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books
: the 17-page story "The Challenge of Cole Younger" in Two-Gun Kid
#86 (March 1967), written by Gary Friedrich
.
Marvel reprinted several Carrabotta stories in the 1970s, and one additional in the reprint-anthology miniseries
Curse of the Weird #3 (Feb. 1994).
, where he went into the printing business and eventually became an art director
at that city's branch office of the Manhattan advertising agency
BBDO
. After winning an award for a Delta Air Lines
project, he began freelancing as a storyboard
and conceptual artist for several agencies, including Grey Advertising, McCann-Erickson, and Young & Rubicam
, for accounts including Advil
, AT&T
, Coca-Cola
, Jell-O
, and Kenner Toys.
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book artist
Comic Book Artist
Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
whose career stretches to the early 1950s. His comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
art includes much work for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
.
Early life and career
Raised in the Eastchester, New York, a suburbSuburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Vic Carrabbotta attended Catholic elementary school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
, followed by Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's High School of Music & Art and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (later named the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
). Drawing since grade school, Carrabotta as a teen became friendly with fledgling professional comic-book artist Jerry Grandenetti
Jerry Grandenetti
Charles J. "Jerry" Grandenetti was an American comic book artist and advertising art director, best known for his work with writer-artist Will Eisner on the celebrated comics feature "The Spirit", and for his decade-and-a-half run on many DC Comics war series...
, who lived near Carrabotta's home and taught him inking
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
, the step in the comic-book process where the pencil artist's work is embellished with ink for stylistic and print-reproduction reasons.
After serving in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
from 1948–1951, where he performed with the Marine Band
United States Marine Band
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States...
, Carrabotta worked in construction, sketching his co-workers while on break. A foreman whose uncle worked at Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
helped Carrabbota obtain a job inking at that animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
production company. That in turn led to a job working the studio of Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, writer-artist of the Sunday- newspaper comic-book section starring Eisner's celebrated character The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
.
Attempting to break into comic books, Carrabotta found himself turned away at several publishing houses, including by Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, editor-in-chief of Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
, the future Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. In a 2006 interview, Carrabotta credits industry legend Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
for his entrée to comics, describing how Kirby turned him down for comics-studio work, but then upon finding Carrabotta's pregnant wife in the lobby as he seeing Carrobotta out, he gave the struggling artist a break:
That five-page story, "The House on the Hill" in Astonishing #13 (May 1952), led to a stream of regular work as a freelance penciler for Atlas Comics, with Carrabotta initially inking himself and later being inked by Jack Abel
Jack Abel
Jack Abel a.k.a. Gary Michaels was an American comic book artist best known as an inker for leading publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was DC's primary inker on the Superman titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and inked penciler Herb Trimpe's introduction of the popular superhero...
.
Atlas Comics
Drawing primarily horrorHorror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
stories, Carrabotta did work for early issues of such Atlas anthologies as Adventures into Terror, Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery was an American comic book series published by Atlas Comics, and later its successor Marvel Comics. It featured horror, monster, and science fiction stories...
(including issue #1), and Strange Tales
Strange Tales
Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...
prior to the imposition of the industry's self-censorship Comics Code, and science-fiction/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
suspense stories afterward for titles including some of those as well as Journey into Unknown Worlds, Marvel Tales
Marvel Tales
Marvel Tales is the title of three American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics, the first of them from the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...
, Mystic, Uncanny Tales
Uncanny Tales
Uncanny Tales may refer to one of the following publications:* Uncanny Tales , an American pulp magazine* Uncanny Tales , a Canadian pulp magazine...
, and others. Carrabotta was one of the few Atlas artists to regularly sign his work, aiding in compiling his bibliography.
After moving from New York City to Lone Star, South Carolina
Lone Star, South Carolina
Lone Star is an unincorporated community in Calhoun County, South Carolina, United States. The community has the ZIP Code of 29030 and lies at approximately 33.63 latitude and -80.59 longitude, with an elevation of 171 feet. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical...
, his wife's hometown, Carrabotta continued to draw for Marvel long-distance. Expanding to other genres, he drew stories for such war comics
War comics
War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II.-American war comics:Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories of wartime adventures in the multi-genre...
as Battle, Battle Action, Battlefront, Battleground, and the aptly named War Comics; such Westerns
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
as Apache Kid, Kid Colt: Outlaw, The Outlaw Kid, and Western Outlaws; the crime
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
anthologies Caught and Police Action; the jungle title Jann of the Jungle
Jann of the Jungle
Jann of the Jungle is a fictional comic book jungle girl protagonist created by writer Don Rico and artist Jay Scott Pike in the anthology title Jungle Tales #1 , published by Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics....
; and the men's adventure
Men's adventure
Men's adventure is a genre of magazines that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Catering to a male audience, these magazines featured glamour photography and lurid tales of adventure that typically featured wartime feats of daring, exotic travel or conflict with wild animals.These magazines are...
anthology Rugged Action.
Carrabotta also did a limited amount of work in the 1950s for Youthful Comics (Chilling Tales, Atomic Attack!), Fiction House
Fiction House
Fiction House is an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its comics division was best known for its pinup-style good girl art, as epitomized by the company's most popular character, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.-History:-Jumbo and Jack...
(Planet Comics
Planet Comics
Planet Comics was a science fiction comic book title produced by Fiction House and ran for 73 issues from January 1940 to Winter 1953. Like many of Fiction House's early comics titles, Planet Comics was a spinoff of a pulp magazine, in this case Planet Stories, which featured space operatic tales...
), and Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
(The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
, Black Diamond Western, fillers in Crime Does Not Pay and that company's Daredevil).
Carrabotta's last work before leaving comics in the wake of an industry downturn was a story in Gunsmoke Western #49 (Nov. 1958), though Carrobotta did return for a single Marvel comic during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
: the 17-page story "The Challenge of Cole Younger" in Two-Gun Kid
Two-Gun Kid
The Two-Gun Kid is a fictional character, a cowboy gunslinger in the Wild West of Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...
#86 (March 1967), written by Gary Friedrich
Gary Friedrich
Gary Friedrich . is an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' Sgt...
.
Marvel reprinted several Carrabotta stories in the 1970s, and one additional in the reprint-anthology miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Curse of the Weird #3 (Feb. 1994).
Later life and career
Upon leaving comics, Carrabotta moved from South Carolina to Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, where he went into the printing business and eventually became an art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
at that city's branch office of the Manhattan advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
BBDO
BBDO
BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency began in 1891 with George Batten's Batten Company, and later in 1928, through a merger of BDO and Batten Co. the agency became BBDO...
. After winning an award for a Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
project, he began freelancing as a storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
and conceptual artist for several agencies, including Grey Advertising, McCann-Erickson, and Young & Rubicam
Young & Rubicam
Y&R is a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting.-History:...
, for accounts including Advil
Advil
Advil is a brand of ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug . Advil is manufactured by Pfizer and has been on the market since 1984.-History:...
, AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
, Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, Jell-O
Jell-O
Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
, and Kenner Toys.
Personal
Carrabotta has been married twice. He has six children. As of at least 2010, he lives in Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
.
External links
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Bails, JerryJerry BailsJerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom", he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.- Early life :Jerry G. Bails was born June...
, and Hames Ware. Vic Carrabotta at Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Who's Who main page. Who's Who A to Z of Indexed Creators WebCitation archive. - "Corner House Pics: 2005 Studio photos from the making of our 1st CD" Corner House Music, 2005 (Vic Carrabotta photo). WebCitation archive.
- Shaw, ScottScott Shaw (artist)Scott Shaw is a United States cartoonist and animator, and is also an esteemed conductor of the concert band at Mary Institute and Country Day School...
. "Atomic Attack! Vol. 1, No. 5", Oddball Comics #770,April 20, 20030