Vince Alascia
Encyclopedia
Vincent Alascia also known as Nicholas Alascia, was an American
comic book
artist
known for his work on Captain America
during the Golden Age of comics
, and for his 23-year run as inker
on a single creative team, with penciler Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski (as "Charles Nicholas") and writer
Joe Gill
at Charlton Comics
from 1953 to 1976.
, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics
, where the artist and comics historian Jim Steranko
credits him for art as early as USA Comics #5 (Summer 1942), on the masked-crimefighter feature "American Avenger". When Captain America creators Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
left Timely after issue #10 (Jan. 1942) of the eponymous book, Alascia penciled the hero's adventures in the sister title All Select Comics #2-10 (Winter 1943/1944 to Summer 1946), generally inked by Allen Bellman, and in several issues of All Winners Comics, with a variety of inkers, starting with #11 (Winter 1943/1944). Syd Shores
and Al Avison
had taken over art duties on Captain America Comics, and Alascia shortly afterward filled-in as Shores' inker while Avison did his World War II
military service
.
Alascia later went into rotation as one of the various Captain America Comics artists in any given issue. Examples of his work in that flagship title include the story "Ali Baba and His Forty Nazis" in issue #32 (Nov. 1943), inking Ken Bald
, and "The Crime Dictator" in issue #47 (June 1945), which Alascia penciled. It was Alascia, inked by Bob Powell
, who drew the Captain American and Bucky
chapter in the landmark full-length, all-star stories of the All-Winners Squad
in the (non-hyphenated) All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946) and #21 (Winter 1946; there was no issue #20). Additionally in issue #19, Alascia inked Shores on the Miss America
chapter. In issue #21, he also pencilled both the Whizzer
chapter and the final chapter, and inked Avison's Sub-Mariner chapter.
Other Timely work includes stories featuring the Young Allies
in Kid Komics and The Young Allies; the Patriot
in the omnibus title Marvel Mystery Comics
; and occasional work in Blonde Phantom
.
After Timely's downsizing in 1948, Alascia freelanced for such other comics companies as Avon, where he inked Martin Nodell
, creator of Green Lantern
, on anthological horror stories in that publisher's 1950s comics City of the Living Dead and Eerie (no relation to Warren Publishing
's black-and-white horror-comics magazine
of that name). A Modell/Alascia Eerie story was reprinted in Skywald Publications
, Nightmare #1 (Dec. 1970).
Mostly, however, Alascia worked with Charlton Comics
of Derby, Connecticut
, where he was teamed with Charles Nicholas (the 1921-1985 comics artist of that name) on a full gamut of crime
, suspense, mystery
, science fiction
, war
, Western
, romance
, and hot-rod titles, beginning with Crime and Justice #16 (Jan. 1953). The art team would sometimes sign its work Nicholas & Alascia, as in the panel at left. As a penciler, Alascia's work for Charlton includes the August 1956 premiere issue of Tales of the Mysterious Traveler.
and Mort Meskin
, and if you know anything about Golden Age artists, you know that those two are names to conjure with".
Gill Fox
: "Vince Alascia took an art course that was an offshoot of the course at Textile High School
, in New York City
. I was deeply impressed with Vince's talent; he did great stuff for the yearbook. Years later, I went to see him and he had totally changed. I tried to get him to make a move into a better kind of work, but I couldn't get him to do it. Vince had an uninspired art career".
Dick Giordano
: "If you take a close look at Vince's inking style, you'll find it bears a close resemblance to Alex Raymond
's style on Rip Kirby
; that was very popular at that time. ... Vince used to have these Rip Kirby strips in front of him, looking at them while he was inking. But what he was inking had nothing to do with the strip he was looking at. I don't know what he got out of it except inspiration".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
known for his work on Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
during the Golden Age of comics
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
, and for his 23-year run as inker
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...
on a single creative team, with penciler Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski (as "Charles Nicholas") and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Joe Gill
Joe Gill
Joseph Gill was an American magazine writer and highly prolific comic book scripter. Most of his work was for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the superheroes Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster, among others. Comics historians consider Gill a top contender as the comic-book field's most...
at Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
from 1953 to 1976.
Early life and career
Vince Alascia was on staff at Timely ComicsTimely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
, the 1940s predecessor of 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...
, where the artist and comics historian Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
credits him for art as early as USA Comics #5 (Summer 1942), on the masked-crimefighter feature "American Avenger". When Captain America creators Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and 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....
left Timely after issue #10 (Jan. 1942) of the eponymous book, Alascia penciled the hero's adventures in the sister title All Select Comics #2-10 (Winter 1943/1944 to Summer 1946), generally inked by Allen Bellman, and in several issues of All Winners Comics, with a variety of inkers, starting with #11 (Winter 1943/1944). Syd Shores
Syd Shores
Sydney Shores was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books....
and Al Avison
Al Avison
Alfred Avison is an American comic book artist known for his work on the Marvel Comics characters Captain America and the Whizzer during the 1930-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of comic books....
had taken over art duties on Captain America Comics, and Alascia shortly afterward filled-in as Shores' inker while Avison did his World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
.
Alascia later went into rotation as one of the various Captain America Comics artists in any given issue. Examples of his work in that flagship title include the story "Ali Baba and His Forty Nazis" in issue #32 (Nov. 1943), inking Ken Bald
Ken Bald
Kenneth Bruce Bald is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for the Judd Saxon, Dr. Kildare and Dark Shadows newspaper comic strips. Due to contractual obligations, he is credited as "K...
, and "The Crime Dictator" in issue #47 (June 1945), which Alascia penciled. It was Alascia, inked by Bob Powell
Bob Powell (comics)
Bob Powell né Stanislav Robert Pawlowski was an American comic book artist known for his work during the 1930-40s Golden Age of comic books, including on the features "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle" and "Mr. Mystic". He received a belated credit in 1999 for co-writing the debut of the popular...
, who drew the Captain American and Bucky
Bucky
Bucky is the name of several fictional characters, masked superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a sidekick character in Captain America Comics #1 , published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics...
chapter in the landmark full-length, all-star stories of the All-Winners Squad
All-Winners Squad
The All-Winners Squad is a fictional superhero team in the Marvel Comics universe. The company's first such team, it first appeared in All Winners Comics #19 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.While the comic-book...
in the (non-hyphenated) All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946) and #21 (Winter 1946; there was no issue #20). Additionally in issue #19, Alascia inked Shores on the Miss America
Miss America (Marvel Comics)
Miss America is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery...
chapter. In issue #21, he also pencilled both the Whizzer
Whizzer (Robert Frank)
The Whizzer is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared during the 1930s-1940s period that fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.-Publication history:...
chapter and the final chapter, and inked Avison's Sub-Mariner chapter.
Other Timely work includes stories featuring the Young Allies
Young Allies
Young Allies is the name of three superhero teams in the .-Golden Age:The Golden Age's Young Allies were a gang of kids who fought the Axis...
in Kid Komics and The Young Allies; the Patriot
Patriot (comics)
Patriot is the name of two fictional, comic book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe: the Golden Age hero Jeffrey Mace and the modern-day character Eli Bradley.-Patriot :...
in the omnibus title Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
; and occasional work in Blonde Phantom
Blonde Phantom
The Blonde Phantom is a fictional masked crime fighter in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Syd Shores for Marvel predecessor Timely Comics, she first appeared in All Select Comics #11 , during the 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden...
.
Later career
Martin Nodell
Martin Nodell was an American cartoonist and commercial artist, best known as the creator of the Golden Age superhero Green Lantern. Some of his work appeared under the pen name "Mart Dellon."-Early life and career:...
, creator of Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, on anthological horror stories in that publisher's 1950s comics City of the Living Dead and Eerie (no relation to Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
's black-and-white horror-comics magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
of that name). A Modell/Alascia Eerie story was reprinted in Skywald Publications
Skywald Publications
Skywald Publications is a 1970s publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the horror anthologies Nightmare, Psycho, and Scream. It also published a small line of comic books and other magazines....
, Nightmare #1 (Dec. 1970).
Mostly, however, Alascia worked with Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
of Derby, Connecticut
Derby, Connecticut
Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,391 at the 2000 census. With of land area, Derby is Connecticut's smallest municipality.The city has a Metro-North railroad station called Derby – Shelton.-History:...
, where he was teamed with Charles Nicholas (the 1921-1985 comics artist of that name) on a full gamut of 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...
, suspense, mystery
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, war
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...
, Western
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
, romance
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
, and hot-rod titles, beginning with Crime and Justice #16 (Jan. 1953). The art team would sometimes sign its work Nicholas & Alascia, as in the panel at left. As a penciler, Alascia's work for Charlton includes the August 1956 premiere issue of Tales of the Mysterious Traveler.
Quotes
Jess Nevins: "Alascia is one of those pros who did a wide range of work on a number of books over the years, but is almost completely forgotten about today; he did some work on Captain America [Comics] and on U.S. Marines In Action, and Six-Gun Heroes. His work ... strikes me as a cross between Sheldon MoldoffSheldon Moldoff
Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff is an American comic book artist best known his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" on the superhero Batman. He co-created the Batman supervillains Poison Ivy, Mr...
and Mort Meskin
Mort Meskin
Morton "Mort" Meskin was a prolific American comic book artist best-known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of comic books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.-Early life:...
, and if you know anything about Golden Age artists, you know that those two are names to conjure with".
Gill Fox
Gill Fox
Gilbert Theodore "Gill" Fox was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editor, and animator.-Biography:...
: "Vince Alascia took an art course that was an offshoot of the course at Textile High School
Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities
The Bayard Rustin Educational Complex at 351 West 18th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, is a "vertical campus" of the New York City Department of Education which contains a number of small public schools, most of them high schools...
, in 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...
. I was deeply impressed with Vince's talent; he did great stuff for the yearbook. Years later, I went to see him and he had totally changed. I tried to get him to make a move into a better kind of work, but I couldn't get him to do it. Vince had an uninspired art career".
Dick Giordano
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph "Dick" Giordano was an American comic book artist and editor best known for introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes, and serving as executive editor of then–industry leader DC Comics...
: "If you take a close look at Vince's inking style, you'll find it bears a close resemblance to Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond
Alexander Gillespie "Alex" Raymond was an American cartoonist, best known for creating Flash Gordon for King Features in 1934...
's style on Rip Kirby
Rip Kirby
Rip Kirby was a popular comic strip featuring the adventures of the eponymous lead character, a private detective created by Alex Raymond in 1946...
; that was very popular at that time. ... Vince used to have these Rip Kirby strips in front of him, looking at them while he was inking. But what he was inking had nothing to do with the strip he was looking at. I don't know what he got out of it except inspiration".
External links
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Vassallo, Michael J. "A Timely Talk with Allen Bellman", Comicartville.com, 2005. WebCite archive.
- POV Online: "Which writer or artist has had the longest streak working on one comic book?". WebCite archive.
- Tony's Online Tips (Tuesday, May 10, 2005). Wayback Machine archive.
- "The Star-Spangled Avenger", by Steve Stiles. WebCite archive.
- Shaw, Scott. Oddball Comics: "Konga Vol. 1, #20", column #968, February 3, 2004, and Out Of This World Vol. 1, #10", column #457, January 2, 2002
- Archive of "Connecticut Talent" at the Connecticut Historical SocietyConnecticut Historical SocietyThe Connecticut Historical Society is the official state historical society of Connecticut. Established in Hartford in 1825, the CHS is one of the oldest historical societies in the nation....
. Original page