Frank Giacoia Explained

Birth Date:6 July 1924
Nationality:American
Pencil:y
Ink:y
Alias:Frank Ray, Phil Zupa, Espoia
Notable Works:The Amazing Spider-Man
Captain America

Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1988) was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray,[1] and to a lesser extent Phil Zupa,[2] and the single moniker Espoia, the latter used for collaborations with fellow inker Mike Esposito.

Biography

Early life and career

Frank Giacoia studied at Manhattan's School of Industrial Art (later the High School of Art and Design) and the Art Students League of New York.[3] He entered the comics industry by penciling the feature "Jack Frost" in U.S.A. Comics #3 (cover-dated Jan. 1942), inked by friend and high school classmate Carmine Infantino — the latter's first art for comics and published by Marvel Comics' 1940s precursor, Timely Comics. His friend and collaborator Carmine Infantino, a classmate at the Art Students League, recalled that

Later in 1941, Giacoia joined the New York City comic book packager Eisner & Iger, the studio of Golden Age greats Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. His early works include drawing crime comics for Ace Comics, horror for Avon Publishing, and a multitude of characters for National Comics Publications (the primary company that evolved into DC Comics) including the Flash and Batman.

Other companies for which Giacoia did art during the 1940s and 1950s include Crestwood Publications, Dell Comics, Eastern Color Printing, Fawcett Comics, Harvey Comics, Lev Gleason Publications, and Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. Giacoia and writer Otto Binder introduced the short-lived character Captain Wonder in Kid Komics #1 (Feb. 1943).[4]

Later career

During the 1960s Silver Age of comic books, Giacoia became best known as a Marvel Comics inker, particularly on Captain America stories penciled by the character's co-creator Jack Kirby. One of the company's preeminent names, he worked on virtually every title at one time or another. Giacoia inked the first appearance of the Punisher in The Amazing Spider-Man

  1. 129
(Feb. 1974).[5]

Giacoia also worked on the newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man (based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name) from 1978–1981, as well as on the strips Flash Gordon, The Incredible Hulk, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank, Sherlock Holmes, and Thorne McBride.[6]

He was credited as the pseudonym "Frankie Ray" for some time.[7] In Fantastic Four #53 (August 1966), his real name was announced in the "Bullpen Bulletins".

Awards and honors

Giacoia was nominated for the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) in 1974.[8] The 1989 graphic novel The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives, the back cover of which was inked by Giacoia, is dedicated to his memory.

He posthumously won one of the two annual Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Awards in 2016. The award was received by his great-nephew, Mike Giacoia.[9]

Critical assessment

In its list of "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books", historians at the retailer Atlas Comics (no relation to the comics publishers) listed Giacoia at #5:

Bibliography

Archie Comics

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

DC Comics

Dell Comics

Eclipse Comics

Marvel Comics

Skywald Publications

Standard Comics

Tower Comics

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rozakis . Bob . Bob Rozakis . Secret Identities . . April 9, 2001 . November 14, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110523094133/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/bobro/viewnews.cgi?newsid986799600,28756, . May 23, 2011 . dead .
  2. Web site: Mark Evanier . Evanier . Mark . Why did some artists working for Marvel in the sixties use phony names? . P.O.V. Online (column) . April 14, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091126083524/http://www.povonline.com/iaq/IAQ05.htm . November 26, 2009 . July 28, 2008 . dead .
  3. Cooke . Jon B. . Fall 1999 . Of Doctors and Ducks . . Raleigh, North Carolina . . 6.
  4. Book: Sanderson, Peter. Peter Sanderson. Gilbert. Laura, ed.. 1940s. Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. Dorling Kindersley. 2008. London, United Kingdom. 24. 978-0756641238. In Captain Wonder's origin story by writer Otto Binder and artist Frank Giacoia....
  5. Web site: 40 Greatest Punisher Stories: #35-31. Brian. Cronin. March 12, 2016. Comic Book Resources. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323182936/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2016/03/12/40-greatest-punisher-stories-35-31/2/. March 23, 2016. live. Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt delivered the first appearance of the Punisher in this classic issue of Amazing Spider-Man..
  6. Web site: Frank Giacoia. December 14, 2007. Lambiek Comiclopedia. https://web.archive.org/web/20160308120207/https://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/giacoia_frank.htm. March 8, 2016. live.
  7. Book: Wells, John . 2014 . American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-69 . Raleigh, North Carolina . TwoMorrows Publishing . 40 . 978-1-60549-055-7.
  8. Web site: 1974 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards. Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. https://web.archive.org/web/20160311002904/http://hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/shazam74.php. March 11, 2016. live.
  9. Web site: Inkwell Awards 2016 Winners. 2016. Inkwell Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20160828021957/http://www.inkwellawards.com/?page_id=5352. August 28, 2016. live.

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