Vince Colletta: The Inker Who Ruined Jack Kirby's Art

Comments · 3.5K

• WE

  @Wellies_Yay · 6 years ago (edited)

  What I got from this:<br>- Vince Colletta was a nice, charming guy who got along with all his coworkers and no one who knew him personally had a bad word to say about him.<br>- Vince Colletta always met his deadlines.<br>- Vince Colletta was the only guy you could turn to and rely on to get your work to print when the penciller turned the pages in on Friday and you needed it done by Monday.<br>- Vince Colletta took the business side of comics seriously.<br>-Vince Colletta’s speed helped keep the lights on, kept a lot of series from losing money and being canceled, and helped to keep those artists employed.<br>- Vince Colletta stuck up for his friends even if it cost him his job.<br>- Vince Colletta was NOT a great inker.<br><br>The bastard!<br><i>_______________</i><br>Edit: Having seen the responses to this comment (both agreeing and respectfully disagreeing), I’ll end with this final thought. Isn’t it ironic that Colletta was the only one to stand up for Jim Shooter? Jim Shooter is the complete opposite of Colletta. Shooter is respected and despised for the inverse reasons; he is respected for elevating the art and despised for his strong, strict personality that rubbed people the wrong way and for his intolerance toward flaky artists. Maybe Colletta saw his own failings and respected Shooter for possessing all those qualities he lacked. In any case, none of those people who criticized Colletta (again, they had good reasons to) quit in protest over seeing Shooter - who embodied the attitude toward comices they wish Colletta had - fired. Because Colletta recognized what was good for comics. And because Colletta stuck by his friends when no one else would.

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• RY

  @RyanLeCocq · 6 years ago (edited)

  I remember as a kid finally getting a copy of “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” and having my tiny mind blown at how amazing the pencils looked compared to final Marvel books.

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• DR

  @DragonaxFilms · 3 years ago

  &quot;Jesus had one Judas, Jim had several&quot;<br><br>Dang, why was Vince an inker? Dude should&apos;ve been a writer. That letter was fire.

  550

• SG

  @sguitar99 · 6 years ago

  He meeting his deadlines probably kept a lot of important issues from being cancelled

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• CO

  @ColdFuse96 · 6 years ago

  He didn&apos;t fire him because he didn&apos;t want to take away another man&apos;s income. <br><br>Oh my god, the level of honor in this man 🥺

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• RR

  @RRaquello · 1 year ago

  I forwarded this video to someone I know who was an artist in the industry at the time. He told me he was hired by Colletta when Colletta was art director at DC so maybe he&apos;s biased, but he said that the problem with the video is that its not based on the realities of the industry at the time. He said that the single most important thing was beating deadlines and everything else was second. This is a quote: &quot;Colletta was hired to ink a comic book over a weekend so as to not blow deadlines so he had permission to block out areas &nbsp;and erase details to get the work out . DC would be fined by the printer if a dead line was not met.&quot; I wasn&apos;t a big comic book fan myself, so don&apos;t know much about the history of the industry, but that&apos;s how the professionals saw it (as opposed to the fans who, of course, want to see the best art possible.)

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• BI

  @binglebangle230 · 6 years ago

  It sounds like this guy was a product of the industry, and not really bad by himself.

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• BU

  @Budgetdisco · 6 years ago

  Coletta’s rage quit letter should be analyzed in high school AP English classes. Glorious

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• JO

  @JohnCena-ew1mf · 4 years ago

  That letter to the Marvel editors was epic. Kudos to Coletta for sticking up for his friend, even if it unfortunatley cost him his career.

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• NO

  @Norvo82 · 6 years ago (edited)

  By the early 80s, George Perez famously refused to let Colletta touch his work. He went on record, calling Vinnie a &quot;great equalizer&quot;. He lifts or brings down every artist to his level, no matter the penciller, it all ended up looking like Colletta.

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• JU

  @ju4444n · 6 years ago

  Too bad he didn&apos;t become a writer instead. That letter was epic!

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• VI

  @VideoGameStoryTime · 3 years ago

  As a fairly mediocre artist who has gotten a lot of work because I&apos;m quick, I sure hope nobody ever makes a video critiquing the stuff I&apos;ve drawn when rushing to a tight deadline.

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