Inker Appreciation continues with the best inker from the Marvel Age of comics! (Archive.)

11/23/07

327. Joe Sinnott

Joltin' Joe Sinnott is a great artist in his own right, but his inking is what pushes him into the realm of brilliance. He's worked with the best of the best, and taken their pencils to the highest levels imaginable. His elegant inking line brings about the smoothest inks I've ever seen, producing some of the slickest, most dynamic comic images ever. He's definitely one of the best "embellishers" to ever work in the industry.

He got his start drawing and inking in the 50s for Atlas, but it was in the 60s, during the Marvel explosion, that the magic truly happened, on a little book called the Fantastic Four. The title really took off when Mr. Sinnott became the regular inker on Jack Kirby's mighty pencils-- it's science!-- and they went on to produce some of the finest comic art ever seen. Many believe it's Joe Sinnott that helped develop those classic Kirby dots everybody remembers. I'd say that Sinnott was Kirby's best inker, followed closely by Mike Royer.

Of course, it wasn't all Kirby, all the time, but their styles meshed wonderfully. Joe went on to ink titanic runs on books like the Avengers and Thor. Boy, I loved his Thor run with Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz. Some people disliked it, but their run was an epic love letter to the heyday of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby-- and Joe Sinnott was there to really evoke that feeling. Marvelous artistic work in the classic style. And hey, let's not forget his quick stint on ROM, Spaceknight! As a ROM fanboy, I must point it out, but c'mon! ROM + Sal Buscema + Joe Sinnott = Amazing.

In the early 90s, Joe pretty much retired, though he still dabbles with inking on the Spider-Man comic strip with Alex Saviuk. You can find him kickin' it on the internet at his website, from which I've borrowed quite a few of the images within this post. Check it out for far more samples of his fine art. The man's a comics inking legend, and we shouldn't overlook it; inkers never get the credit they deserve. Joe's one of the world's greatest comic book inkers, and has earned the accolades.

And be sure to pick up the book "Brush Strokes with Greatness," by Tim Lasiuta. It's all about our man Joe, and published by TwoMorrows, so you know it's good.