John Tartaglione

John Tartaglione (born 19 January, 1921; died 12 November, 2003), a.k.a. '"John Tartag." and other pseudonyms, was an American comic book artist best known as a 1950s romance-comic artist; a Marvel Comics inker during the Silver Age of comic books; and as the illustrator of the Marvel biographies "The Life of Pope John Paul II", and "Mother Theresa of Calcutta", the first of which at least sold millions of copies worldwide in several languages.

Biography

Early life and career

Raised in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Tartaglione studied at that borough's Pratt Institute, and at the Traphagen School of Fashion in Manhattan, where his studies would inform the details of his period stories. In the early 1940s, he became an assistant at Harvey Comics and later at comics artist and comic-book packager Bernard Baily's Bailey Publications.

Tartaglione began a long association with Marvel during the company's 1950s iteration as Atlas Comics. He penciled suspense, adventure, sports and crime stories — signing his work a variety of ways including "Tartag", "Tar", "Leone" and "JT" — but was most prolific in romance titles, illustrating more than 120, employing a highly naturalistic approach using friends and family as models.

ilver Age of comic books

Tartaglione also freelanced for DC Comics, Charlton Comics and for Gilberton Publications, where he illustrated the "Classics Illustrated" adaptations "Won by the Sword" and "Tom Brown's Schooldays". From 1963 to 1966, he penciled several "Movie Classic" adaptations for Dell Comics — from "Jason and the Argonauts" to "Beach Blanket Bingo" — as well as TV series tie-in comcis and other work including the presidential biographies "John F. Kennedy" (inked by Dick Giordano; year n.a.), and "Lyndon B. Johnson" (1964).

Back at Marvel — where he sometimes went by "John Tartag", with and without a period — the wide-ranging Tartaglione had a notable run inking Dick Ayers on "Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos" #27-42 (Feb. 1966 - May 1967) and other issues, plus two annuals. His most enduring work as a Marvel inker may be his three stories with the legendary comics writer-artist Jim Steranko: Steranko's final Nick Fury story, "What Ever Happened to Scorpio?", in the classic "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." #5 (Nov. 1968), [Reprinted in "Nick Fury Special Edition" #2, Jan. 1984, and the 2001 trade paperback "Nick Fury: Scorpio", ISBN 0-7851-0766-5] and the Arnold Drake-written "X-Men" #50-51 (Nov.-Dec. 1968). [Reprinted in the 2002 trade paperback "Marvel Visionaries: Jim Steranko", ISBN 0-7851-0944-7]

Other comics and commercial art

With the exception of an occasional item such as the cover of "Dazzler" #12, Tartaglione returned to penciling for the first time in years with the 64-page Marvel Comics biography "The Life of Pope John Paul II" (1982), written by Steven Grant and Mieczyslaw Malinski, and inked by Joe Sinnott. A 1984 follow-up profiled Mother Theresa, with the same artists and writer David Michelinie.

Marginalia includes the Catholic-oriented comic book "Treasure Chest", distributed in parochial schools, and religious comics for publisher Ned Pines' Better Publications/Nedor/Standard Publishing; inking some Western comics for Skywald Publications' short-lived comic-book line in 1971; and Marvel's adaptation of the movie "Dragonslayer" (1981).

Tartaglione commercial art includes promotional comics for Atlas Spark Plugs and the 1964 New York World's Fair, as well as licensed-character children's books featuring "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Transformers". In his later years he also creating oil paintings and portraiture.

Later career

Tartaglione, who c. 1980 had assisted Alex Kotsky on the newspaper comic strip "Apartment 3-G", began inking "The Amazing Spider-Man" daily comic strip in 2003. The day before his death that year from throat cancer, which had left him unable to speak, Tartaglione finished inking a week of "Spider-Man" strips.

Misc.

His children, Mary Beth and John C. Tartaglione, are also artists.

Quotes

Mark Evanier, on Tartaglione at Marvel: " [H] e became the 'go-to' guy when a project came along that required historical research and/or spiritual themes. He was therefore the perfect artist when, in 1982, Marvel issued a comic-book biography of Pope John Paul II that through various religious channels sold well into the millions, leading to a follow-up book on Mother Teresa". [ [http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2003_11_14.html#007709 News from Me: "John Tartaglione, R.I.P." (Column of Nov. 14, 2003), by Mark Evanier] ]

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.lambiek.net/tartaglione_john.htm Lamiebk Comiclopedia: John Tartaglione]
* "Alter Ego" #33 (Feb. 2004): "In Memorium: John Tartaglione", by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo
* [http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/ The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators]
* [http://www.comics.org/ The Grand Comic-Book Database]
* [http://members.aol.com/MG4273/comics.htm Classic Comic Books]
* [http://hometown.aol.com/comicsproj/credits.html The Comic Strip Project: Credits]

External links

* [http://www.johntartaglione.com/ Official site for artist son John C. Tartaglione]
* [http://costume.osu.edu/The_Collection/traphagencollection.htm Traphagen Collection]
* [http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=42;t=001390 Comic.con Panels forum on mistaken rumors of Tartaglione death in 2000]