Artie Simek
Artie Simek | |
---|---|
Born | Arthur Simek January 6, 1916 |
Died | February 20, 1975 | (aged 59)
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Letterer |
Arthur Simek (
Biography
Artie Simek began his comics career in the 1940s, although credits are hard to determine, as comic-book letterers did not begin to routinely receive published credit until the early 1960s. Inker Joe Giella โ who for two years beginning circa 1946 worked on staff at Marvel Comics 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics โ recalled "Artie Simek was on staff on Timely. He lives in Queens and he also used to work out of his bedroom; he had a little drawing table in there. I used to drive to his home and pick up the jobs he'd lettered, then take them home and work on them. Fred Eng lettered there, too".[4]
Simek's first confirmed credits are the 12-page lead story "The Three Super-Sleepers", a Batman-Superman team-up in DC Comics' World's Finest Comics #91 (Dec. 1957),[5] and, for the same company, the eight-page backup story "Batman's Roman Holiday", in Batman #112 (Dec. 1957).[6] He went on to letter issues of such other DC titles as Showcase and House of Secrets.
Beginning with his first confirmed Marvel Comics credits, three
Simek's final work was lettering pages 2โ8 and 10 of the 32-page superhero story "Eelar Moves in Mysterious Ways" in Giant-Size Defenders #5 (July 1975), which an editorial note on the letters page describes as the last Simek completed before his death while working on the issue.[7]
Personal life
Future Comic Book Hall of Famer Gene Colan, a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, described Simek as "a real Norman Rockwell character. Artie Simek could play the spoons. He'd have two spoons in his hand, and he would flip them around, they would bop up against each other, and before you knew it, there was a melody there. He was wonderful".[8]
References
- Social Security Number 120-18-7704, at the Social Security Death Index via FamilySearch.org. Note: Only "Feb 1975" given as death date. Archivedfrom the original on November 17, 2014. (May require scrolldown on some browswers.)
- cover-dated September 1975, including Fantastic Four#162
- ISBN 978-0-7851-0823-8), citing letter in Fantastic Four #281 from Fantastic Four artist and co-creator Jack Kirby and wife Roz Kirby; The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators Archived 2007-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Joe Giella interview, Alter Ego # 52 (Sept. 2005), p. 6
- ^ World's Finest Comics #91 at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Batman #112 at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Giant-Size Defenders #5 at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Gene Colan interview, Alter Ego # 52 (March 2006), p. 69
External links
- Artie Simek at the Grand Comics Database
- Artie Simek at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Artie Simek at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators