Jack Abel (July 15, 1927 – March 6, 1996)
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia. November 24, 2009. was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

best known as an inker for leading publishers

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

. He was DC's primary inker on the Superman titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and inked penciler Herb Trimpe's introduction of the popular

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a musc ...

in '' The Incredible Hulk'' #181 (Nov. 1974). He sometimes used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Gary Michaels.

Biography

Early life and career

Abel's published work stretches to 1951, when he penciled and inked horror stories for such

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

series as Mr. Publications' ( Mike Esposito &

Ross Andru Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21. In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan'' newspaper ...

's company) (Requires subscription) Print version: "Mike Esposito, Comic Book Artist", p. A30 ''Mister Mystery'', and

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitud ...

'—the 1950s forerunner of

—''

Journey into Unknown Worlds ''Journey into Unknown Worlds'' was a science-fiction/horror/fantasy title from Atlas (pre-Marvel) Comics published during the 1950s. The series continued from Timely Comics' teen-humor series ''Teen Comics'' and ran from Sept. 1950 - Aug. 1957. ...

'', and Western tales in Prize Comics' aptly title ''Prize Comics Western''. He inked

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

, romance and war comics for Atlas, American Comics Group,

Avon Comics Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by A ...

, and Hillman Periodicals, and later in the decade became a prolific penciler for the DC war titles ''

Our Fighting Forces ''Our Fighting Forces'' is a war comics anthology series published by DC Comics for 181 issues from 1954–1978. Publication history ''Our Fighting Forces'' began with an October–November 1954 cover date. Writer-editor Robert Kanigher's wo ...

'', '' Our Army at War'', ''

Star Spangled War Stories ''Star Spangled War Stories'' was the title of a comics anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti ...

'' and '' All-American Men of War''.Jack Abel
at the Grand Comics Database. October 24, 2011.

DC and Superman

Abel inked hundreds of DC stories, and eventually was chosen to succeed longtime "Superman family" inker George Klein as Curt Swan's embellisher on "

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st cent ...

" in ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' (most issues, #369–406, June 1968–May 1971); ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

'' (most issues, #208–219, July 1968–Aug. 1969); "Superman" in '' Action Comics'' (#369-392, Nov. 1968–Sept. 1970), and occasional issues of '' Superboy''.

Later career

After a reshuffling at DC c. 1970, Abel went to Marvel. He had already inked Gene Colan there on a long stretch of

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...

stories beginning with '' Tales of Suspense'' #73 (Jan. 1966), under the pseudonym "Gary Michaels". As Colan recalled, "He did a lot of ''Iron Man'' with me. He had a very slick line, which was okay on ''Iron Man'', of course. Iron Man was made of iron, so you want it to look like metal. But when it came to stone and dark corners and garbage aughs he wasn't the man for that". Later, under his own name, he would embellish Colan on some issues of ''

Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superhero ...

'' and ''

Tomb of Dracula ''The Tomb of Dracula'' is an American horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces. On rare ...

'' (including the introduction of Blade, in #10); Trimpe on ''The Incredible Hulk''; George Tuska on ''Iron Man''; and Paul Gulacy on '' Master of Kung Fu'', among other work. From the mid-1970s, Abel inked not only for Marvel and again DC (including its ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to ...

'' and ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

''), but for the smaller companies '' Gold Key'' (''Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery'', ''Grimm's Ghost Stories'', ''Mighty Samson'', the licensed title ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''); Charlton Comics (''Ghost Manor'', ''Ghostly Haunts'', ''Haunted'', ''Midnight Tales''); Atlas/Seaboard (''IronJaw'', ''Morlock 2001''); and

Skywald Publications Skywald Publications was an American publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the horror anthologies ''Nightmare'', ''Psycho'', and ''Scream''. It also published a small line of comic books and other genre magazines. Skywald's or ...

('' The Heap'', and additionally the black-and-white horror comics magazines ''Nightmare'' and ''Psycho''). Baseball-fan Abel, who in the 1970s rented studio space at

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

and

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...

's Continuity Associates, organized the Continuity

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

team that played league games in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. After suffering a serious stroke in 1981, Abel rehabilitated his paralyzed right hand to the extent that he was able to ink and draw again—which he did through the rest of the 1980s, primarily for Marvel.

Comic strips

Outside comic books, Abel inked John Celardo from 1967–1969 on the syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

''Tales of the Green Beret'', written by author Robin Moore.Jack Abel entry
The Comic Strip Project, "Who's Who of Comic Strip Producers", A-Part 1
WebCitation archive

Awards

In 2016, Abel was nominated and tied for runner-up for the Inkwell Awards Special Recognition Award.Inkwell Awards 2016 Winners
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References

External links

*
The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

(1994). (1994)

* "Remembering Jack Abel", ''Comic Book Marketplace'', vol. 2, #46 (April 1997): Reminiscences by Gene Colan,

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

, Joe Giella, Russ Heath, Joe Kubert, Alan Kupperberg, and Steve Mitchell *Additional made June 15, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Jack American comics artists Marvel Comics people Silver Age comics creators 1927 births 1996 deaths