Joseph Maneely (; February 18, 1926 – June 7, 1958) was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

best known for his work at

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 19 ...

' 1950s predecessor,

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...

, where he co-created the Marvel characters the

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted wit ...

, the Ringo Kid, the Yellow Claw, and Jimmy Woo. Maneely worked at Atlas with

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

and John Romita, Sr. Writer/editor

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

commented that, "Joe Maneely to me would have been the next

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

. He also could draw anything, make anything look exciting, and I actually think he was even faster than Jack." Talented and well-respected, he died in a commuter-train accident shortly before Marvel's ascendancy into a commercial and pop-cultural conglomerate.

Biography

Early life and career

Joe Maneely, born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, was one of at least five children born to a poor couple, Robert and Gertrude Maneely. He attended Ascension BVM Elementary School and

Northeast Catholic High School Northeast Catholic High School opened in 1926 as Northeast Catholic High School for Boys, and was located at 1842 Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was under the administration of the high school system of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

; at the latter, he created a school mascot, the Red Falcon, that also starred in a comic strip in the

school newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also rep ...

. After dropping out in his sophomore year, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving three years as a specialist in visual aids and contributing cartoons to ship newspapers. Under the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

, Maneely trained at the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. He entered the professional realm in the

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

art department of the ''

Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...

'' newspaper.Vassallo, ''Alter Ego'', p. 6 He began his

career freelancing for

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp magazine, pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting year ...

in 1948, drawing such features as "Butterfingers", "Django Jinks, Ghost Chaser", "Dr. Savant", "Mario Nette", "Nick Carter", "Public Defender", "Roger Kilgore", "Supersnipe", and "Ulysses Q. Wacky" in comics including ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'', ''Top Secrets'', ''Ghost Breakers'' and ''Super Magician Comics''. His earliest known credits are that company's ''Top Secrets'' #4 (Aug. 1948), for which he

penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

and inked the eight-page

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

story "The Ragged Stranger"; and ''Red Dragon'' #4 (Aug. 1948), for which he drew the eight-page story "Death by the Sword" and the one-page featurette "Tao's Small Sword Box", both starring the hero Tao Anwar.Joe Maneely
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

Other nascent work includes the seven-page story "Washington's Scout" in Hillman Periodicals' '' Airboy Comics'' vol. 6, #10 (Nov. 1949), and a small amount of work on the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

comic-book ''

Treasure Chest Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions ...

''. With artist Peggy Zangerle and Hussian classmate George Ward — an artist for periodicals including the ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' and the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' Daily News'' and a 1950s assistant on Walt Kelly's comic strip '' Pogo'' — Maneely formed an art studio at Philadelphia's Flo-Mar Building, at 3160 Kensington Avenue, Room 501.

Atlas Comics

Maneely then found work at publisher Martin Goodman's

predecessor,

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, as it was transitioning to its 1950s incarnation as

. His first published story there was the eight-page

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

story "The Kansas Massacre of 1864" in ''Western Outlaws And Sheriffs'' #60 (Dec. 1949). However, historian Michael J. Vassallo, dating stories by Atlas' published job-numbers, suggests the first Atlas story to which Maneely contributed was the later-published "The Mystery of the Valley of Giants" in '' Black Rider'' #8 (March 1950), an 18-page story drawn by many uncredited artists, including

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. Bi ...

; Maneely's work appears on page three, with some additional minor inking on five other pages.Vassallo, ''Alter Ego'', p. 7 Maneely soon hit his stride at Atlas, for which he freelanced before going on staff "in about 1955". Until 1953, when Maneely and his family moved to the Flushing neighborhood in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

,Vassallo, ''Alter Ego'', p. 19 he traveled from Philadelphia to New York three times weekly to pick up scripts. In either 1954 or 1955, the family moved to suburban

New Shrewsbury, New Jersey New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

(later renamed Tinton Falls). With speed to match his style, he became a favorite of editor-in-chief

, who assigned Maneely covers and stories throughout virtually the entire range of Atlas comics. With superheroes experiencing a lull in popularity, Maneely drew Westerns, war,

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

, humor, romance,

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

, spy,

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

, and even period-adventure stories — that last most notably with the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

series ''

'', co-created by Maneely and writer and editor-in-chief Lee, and first reprinted in 1960s Marvel Comics at the behest of editor

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

, who as a teen had "devoured the ''Black Knight'' comic, and became an immediate fan."Thomas, Roy. "Introduction", ''Black Knight / Yellow Claw'' Marvel artist Herb Trimpe said fellow artist Marie Severin, who had worked with Maneely at Atlas, had described "his pencils salmost nonexistent; they were like rough, lightly done layouts with no features on the faces ... It was just like ovals and sticks and stuff, and he inked from that. He drew when he inked. That's when he did the work, in the inking!" Stan Lee confirmed that "Joe almost inked without penciling." Columnist and historian Fred Hembeck said, "While we may've heard of the pivotal day a young /nowiki>John/nowiki> Romita spent with the tragically doomed yet immensely talented artist Joe Maneely, listening to him describe it as one of the most important days of his entire life gives the familiar tale an added gravity". Other Atlas work reprinted widely by Marvel in the 1960s and 1970s include '' Yellow Claw'' #1 (Oct. 1956) — starring a

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comi ...

-inspired villain and the Asian FBI agent pursuing him, created by Maneely and writer Al Feldstein — and the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

'' Ringo Kid'' #1-21 (Aug. 1954 - Sept. 1957), co-created with an unknown writer. The covers of '' Sub-Mariner Comics'' #37, 39 and 41 (Dec. 1954, April and Aug. 1955) were Maneely's only superhero work for Atlas, during the company's short-lived mid-1950s attempt to revive superheroes. Maneely's talent, range and prolificity impressed fellow Atlas artists. Stan Goldberg in 2002 recalled "the all-time great Joe Maneely, ... who I thought was the best artist that ever drew comics. ... Joe wasn't just a great craftsman; he worked so fast and he was one of the few artists who could go from drawing the Black Knight to drawing

Petey the Pest Petey may refer to: People * Petey Greene (1931–1984), African-American television and radio talk-show host * Petey Pablo (born 1973), stage name of American rapper Moses Barrett III * Petey Perot (born 1957), American retired National Footbal ...

, or a war story. He had an unbelievable knack and he was just one sweet, nice guy".Stan Goldberg interview
Adelaide Comics and Books (2005). Goldberg recalled in 2005, "He worked so fast, we used to call him 'Joe Money'". Maneely's distinctive style, wrote historian Vassallo, was, "Crisp, uniquely inked, busy, and action oriented. Not necessarily pretty, but ''vivid''. It was a style unique to comics and difficult to imitate". By 1955, "Maneely's inking had stylized itself to a precision 'etching' effect, and he would enter a fruitful year that would see him turn out his most diverse and prolific work". By the summer of 1957, Atlas was experiencing difficulties and began shedding freelancers. Shortly afterward, Martin Goodman stopped distributing his own titles and switched to

American News Company American News Company (ANC) was a magazine, newspaper, book, and comic book distribution company founded in 1864 by Sinclair Tousey, which dominated the distribution market in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th ce ...

, which soon closed, temporarily leaving Atlas without a distributor and resulting in all staff other than Lee being fired.Ro, Ronin. ''Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution'' (Bloomsbury, 2004) Maneely continued to work with Lee on the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

''-

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

comic strip ''Mrs. Lyons' Cubs'', which debuted in newspapers February 10, 1958. He also did a limited amount of freelancing for

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 their f ...

during this time, including for the supernatural / fantasy anthologies '' House of Secrets'' and '' Tales of the Unexpected'';

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

; and Crestwood Publications. Maneely, additionally, drew a four-page comic about

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

for the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, "John's First Job" (1956), and another for the same agency, "A Farm and a Family".

Death

On the night of his death, "past midnight of what was early Sunday morning," June 7, 1958, Maneely had dined hours earlier with fellow laid-off Atlas colleagues, including George Ward and

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics '' Two-Fisted Tales'' and '' Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, ...

, in Manhattan. He did not have his glasses with him, and was killed when he accidentally fell between the cars of a moving commuter train on his way home to New Jersey.Daniels, Les, p. 70 (sidebar) Fellow Atlas artist Stan Goldberg recalled that on the night of Maneely's death, His last original published story was the five-page Ringo Kid tale "One Bullet Left" in ''Gunsmoke Western'' #53 (July 1959), and his final published comics work was the cover of ''Gunsmoke Western'' #55 (Nov. 1959), featuring Kid Colt and

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which la ...

. Historian Ger Apeldoorn believes Maneely's last drawn work was published earlier: the first page of the eight-page story "The Revenge of Roaring Bear" in '' Two-Gun Kid'' #45 (Dec. 1958), which was completed by a different artist ( Jack Davis), and bears the highest published job number (T-67) of Maneely's work. Marvel editor-in-chief

opined in the early 2000s that had Maneely lived, "he would have been another

. He would have been the best you could imagine".

Personal life

In 1947, following his discharge from the U.S. Navy, Maneely married his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth "Betty Jean" Kane (died April 16, 2003). Their first child, daughter Kathleen, was born in 1950. They would have two more, daughters Mary Carole, born 1951,Vassallo, ''Alter Ego'', p. 13 and Nancy, born 1956.Vassallo, ''Alter Ego'', p. 30

References

External links

Joe Maneely
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Joe Maneely
at AtlasTales.com

at the Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index *Vassallo, Michael J

Comicartville Library, n.d

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maneely, Joe 1926 births 1958 deaths American comics artists Atlas Comics Artists from Philadelphia People from Tinton Falls, New Jersey Railway accident deaths in the United States Marvel Comics people United States Navy sailors Accidental deaths in New York (state)