Comic book writer and artist
Joe Gill
|
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Joe Gill in sailor's uniform, 1940s
on board the USS
Cavalier
APA 37
|
Born
| Joseph P. Gill
(
1919-07-13
)
July 13, 1919
Scranton
,
Pennsylvania
, U.S.
|
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Died
| December 17, 2006
(2006-12-17)
(aged 87)
Seymour, Connecticut
, U.S.
|
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Nationality
| American
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Area(s)
| Writer,
Colourist
|
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Notable works
| Captain Atom
,
Judomaster
,
Peacemaker
|
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Awards
| Bill Finger Award
2020 posthumously
[1]
|
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Joseph P. Gill
(July 13, 1919 ? December 17, 2006)
[2]
was an American magazine writer and highly prolific
comic book
scripter. Most of his work was for
Charlton Comics
, where he co-created the
superheroes
Captain Atom
,
Peacemaker
, and
Judomaster
, among others. Comics historians consider Gill a top contender as the comic-book field's most prolific writer. Per historian and columnist
Mark Evanier
, Gill "wrote a staggering number of comics. There are a half-dozen guys in his category. If someone came back and said he was the most prolific ever, no one would be surprised."
[3]
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Born in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
, Gill began writing for comic books for the New York City-based
Timely Comics
, the first predecessor of
Marvel Comics
, during the 1940s period fans and historians call the
Golden Age of Comic Books
. The vast majority of his work went unsigned, both in the manner of that time and during his staff-writing position at one company from the 1950s to 1980s, making a comprehensive bibliography difficult or impossible to compile.
In addition, Gill's Timely stories were actually written, often pseudonymously for
Funnies, Inc.
, an outsource "packager" that created comics on demand for publishers testing the waters of the then-new
medium
. His earliest confirmed credit is the one-page text story "Following Orders" in
Novelty Press
'
Target Comics
vol. 8, #11 (#89), cover-dated January 1948.
As Gill recalled his start in the business, via his brother, Ray Gill, "My brother was an editor at
Funnies, Inc.
, an editorial service that packaged comics for publishers. They put [publisher]
[Martin] Goodman
? who [owned] Marvel later ? into comics, and did the first [comics] in my brother's office".
[4]
Gill is reportedly among the writers who scripted
Captain America
for Timely following the departure of character creators
Joe Simon
and
Jack Kirby
in late 1941.
[3]
Around this time, Gill met future
hardboiled detective
novelist
Mickey Spillane
, a lifelong friend, who also began writing for Funnies, Inc. Following military service in
World War II
as a
U.S. Navy
radio operator ? in which according to family lore Gill's ship was
torpedoed
by a
Japanese
submarine
and Gill's signaling for help amid the sinking led to the rescue of many hands.
[5]
Spillane and Ray Gill insisted Joe go into freelance writing with them. When superheroes fell out of favor in the post-war years, Gill began scripting teen-humor,
Western
and other genre comics for Timely. Following an industry downturn around 1948, he eventually found his way to the low-budget comic-book publisher
Charlton Comics
, based in
Derby, Connecticut
.
[
citation needed
]
Charlton Comics and the Silver Age
[
edit
]
At Charlton, beginning in the early 1950s, Gill became the company's primary staff writer for the next thirty years. He was known for his speed, often finishing a full-length comics script in a day and writing as much as an estimated 100 to 125 pages a week across a number of genres, from
crime fiction
to science fiction,
romance
to
war stories
.
[3]
[5]
Superheroes were a minor part of Charlton; Gill created one of its first,
Zaza the Mystic
. He also did
colorist
work for the company.
[
citation needed
]
In 1960, as the industry was returning to superheroes for what would become known as the
Silver Age of comic books
, Gill and the soon-to-be-legendary co-creator of
Marvel Comics
'
Spider-Man
,
Steve Ditko
, created the astronaut-turned-atomic-hero
Captain Atom
in the sci-fi anthology title
Space Adventures
#33 (March 1960).
[6]
The character would eventually become a stalwart of the DC stable, as would
Blue Beetle
, an old
Fox Comics
superhero revived by Gill and artists
Bill Fraccio
and
Tony Tallarico
as a campy, comedic character in
Blue Beetle
#1 (June 1964).
[
citation needed
]
In 1967, Charlton editor
Dick Giordano
introduced the company's "Action Hero" superhero line, with new characters that included Gill and artist
Pat Boyette
's
The Peacemaker
as well as Gill and company
art director
Frank McLaughlin
's
Judomaster
. In other areas, he collaborated with Ditko on the giant-ape series
Konga
and on the movie-spinoff series
Gorgo
.
[
citation needed
]
Later life and career
[
edit
]
When Giordano was hired at industry leader
DC Comics
in 1969, he commissioned scripts from Gill for such titles as
The Secret Six
and the toy-license property
Hot Wheels
. Gill continued to work regularly at Charlton throughout this period, notably on the ongoing
Vietnam War
feature "
Shotgun Harker and Chicken
" for Charlton's war title
Fightin' Marines
.
In 1975, Gill and artist
John Byrne
co-created the
post-apocalyptic
series
Doomsday + 1
(1976?1977), the first series-creator credit for future industry-star Byrne.
In 1983, Gill wrote two stories featuring
Secret Agent X-9
for
King Features Syndicate
. These stories were illustrated by
Jack Sparling
and only saw print in European comic books.
[
citation needed
]
When Charlton Comics ceased publication in 1986, Gill retired from comic-book scripting save for an occasional freelance story for DC. His final recorded credit is as one of the colorists on the small-press superhero comic
Ebony Warrior
#2 (June?July 1993), published by
Ania
. He appeared as a guest, with fellow Charlton alumni
Willie Franz
and
Sam Glanzman
, at a New York City
comics convention
panel, broadcast November 21, 2000, on the
WBAI
radio show
'Nuff Said!
[7]
Gill, who suffered from complications from a fall at the Shady Knoll Health Center in
Seymour, Connecticut
, and who in the last part of his life spent much time at the Doyle Senior Center, playing
pool
in the morning and
poker
in the afternoon, died of undisclosed causes at age 87 in Seymour. There was no funeral, according to his wishes, and his only surviving relative, niece Carol Anderson, took his ashes to a cemetery in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
, where his wife and son are buried.
[5]
Awards
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Six Posthumous Recipients to Receive 2020 Bill Finger Award
- ^
Social Security Death Index
, Joseph P. Gill
- ^
a
b
c
Mark Evanier,
"Joe Gill, R.I.P."
, POV Online (column of January 16, 2007).
- ^
Cooke, Jon B., & Christopher Irving.
"The Charlton Empire: A Brief History of the Derby, Connecticut Publisher"
,
Comic Book Artist
#9, August 2000. Access date 2010-04-27.
WebCitation archive
.
- ^
a
b
c
Higbee, Matthew (January 20, 2007).
"Seymour's Joe Gill died in anonymity: Comic book writer was the real deal"
.
Connecticut Post
. Archived from
the original
on January 22, 2007.
- ^
McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1960s".
DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle
.
Dorling Kindersley
. p. 99.
ISBN
978-0-7566-6742-9
.
Captain Atom was born in a tale by artist Steve Ditko and writer Joe Gill.
CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
'Nuff Said!
Guest List
.
WebCitation archive
.
- ^
"1974 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards"
. Archived from
the original
on March 18, 2007.
- ^
Six Posthumous Recipients to Receive 2020 Bill Finger Award
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Joe Gill interview,
Comic Book Artist
#9 (Aug. 2000), pp. 22?24
- Comic Book Artist
#9 (Aug. 2000): "The Charlton Comics Story: 1945?1968"
- Comic Book Artist
#12 (March 2001): "The Charlton Comics Story: 1972?1983"
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