Just to be sure, the Captain America art mystery was solved

Back in TwoMorrows’ Fall 2008 The Jack Kirby Collector 51, the Museum’s newsletter page included a piece of Kirby art that was gifted to the Museum by Greg Theakston. Soon after that issue was published, I received an email from accomplished comic book art style identifier Nick Caputo, who told me it looked like it was inked by Frank Giacoia, and was from The Mighty Marvel Memory Album 1977 calendar. So, I acquired a copy of the calendar for the Museum. Nick also said that it looked like some of the other art on that piece was inked by John Romita, Sr., which may explain why this cut-out piece was by a different artist.

(Thanks to Richard Kolkman, caretaker of the Jack Kirby Checklist for the inspiration for this post!)

4 thoughts on “Just to be sure, the Captain America art mystery was solved

  1. Sean Rutan

    Captain America has been my favorite character since I was 3 years old and I saw his awesome costume on the comic rack calling out to me. I was born in March 1977.

    I did not discover the Marvel calendars until I was an adult in my early 30s, when I happened to see the Bi-Centennial calendar at a flea market. That made me curious as to what I’d find for my birth year…..I was happily surprised and excited to see that it just happened to be my favorite character.

    I found a 1977 calendar in great condition. I met the great Joe Simon at the NYC Comic show and had him sign it by wishing me a happy birthday. Since Stan Lee’s first work for Marvel was on Cap #3, I had him do the same. It saddens me that I can’t meet the man who is responsible for the fantastic artwork that graces the page that I walk past each day as it hangs on my wall.

    Long live The King….he won’t be forgotten.

    Reply
  2. thetrellan

    John Romita was Marvel’s art director and had a habit of retouching the work of other artists, especially if the character being protrayed was one he had previously illustrated. Usually he retouched faces. In this case, he retouched the center image of Captain America from the chest up. You can see this in the face, mail armor and right arm. The rest is clearly Giacoia. It’s possible that Romita also colored the image.

    Reply
  3. Erik Larsen

    The figure is from the splash of Captain America #203. Since that figure was grimly jumping through a portal into another dimension, Romita had to add feet and a smile to make it work for a calendar.

    Reply

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