| Vince Alascia | |
|---|---|
 Vince Alascia, circa 1942 | |
| Born | Vincent Alascia (1914-01-14)January 14, 1914 |
| Died | September 3, 1998(1998-09-03) (aged 84) |
| Area | Penciller,Inker |
| Pseudonym | Nicholas Alascia |
Vincent Alascia (January 14, 1914 – September 3, 1998),[1][2] also known asNicholas Alascia, was an Americancomic book artist known for his work onCaptain America during theGolden Age of comics, and for his 23-year run asinker on a single creative team, withpencilerCharles Nicholas Wojtkowski (as "Charles Nicholas") and writerJoe Gill atCharlton Comics from 1953 to 1976.
Vince Alascia was on staff atTimely Comics, the 1940s predecessor ofMarvel Comics, where the artist and comics historianJim Steranko credits him for art as early asUSA Comics #5 (Summer 1942), on the masked-crimefighter feature "American Avenger".[3] When Captain America creatorsJoe Simon andJack Kirby left Timely after issue #10 (Jan. 1942) of the eponymous book, Alascia penciled the hero's adventures in the sister titleAll Select Comics #2–10 (Winter 1943/1944 to Summer 1946), generally inked byAllen Bellman, and in several issues ofAll Winners Comics, with a variety of inkers, starting with #11 (Winter 1943/1944).Syd Shores andAl Avison had taken over art duties onCaptain America Comics, and Alascia shortly afterward filled-in as Shores' inker while Avison did hisWorld War IImilitary service.
Alascia later went into rotation as one of the variousCaptain America Comics artists in any given issue. Examples of his work in that flagship title include the story "Ali Baba and His Forty Nazis" in issue #32 (Nov. 1943), inkingKen Bald, and "The Crime Dictator" in issue #47 (June 1945), which Alascia penciled.
It was Alascia, inked byBob Powell, who drew the Captain American andBucky chapters in the two magazine-length stories – rare for the time – of the superhero team theAll-Winners Squad in the (non-hyphenated)All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946) and #21 (Winter 1946; there was no issue #20). Additionally, in issue #19, Alascia inked Shores on the chapter starring superheroineMiss America. In issue #21, he also pencilled both theWhizzer chapter and the final chapter, and inked Avison'sSub-Mariner chapter.[4][5]
Other Timely work includes stories featuring theYoung Allies inKid Komics andThe Young Allies; thePatriot in the omnibus titleMarvel Mystery Comics; and occasional work inBlonde Phantom.[4]
After Timely's downsizing in 1948, Alascia freelanced for such other comics companies as Avon, where he inkedMartin Nodell, creator ofGreen Lantern, onanthologicalhorror stories in that publisher's 1950s comicsCity of the Living Dead andEerie (no relation toWarren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine of that name). A Modell/AlasciaEerie story was reprinted inSkywald Publications,Nightmare #1 (Dec. 1970).[4]
Mostly, however, Alascia worked withCharlton Comics ofDerby, Connecticut, where he was teamed withCharles Nicholas (the 1921–1985 comics artist of that name) on a full gamut ofcrime, suspense,mystery, science fiction,war,Western,romance, andhot-rod titles, beginning withCrime and Justice #16 (Jan. 1953). The art team would sometimes sign its workNicholas & Alascia, as in the panel at left. As a penciler, Alascia's work for Charlton includes the August 1956 premiere issue ofTales of the Mysterious Traveler.[4]
Comics historianJess Nevins said, "Alascia is one of those pros who did a wide range of work on a number of books over the years, but is almost completely forgotten about today; he did some work onCaptain America [Comics] and onU.S. Marines in Action, andSix-Gun Heroes. His work ... strikes me as a cross betweenSheldon Moldoff andMort Meskin, and if you know anything about Golden Age artists, you know that those two are names to conjure with".[3]
ArtistGill Fox had a different view, recalling that Alascia had taken "an art course that was an offshoot of the course atTextile High School, in New York City. I was deeply impressed with Vince's talent; he did great stuff for the yearbook. Years later, I went to see him and he had totally changed. I tried to get him to make a move into a better kind of work, but I couldn't get him to do it. Vince had an uninspired art career".[6]
Charlton Comics andDC Comics editorDick Giordano felt that, "If you take a close look at Vince's inking style, you'll find it bears a close resemblance toAlex Raymond's style onRip Kirby; that was very popular at that time. ... Vince used to have theseRip Kirby strips in front of him, looking at them while he was inking. But what he was inking had nothing to do with the strip he was looking at. I don't know what he got out of it except inspiration".[7]