Frank Giacoia
Giacoia from the 1978 Marvel Comics Calendar
Born	(1924-07-06)July 6, 1924
Died	February 4, 1988(1988-02-04) (aged 63)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciller, Inker
Pseudonym(s)	Frank Ray, Phil Zupa, Espoia
Notable works	The Amazing Spider-Man Captain America

Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1989)^[1] was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray,^[2] and to a lesser extent Phil Zupa,^[3] and the single moniker Espoia, the latter used for collaborations with fellow inker Mike Esposito.^[4]

Biography

Early life and career

Frank Giacoia studied at Manhattan's School of Industrial Art (later the High School of Art and Design) and the Art Students League of New York.^[5] He entered the comics industry by penciling the feature "Jack Frost" in U.S.A. Comics #3 (cover-dated Jan. 1942), inked by friend and high school classmate Carmine Infantino — the latter's first art for comics and published by Marvel Comics' 1940s precursor, Timely Comics. His friend and collaborator Carmine Infantino, a classmate at the Art Students League, recalled that

...Frank Giacoia and I were in constant contact. One day in '40 we decided to go up to Timely Comics, which later became Marvel, to see if we could get some work. They gave us a script called 'Jack Frost' and that story became our first published work. Frank did the pencils and I did the inking. Joe Simon was the editor and he offered us both a staff job. Frank quit school and took the job. I wanted desperately to quit school and I told my father that it was a great opportunity. He said, 'No way! You're gonna finish school'.^[6]

Later in 1941, Giacoia joined the New York City comic book packager Eisner & Iger,^[1] the studio of Golden Age greats Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. His early works include drawing crime comics for Ace Comics, horror for Avon Publishing, and a multitude of characters for National Comics Publications (the primary company that evolved into DC Comics) including the Flash and Batman.

Other companies for which Giacoia did art during the 1940s and 1950s include Crestwood Publications, Dell Comics, Eastern Color Printing, Fawcett Comics, Harvey Comics, Lev Gleason Publications, and Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics. Giacoia and writer Otto Binder introduced the short-lived character Captain Wonder in Kid Komics #1 (Feb. 1943).^[7]

Later career

During the 1960s Silver Age of comic books, Giacoia became best known as a Marvel Comics inker, particularly on Captain America stories penciled by the character's co-creator Jack Kirby. One of the company's preeminent names, he worked on virtually every title at one time or another. Giacoia inked the first appearance of the Punisher in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974).^[8]

Giacoia also worked on the newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man (based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name) from 1978–1981, as well as on the strips Flash Gordon, The Incredible Hulk, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank, Sherlock Holmes, and Thorne McBride.^[1]

He was credited as the pseudonym "Frankie Ray" for some time.^[9] In Fantastic Four #53 (August 1966), his real name was announced in the "Bullpen Bulletins".

Awards and honors

Giacoia was nominated for the Shazam Award for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) in 1974.^[10] The 1989 graphic novel The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives, the back cover of which was inked by Giacoia, is dedicated to his memory.

He posthumously won one of the two annual Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Awards in 2016. The award was received by his great-nephew, Mike Giacoia.^[11]

Critical assessment

In its list of "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books", historians at the retailer Atlas Comics (no relation to the comics publishers) listed Giacoia at #5:

In comics from 1941, Frank Giacoia's smooth, thick line has been recognizable over a surfeit of outstanding pencillers. Gil Kane (who called him 'an extraordinarily powerful inker'), Carmine Infantino, Gene Colan and Jack Kirby all benefited from his heavy, robust linework which always helped tell the story in a simple, direct way. His collaboration with Kirby on the short-lived newspaper strip Johnny Reb and Billy Yank (which Giacoia created) was superb, as was generally the case when he teamed with 'the King.' Frank worked for many publishers during his 40-odd years in comics: Lev Gleason, Hillman, Timely, DC and of course Marvel (where he sometimes moonlighted under the alias Frankie Ray while still working for DC).^[12]