Sol Brodsky (born c. 1923; died 1984) was an American comic book artist who, as Marvel Comics' Silver Age production manager, was one of the key architects of the small company's expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate. "Sol", said Marvel editor and patriarch Stan Lee, "was really my right-hand man for years".¹ 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Artist is a descriptive term applied to a person who engages in an activity deemed to be an art. ... It has been suggested that Felicia (pseudonym) be merged into this article or section. ... Showcase #4 (September-October 1956), often thought the first appearance of the first Silver Age superhero, the Barry Allen Flash. ... Theatrical production management is a sub-division of stagecraft. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ... Conglomerate is: A large, diversified company with a wide array of businesses; see conglomerate (company), holding company. ... Stan Lee and his most famous creation, Spider-Man. ...

Brodsky co-created, with letterer Artie Simek, the long-familiar cover logo of The Amazing Spider-Man², as well as many others still in use in the mid-2000s. He was belatedly credited after decades as the inker of the legendary Jack Kirby's pencil art for The Fantastic Four #3-4 (March-May 1962) and many other landmark comics. When the famed but troubled artist Bill Everett turned in Daredevil #1 (April 1964) extremely late, Brodsky and Spider-Man artist Steve Ditko inked "a lot of backgrounds and secondary figures on the fly [and] cobbled the cover and the splash page together from Kirby's original concept drawing", per Mavel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. [1] In comic books, the letterer is the person who draws the letters in the word balloons, draws in sound effects and usually designs a books logo. ... Artie Simek lettered a number of the Silver Age comic books published by Marvel Comics. ... Cover by Steve Ditko for The Amazing Spider-Man #10 (Volume 1), March 1964. ... The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book, or graphic novel. ... The Fantastic Four, one of Kirbys most famous co-creations. ... In producing a comic book, the penciller (or penciler) draws the comic based on the script created by the writer. ... The Fantastic Four (sometimes called the FF) are a Marvel Comics superhero group. ... Bill Everett (May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was a comic book writer/illustrator most famous for the creation of Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics. ... For people who perform risky stunts as a profession, see stunt performer. ... Spider-Man swinging around his hometown, New York City. ... The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964): Cover art by Ditko. ... Joseph Joe Quesada (born December 1, 1962 in New York City), colloquially known as Joey Q, is the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and a comic book writer and artist. ...

Sol Brodsky inked one of penciler Jack Kirby's most significant comics, The Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962)

Image File history File links Farrah promotional image. ... Image File history File links Farrah promotional image. ... The Fantastic Four, one of Kirbys most famous co-creations. ...

Early career

Brodsky began inking for comics as early as 1942, with a six-page Volton story in Holyoke Publications's Catman Comics Vol. 3, #2 (a.k.a. #12). That same year he began his long, if initially intermittant, association with Marvel, writing and drawing four one-page "Inky Dinky" gag strips in Mystic Comics #10 (Aug. 1942) and additional one in Comedy Comics #11 (Sept. 1952). for the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics. His earliest known cover art is for Fox Comics' Blue Beetle #17 (Dec. 1942). Timely Comics is the 1940s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. ... Fox Feature Syndicate (a. ...

Never a star and generally described as a "journeyman" penciler without an immediately recognizeable style, Brodsky in late 1950 or early 1951 — the exact date uncertain due his work often going unsigned, in the manner of the times — began penciling and inking in earnest for Marvel's 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics. He is tentatively credited as cover artist of Marvel Boy #1-2 (Dec. 1950 - Feb.1951), and confirmably credited through the '50s for covers and occasional stories in issues of Atlas' horror/suspense titles Adventures into Weird Worlds, Strange Tales, and Uncanny Tales; the Westerns Kid Colt, Outlaw Gunsmoke Western, Western Outlaws, and Wild Western; the satiric Crazy; and such miscellaneous genre titles as Sports Action and Spy Fighters. Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. ... Marvel Boy is the name of several fictional characters created and published by Marvel Comics: Robert Grayson was the 1950s Marvel Boy. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. ... Western fiction is a genre of literature that is typically set in any of the American states west of the Mississippi River and between the years of approximately 1860 and 1900. ... Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters in Marvel Comics universe - a cowboy and a cowboy based super-hero. ...

Brodsky became founding editor of the MAD-like magazine Cracked, in 1958. He returned to Marvel freelance to ink The Fantastic Four #3 (the issue that introduced the team's costumes and other mythos sui genersis) and #4 (the return of the Golden Age antihero the Sub-Mariner). MAD is an acronym with several different uses and may refer to: MAD Magazine, an American magazine Mutual assured destruction, a military theory Moroccan dirham, an ISO currency code MAD, the IATA Airport Code for Barajas International Airport MPEG Audio Decoder, an audio decompression software Michigan Algorithm Decoder, a programming... Cracked Magazine issue 31 - September 1963 CRACKED Magazine is one of Americas oldest national humor magazines, and the most successful imitator of the popular MAD Magazine. ... Superman, the catalyst of the Golden Age, from Superman #14, January-February 1942. ... In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central or supporting character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers or viewers. ... Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional character, featured in Marvel Comics. ...

Marvel Comics

Tales to Astonish #40 (Feb. 1963), a rare interior by the occasional cover-art team of penciler Jack Kirby and inker Sol Brodsky. Ant-Man stars.

As Marvel began to expand with the unforeseen great success of Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man and other titles, Brodsky's organizational skills and easygoing manner led Stan Lee to offer him the newly created position of production manager. Except for a brief time away from Marvel in the early in the 1970s, when he co-founded Skywald Publications ("Brodsky" reflected in the first half of the company name), he returned after a few months to continue at Marvel, and rise up the ranks. Sometime before May 19, 1978, according to a letter [2] he sent on that date to a Marvel fan and which was put up for auction decades later, his title had become vice-president, operations. Skywald Publications was a 1970s publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the horror anthologies Nightmare, Psycho and Scream, as well as a small line of comic books. ...

A fictionalized Brodsky is among the beachgoers gathered 'round the unconscious Namor in penciler Marie Severin's splash page for The Sub-Mariner #19 (Nov. 1969). As an in-joke, Severin had drawn the Marvel staff (as well as three personal friends) as on-lookers. Brodsky is the man in the Hawaiian shirt at lower right, gesturing to the police (and standing in front of a cigar-smoking Mike Esposito).³ A fictionalized Brodsky also appeared alongside Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Marvel secretary Flo Steinberg — all transformed into a Marvel Bullpen version Fantastic Four —in the [parallel universe|alternate-reality]] comic What If Vol. 1, #11 (Oct. 1978). Written and drawn by Kirby, the odd tale featured Brodsky as the Human Torch. Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional character, featured in Marvel Comics. ... Cover to Sub-Mariner #9 . ... Mike Esposito is the name of A comic book artist, writer and publisher, see Mike Esposito (comics artist) A lead guitarist for the rock music group Blues Magoos A pitcher for the minor league baseball team the Colorado Springs Sky Sox This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages... The Human Torch is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. ...

Brodsky's son Gary founded the short-lived, 1980s independent-comics company Solson Publications, which published an issue of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents update T.H.U.N.D.E.R., by writer Michael Sawyer and artist James E. Lyle, plus the short-lived "super-president" spoof series Reagan's Raiders. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a team of comic book superheroes originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. ...

Occasional 1970s Marvel writer Allyn Brodsky is no relation.

Quotes

Stan Lee [3]: "One guy who I miss tremendously wasn't an official artist. Sol Brodsky. He was my assistant for years and the company's production head. He could write, he could draw, he could ink — he could do everything". Stan Lee and his most famous creation, Spider-Man. ...

Allen Bellman, Timely/Atlas artist [4]: "Sol and I were close friends. We both lived in Brooklyn and I was already married. I can remember picking up Sol at his home (he wasn't married as yet) and we went for a ride in my new car. I was a new driver and we were riding around the Prospect Park circle and I was scared stiff, and frankly, I was driving blind! Even in those days traffic was heavy. I could hear horns honking at me and it's a miracle that we made it back safely! When Roz and I were married, we moved to the Jersey shore area of Asbury Park, and Sol and his wife visited us often. He was a warm, good-natured person. His passing so early in his life shook me up." Official language(s) None defined, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 47th 22,608 km² 110 km 240 km 14. ... Map of Asbury Park in Monmouth County Asbury Park is a City located in Monmouth County, New Jersey. ...

Footnotes

• Note 1: Daniels, Les, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics (Harry N. Abrams, 1991), p. 105
• Note 2: [5] and [[6] Lettered by Simek from a sketch by Brodsky for issue #1, it was modified slightly with #2, and drop-shadow was added with #7. This logo continued to be used
• Note 3: Comic Book Artist #7 (Feb. 2000), p. 10-11

Comic Book Artist is an American magazine primarily devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published between the 1960s and the present-day. ...

References

• The Jack Kirby Collector #18 (Jan. 1998): Roy Thomas interview
• Silver Bullet Comics: "Stan Lee: Grand Master - Part Two"
• Comicartville Library: "A Timely Talk with Allen Bellman"
• Famous Cartoonist Series Buttons — 008: Sol Brodsky
• POV Online: "Why did some artists working for Marvel in the sixties use phony names?"
• Comic Artists Direct: James E. Lyle
• Marie Severin Sketchagraphs
• Newsarama: "Joe Fridays 4" (Joe Quesada interview series)
• The Comics Journal #92 (Aug. 1984): "Marvel Vice President/Administration Sol Brodsky Dies at Age of 61" p. 18 (offline)
• The Grand Comic Book Database

Joseph Joe Quesada (born December 1, 1962 in New York City), colloquially known as Joey Q, is the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and a comic book writer and artist. ... The Comics Journal is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips. ...

External links

• Audio of Merry Marvel Marching Society record, including voice of Sol Brodsky