Our new book The Thin Black Line: Perspectives on Vince Colletta, Comics’ Most Controversial Inker is just out, and it’s already garnering rave reviews for its fair-handed treatment of its subject. Here’s one example from reviewer Dan Nadel:

http://comicscomicsmag.com/2010/08/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-2.html

The book debuted last week at Comic-Con, and we sold completely out there. When we first announced it, a lot of people were puzzled: “Why would anyone do a book on Vince Colletta?” I was asked numerous times.

Now that they’ve read it, they totally understand, and many, like Nadel, want to see an even more extensive look into Colletta’s life and career (which Vince’s con Franklin has been working on, and hopes to have published soon).

Yknow, contrary to what some believe, I like Vinnie’s inks over some artists, and even like his Jimmy Olsen work over Kirby. In doing the book, I think I discovered why.

I searched for before/after comparisons where Vinnie omitted stuff in Jimmy Olsen, but I only have access to pencil copies of the last half of Jack’s run on the series. And there’s virtually no examples of erasures, unlike the earlier Thor work, where omissions are all over the place. (I designed the book, and could’ve easily added dozens more Thor before/after examples if there’d been room. But I had trouble finding a single instance in Jimmy Olsen #139-148.)

This may’ve been Jack figuring “Vinnie’s going to omit all the details anyway” and Jack putting less into those pages for him to erase. But I think more likely, it was a result of Kirby confronting Vinnie up at DC around 1971 (when he got Royer assigned as new inker on the other Fourth World books), as documented in the book. I suspect Vinnie was more concerned about being faithful to Jack’s pencils after that heated exchange, which apparently was pretty unpleasant for both men.