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63-605: His most frequent collaborator was comics inker Mike Esposito , with whom he worked on projects over a span of four decades. The two also founded three short-lived comic books companies: Mr. Publications (1951), MikeRoss (1953) and Klevart Enterprises (1970). Ross Andru was born in Highland Park, Michigan on June 15, 1927, the third of Alexander and Glafire (née Evanoff) Androuchkevitch's three children. Andru grew up in Cleveland , Ohio, raised by Russian émigré parents who came to

126-683: A 2006 U.S. stamp. Esposito was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2007. Mike Esposito was born in New York City , New York , with a musician father who in 1928 fronted the band Ralph Perry and His Orchestra, and later was a grocer. Esposito graduated from The High School of Music & Art , then in Harlem , where one of his classmates and friends was future comics artist Ross Andru , with whom he would collaborate on flip-book animation. One early artistic influence

189-403: A band called Fling Lois. Frequent collaborator Gerry Conway commented of Ross Andru's work, "Ross Andru could place a character anywhere he wanted. He had a terrific sense of spatial relations; he could track a battle easily across rooftops, from panel to panel. He drew some great sequences where he maintained the same stationary background, a rooftop or a street, across an entire page, but move

252-451: A band called Fling Lois. and once again in a graphic novel released in 2020 entitled "The Saga of Evil Monkey Man" by N Blake Seals. Esposito's final Archie work was inking four Goldberg stories in Betty #56 (Dec. 1997). Esposito, discussing this late period, said, "I started working over Stan's pencils, and did so for quite a few years. But as you get older, the pace with which you work becomes

315-571: A brief return to the Wonder Woman title, drawing six pages in issue #300 (Feb. 1983). The following year, Andru contributed to the 300th issue of World's Finest Comics as well. A New Teen Titans drug awareness comic book sponsored by the American Soft Drink Industry and drawn by Andru was published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983. Andru also pencilled Teen Titans Spotlight #3–6 (1986–1987). He

378-463: A great concept for visuals for the layout, for the storytelling. That's what Burne Hogarth saw in Ross and he developed him to pull all that out, the shots and the depth of field. That only lasted a couple of years, because the strip died in about 1950–51... Ross came to me when I started publishing and we more or less teamed up'." A source claims penciler Andru first teamed with inker Esposito in 1949 for

441-458: A humor magazine cover-titled Up Your Nose (and Out Your Ear) . The name, Esposito said, came from an expression used by late-night talk-show host Johnny Carson , "May the bird of paradise fly up your nose, and out your ear." A third issue was written but never printed because of financial problems. After the magazine's demise, Esposito, who often came into the Marvel office to do freelance work for

504-457: A name I had in the 1950s when I was doing horror [comics] stories" — considered disreputable at the time — "and I didn't want certain guys in the business to know who I was us. Mickey Demo was a relative's name up in Boston." When John Romita, Sr. succeeded artist co-creator Steve Ditko on The Amazing Spider-Man , beginning with issue #39 (Aug. 1966), Esposito, initially as Demeo,

567-569: A nine-year run on Wonder Woman starting with issue #98 (May 1958), where he and writer Robert Kanigher reinvented the character, introducing the Silver Age version and her supporting cast. As well, with writer-editor Robert Kanigher , Andru co-created the robot superheroes called The Metal Men in Showcase #37 (April 1962), going on to draw the first 29 issues of the lighthearted series Metal Men , from 1963 to 1968. Esposito said Kanigher "left

630-469: A span of four decades. They quickly founded their own comics-book company, the name of which is variously rendered as MR Publications , after the initial of their first names; Mr. Publications , after the company's sole series, the whimsical adventure comic Mister Universe , which ran five issues (July 1951 - April 1952); or the hybrid MR. Publications . The two also co-founded Mikeross Publications in 1953, which through 1954 produced one issue each of

693-581: A story each in All-American Men of War #6, Our Army at War #14, and Star Spangled War Stories #13 (all Sept. 1953). For those titles as well as G.I. Combat and Our Fighting Forces , Andru and Esposito drew hundreds of tales of combat under editor and frequent writer Robert Kanigher 's supervision. From 1957 to 1959, Andru and Esposito shared a studio with fellow comics artists Jack Abel , Art Peddy and Bernard Sachslate, generally credited as either Bernard Sachs or Bernie Sachs. Andru began

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756-417: A strain. With Ross passing away in 1993, I decided to stop working for publishers and change my directions," turning to commissioned recreations of his old comics work. Esposito's first wife, Mary, died when he was in his 40s. He later married his second wife, Irene, who died on January 12, 2020. Esposito had two children: Mark, who predeceased him, and Michele. Esposito's grandson, Tyler Esposito, created

819-627: A studio with fellow comics artists Jack Abel , Art Peddy and Bernie Sachslate, generally credited as Bernie Sachs. With Kanigher, the Andru-Esposito team introduced the non-superpowered adventurers the Suicide Squad in The Brave and the Bold #25 (Sept. 1959). The duo also drew early issues of Rip Hunter, Time Master in 1961. After DC Comics in 1956 ushered in the period fans and historians call

882-420: A young fella, 14 years old, I tried to draw like him. ... I used to always want to emulate his look. Part of it had to do with the fact that he didn't overwork [his drawings]. It was simplistic, the backgrounds and so on. The character was the whole thing. The facial expressions. ... Originally Esposito dreamed of becoming an animator at Disney . This ended when his father did not want him to leave New York for

945-441: The 3D romance comics 3-D Love and 3-D Romance , two issues of the romance comic Heart and Soul , and three issues of the satiric humor comic Get Lost . By this time, after having teamed for early work on Key Publications ' Mister Mystery in 1951 and Standard Comics ' The Unseen and Joe Yank (the latter credited as "Mikeross"), the two began a long career as one of DC Comics ' primary war story artists, alongside

1008-451: The Silver Age of Comic Books , by reimagining such Golden Age superheroes as the Flash and Green Lantern for modern audiences, Andru and Esposito began a long run on DC's Wonder Woman . They drew the long-running superheroine's title from issues #98–171 (May 1958 – August 1967), "defining her look during [this] boom period". As well, with writer-editor Robert Kanigher , they co-created

1071-525: The Western titles Wild Western Action , The Bravados and Butch Cassidy . With writer Gary Friedrich , they created Skywald's motorcycle-riding superhero Hell-Rider . Andru and Esposito formed the publishing company Klevart Enterprises in 1970, which two years later published two issues of a humor magazine cover-titled Up Your Nose (and Out Your Ear) . The name, Esposito said, came from an expression used by late-night talk-show host Johnny Carson , "May

1134-496: The black-and-white comics-magazine publisher Skywald in 1971, Andru and Esposito contributed many stories across the line, including to the horror titles Nightmare and Psycho and the Western titles Wild Western Action , The Bravados and Butch Cassidy . With writer Gary Friedrich , they created Skywald's motorcycle-riding superhero Hell-Rider . Andru and Esposito formed the publishing company Klevart Enterprises in 1970, which two years later published two issues of

1197-412: The pseudonyms Mickey Demeo , Mickey Dee , Michael Dee , and Joe Gaudioso , was an American comic book artist whose work for DC Comics , Marvel Comics and others spanned the 1950s to the 2000s. As a comic book inker teamed with his childhood friend Ross Andru , he drew for such major titles as The Amazing Spider-Man and Wonder Woman . An Andru-Esposito drawing of Wonder Woman appears on

1260-605: The robot superheroes the Metal Men in Showcase #37 (April 1962), going on to draw the first 29 issues of the lighthearted series Metal Men , from 1963 to 1968. Esposito considered the series "the best idea [Kanigher] had done," specifying that, "Bob left the character design up to Ross and myself, under his supervision, of course." Esposito gradually began freelancing for Marvel Comics , starting with his uncredited inking of industry giant Jack Kirby 's cover of Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965). For his inking of Bob Powell in

1323-440: The satiric humor comic Get Lost . Andru and Esposito created early work on Key Publications ' Mister Mystery in 1951 and Standard Comics ' The Unseen and Joe Yank (the latter credited as "Mikeross"). In September, 1953, the two began a long career as one of DC Comics ' primary war story creative teams, alongside the likes of Joe Kubert , Russ Heath , and Jerry Grandenetti . Their partnership at DC Comics began with

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1386-612: The syndicated comic strip The Unexplained in 1979. Throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s, Andru and inker Dick Giordano were DC's primary cover artists, providing cover artwork for the Superman titles as well as covers for many of the other comics in the DC line at that time. In the 1980s, Andru returned to interior artwork. He and Roy Thomas collaborated on the "Superman and His Incredible Fortress of Solitude" treasury edition published as DC Special Series #26 (Summer 1981). Pandora Pann

1449-594: The " Human Torch and the Thing " feature in Strange Tales #132, and his inking of Don Heck 's " Iron Man " in Tales of Suspense #65 (both May 1965), he took the pen name Mickey Demeo (occasionally given as Mickey Dee or Michael Dee ) to conceal his Marvel work from his primary employer, DC. He also occasionally worked under the pseudonym Joe Gaudioso for the same reason. The pseudonym Mickey Demeo, he explained, "was

1512-418: The 10 character stamps issued in the U.S. Postal Service 's 2006 commemorative stamp series "DC Comics Super Heroes". Our Fighting Forces Our Fighting Forces is a war comics anthology series published by DC Comics for 181 issues from 1954 to 1978. Our Fighting Forces began with an October-November 1954 cover date . Writer-editor Robert Kanigher 's work appeared in most issues of

1575-532: The 11-page partial origin retelling "My Science Project", penciled by Bagley, in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23 (1989). His final Spider-Man story was also his last with Andru, who died in 1993: the graphic novel Spider-Man: Fear Itself (Feb. 1992). Esposito's final Marvel tale was the 11-page Darkhold story "Skin", penciled by Dan Lawlis, in the horror comics title Midnight Sons Unlimited #2 (July 1993). By this time, however, Esposito

1638-617: The 1940s during World War II. Andru also drew early issues of Rip Hunter, Time Master in 1961, and the Sea Devils . In 1967, Andru left Wonder Woman to become the penciler on The Flash , with he and inker Esposito drawing the super-speedster superhero's adventures from issue #175–194 (Dec. 1967 – Feb. 1970). Reuniting with Kanigher, Andru co-created the " Rose & The Thorn " backup feature in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105 (Oct. 1970). A Spider-Man story drawn by Andru in 1968

1701-456: The 1970s and 1980s, Esposito inked virtually every major Marvel penciler on virtually every major Marvel title, from The Avengers to X-Men . By the mid-1980s, however, his Marvel work had tapered to a trickle. Among his final Spider-Man work, he was co-inker on the story "Moving Up", penciled by Alex Saviuk , in Web of Spider-Man #38 (May 1988); inker of the following issue's cover; and inker of

1764-617: The Andru-Esposito team introduced the non-superpowered adventurers the Suicide Squad in The Brave and the Bold #25 (Sept. 1959). Another innovation was the melding of war comics with science-fiction in " The War that Time Forgot ", a feature created by Kanigher and Andru in Star Spangled War Stories #90 (May 1960). The title was set in the South Pacific on Dinosaur Island , an island inhabited by giant, living dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The stories were set in

1827-831: The Army "in about '47." That year he and Andru both enrolled in Burne Hogarth 's Cartoonists and Illustrators School , later renamed the School of Visual Arts . Esposito's first published work in the comic-book field was for Victor Fox's Fox Feature Syndicate , where he worked as penciler , inker , and sometimes letterer . Andru assisted Hogarth on the Tarzan newspaper comic strip from 1948 until, Esposito recalled, "the strip died in about 1950-51. Then Ross came to me when I started publishing and we more or less teamed up." Another source says penciler Andru first teamed with inker Esposito in 1949 for

1890-587: The US in 1926. After moving to New York City, Andru graduated from The High School of Music & Art , then in Harlem . One of his classmates and friends was future comics artist Mike Esposito . While students, they collaborated on flip-book animation. Andru joined the US Army in 1945, and was discharged in 1946. In 1947, Andru attended the Cartoonists and Illustrators School , studying under Burne Hogarth . Again, Esposito

1953-462: The West Coast. Drafted into the U.S. Army on September 15, 1945, before finishing high school, he served at Camp Dix and Camp Crowder until it was discovered he could draw; Esposito was then dispatched to Germany , where he did venereal disease prevention posters, including the well-known "If you're drippin', you ain't shippin'" and "VD or not VD, that is the question." He was discharged from

Ross Andru - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-652: The bird of paradise fly up your nose, and out your ear." A third issue was written but never printed because of financial problems. In the early 1970s, Andru left DC for Marvel Comics . Initially he did short runs on such titles as Marvel Feature where he launched the superhero team the Defenders in issue #1 (Dec. 1971) and Marvel Team-Up , starting in March 1972, where he drew Spider-Man teaming with other Marvel characters. In 1973, he began his five-year stint as regular penciler on The Amazing Spider-Man , which at that point

2079-523: The character design up to Ross and myself, under his supervision, of course." Andru and Kanigher had several other notable collaborations. The "Gunner and Sarge" feature introduced in All-American Men of War #67 (March 1959) was one of the first war comics to feature recurring characters. Andru drew an early appearance of Kanigher's Sgt. Rock character in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959) With Kanigher,

2142-517: The characters from panel to panel. I know there are artists today who do that, but many of today's artists are figure-oriented. Space and context doesn't seem as important to them, whereas it was extremely important to Ross. He used to go around New York City taking pictures of the buildings so he could be accurate about where he put Spider-Man." Andru suffered a brain aneurysm and died on November 9, 1993, in Jamaica Bay, Queens County, New York. His body

2205-548: The class because he saw the talent he had and asked him, 'Would you like to assist me on Tarzan ? (the newspaper strip for the Sunday page of the New York Daily Mirror ). He paid Ross by the month... the G.I. Bill gave him a few bucks to live on. Ross would lay it out then Burne would ink it with his approach... actually change everything and it would look really like Burne Hogarth when he got through with it. Ross (Andru) had

2268-450: The combined initials of their first names; Mr. Publications, after the company's sole series, the whimsical adventure comic Mister Universe , which ran five issues (July 1951 – April 1952); or the hybrid MR. Publications. The two also co-founded Mikeross Publications in 1953, which through 1954 produced one issue each of the 3D romance comics 3-D Love and 3-D Romance , two issues of the romance comic Heart and Soul , and three issues of

2331-451: The company, took a staff job there for "about a year and a half", explaining, I had gone bankrupt with Ross [Andru], publishing Up Your Nose (and Our Your Ear) , and so [Marvel associate editor] Roy Thomas said, 'Do you want a staff job?' It paid $ 75 a week, but you got all the freelance with it. At one time I was $ 1,200 a week because of all the freelance. That's when I quit the staff job. I had more freelance that I could handle going into

2394-600: The feature stories in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4-5 (1967–1968), over Larry Lieber 's pencils, with the latter issue introducing Peter Parker 's parents; Annual #10 (Nov. 1976), over Gil Kane ; and Annual #22, over Mark Bagley . Esposito additionally inked several issues apiece of The Spectacular Spider-Man ; the children's comic Spidey Super Stories ; and a host of Spider-Man miscellanea, such as Spider-Man Giveaway: AIM Toothpaste Exclusive Collectors' Edition (1980), and Spider-Man Giveaway: National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse #1 (1984). Throughout

2457-475: The few [at that time] to ever have worked on both Superman and Spider-Man ... The result was a defining moment in Bronze Age of Comic Books ." In 1978, Andru returned to DC to work as an editor, a position he held until 1986. During this period his art appeared mostly on the covers of such titles as Action Comics and Superman . Working with writer Marv Wolfman and collaborator Mike Esposito , he co-created

2520-434: The likes of Joe Kubert , Russ Heath , and Jerry Grandenetti , beginning with a story each in All-American Men of War #6, Our Army at War #14, and Star Spangled War Stories #13 (all Sept. 1953). For those titles as well as G.I. Combat and Our Fighting Forces , Andru and Esposito drew hundreds of tales of combat under editor and frequent writer Robert Kanigher . From 1957 to 1959, Andru and Esposito shared

2583-592: The new look of Spider-Man. Esposito continued to use the "Demeo" credit sporadically, including on the debut story " Guardians of the Galaxy " in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (Jan. 1969), and on The Amazing Spider-Man #83 (April 1970), his last recorded use of the pen name. During this period as well, for DC, the Andru-Esposito team segued from Wonder Woman to The Flash , drawing the super-speedster superhero's adventures from issue #175–194 (Dec. 1967 – Feb. 1970). All

Ross Andru - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-405: The office every day. So I went back to complete freelance. I was like a machine at that point, turning them out." The Andru -Esposito team first drew the flagship Marvel Comics character Spider-Man in the premiere (March 1972) of that superhero's first spin-off comic book, Marvel Team-Up , nearly every issue of which featured Spider-Man paired with another hero. While Andru did not remain on

2709-579: The online documentary My Retro Life: A Gamer's Documentary , which includes home-video footage of Mike Esposito. Esposito lived in Lake Grove, New York , on Long Island , in his later years, and died October 24, 2010, at age 83. Esposito was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2021 he was awarded the Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award. An Andru-Esposito drawing of Wonder Woman appears on one of

2772-531: The publisher Fiction House , but this is unconfirmed at the Grand Comics Database . The team's first confirmed collaboration was on the six-page "Wylie's Wild Horses" in Hillman Periodicals ' Western Fighters vol. 2, #12 (Nov. 1950), signaling the start of a four-decade collaboration. They quickly founded their own comics-book company, the name of which is variously rendered as MR Publications,

2835-507: The publisher Fiction House , but this is unconfirmed at the Grand Comics Database . The team's first confirmed collaboration was on the six-page "Wylie's Wild Horses" in Hillman Periodicals ' Western Fighters vol. 2, #12 (Nov. 1950), signaling the start of a four-decade collaboration. In 1949, Esposito was working on staff at Lev Gleason. "I was there for a while and then I shopped around. Went to school first, naturally, and then went up to Timely Comics [the future Marvel Comics , as it

2898-469: The series, Esposito would go on to ink several issues, often those penciled by Gil Kane . Andru and Esposito eventually took over the flagship title The Amazing Spider-Man . Esposito inked the vast majority of a nearly four-year run on the title, encompassing issues #147-150, 152-171, 177, 179-182, 185-186, 188, and 191 (Aug. 1975 - April 1979), all penciled by Andru except for three issues penciled by Sal Buscema and two by Keith Pollard . Esposito inked

2961-1035: The title. Artist Alex Toth worked with writer/editor Archie Goodwin on the story "Burma Sky" in Our Fighting Forces #146 (Dec. 1973–Jan. 1974) and Goodwin praised Toth's art in a 1998 interview: "To me, having Alex Toth do any kind of airplane story, it's a joy for me. If I see a chance to do something like that, I will. He did a really fabulous job on it". "Burma Sky" was reprinted in black-and-white decades later in Genius Illustrated: The Life and Work of Alex Toth . Jack Kirby wrote and drew issues #151 to 162 featuring The Losers . Other contributors include artists Jack Abel , Ross Andru , Ken Barr , Gene Colan , Ed Davis, Mort Drucker , Mike Esposito , Ric Estrada , George Evans , Jerry Grandenetti , Russ Heath , Bruce Jones , Joe Kubert , Irv Novick , John Severin , Tom Sutton , Frank Thorne , and Wally Wood , some of whom would also script. The series

3024-628: The while, Esposito regularly inked such artists as Irv Novick and Curt Swan on the Superman family of comics, including Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane , Superboy , and Superman , and numerous Superman- Batman team-ups penciled by Andru in World's Finest Comics . The Kanigher-Andru-Esposito trio introduced the Silver Age version of the split-personality superheroine feature " Rose and Thorn " in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105 (Oct. 1970). For

3087-488: The whole idea of inking was something new. He said, "Well, it's a damn good job".... Maybe it wasn't that good at all but he made me feel comfortable with what I did. The end result was that I wanted to do more of the inking but I never got an opportunity. I stayed there for quite a while and I worked on Lev Gleason 's Crime and Punishment magazine. Let go from Atlas Comics after a short time, he and Andru became longtime collaborators, working together on various projects over

3150-489: Was Milt Caniff 's Terry and the Pirates , while another was Lev Gleason Publications crime comics artist George Tuska , of whom he said, For some reason, I was attracted to that stuff more than the superheroes, as a kid ... and I love the way he drew those characters. They were like a caricature of the real gangsters. ... I loved the faces of his — their teeth and the kind of garb they would wear, their clothing. As

3213-488: Was Andru's classmate. In 1946, Andru worked for an animation studio in Manhattan drawing artwork for Chiclets chewing gum commercials. In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the Tarzan newspaper strip. As his longtime partner Mike Esposito recalled, he and Andru were attending Burne Hogarth 's Cartoonists and Illustrators School in 1947 when "Burne took Ross out of

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3276-565: Was Marvel's highest-selling monthly comic. Andru and writer Gerry Conway introduced the Punisher , who would become one of Marvel Comics' most popular characters. In 1976, Andru penciled the first large-scale comic book Intercompany crossover , Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man , in a story written by Conway and co-published by Marvel and DC. As one historian wrote, "The tale was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Ross Andru, both among

3339-526: Was a proposed series by Andru and writer Len Wein which was to have been published in 1982. But other commitments prevented Wein from writing it, and the project was cancelled . In 1981, Andru contributed to the DC Super Heroes Super Healthy Cookbook , illustrating various Justice League characters as they explained food recipes to a 4th to 6th grade audience. Additional artists included Dick Giordano and Leo Durañona. Andru made

3402-545: Was cremated and interred at the Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium, Middle Village, Queens County, New York. Andru was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2007. In Ultimate Spider-Man issue #87 (Feb. 2006), a "Ross Andru" has a cameo as the principal of Peter Parker's high school. Comics work (interior pencil art) includes: Mike Esposito (comics) Michael " Mike " Esposito (July 14, 1927 – October 24, 2010), who sometimes used

3465-450: Was getting $ 15 or $ 17 a page and that was pretty good on the inking. Pencillers were only getting $ 2 to $ 3 a page more and at that time there was a lot more work than pencil. Stan Lee found [out] about it. He called me and said, "Who gave you this stuff? You're a penciller, you do a page per day and if you want to do freelance pencilling at home on the weekends then you can take a pencil story home." I said, "Well, no. I just wanted to try it";

3528-682: Was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series in 1986. Other Andru artwork appeared in Vigilante (1984) and Blue Beetle (1987–1988). In 1990, Ross Andru contributed a story to Valiant Comics ' Captain N:The Game Master #1. The same year, he reunited with writer Gerry Conway and inker Mike Esposito for a story in Web of Spider-Man Annual #6. In 1992, the graphic novel Spider-Man: Fear Itself , pencilled by Andru, inked by Esposito, plotted by Conway and scripted by Stan Lee

3591-426: Was originally planned as a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man but was published in Marvel Super-Heroes #14 when regular Spider-Man artist John Romita Sr. recovered more quickly than anticipated from a wrist injury. For the black-and-white comics-magazine publisher Skywald in 1971, Andru and Esposito contributed many stories across the line, including to the horror titles Nightmare and Psycho and

3654-405: Was published. Andru & Esposito's last published work together was for Archie Comics' Zen, Intergalactic Ninja in 1992. Prior to Andru's death in 1993, Esposito was working with Andru on a new project to be called The Strobe Warrior for another independent company founded by Esposito and his assistant N Blake Seals. The project fell apart after Andru's passing but was revived years later in song by

3717-426: Was published. Andru's last published work was for Archie Comics ' Zen, Intergalactic Ninja in 1992, on which he was teamed once again with Esposito. Prior to his death, Andru was working with Esposito on a new project to be called The Strobe Warrior for another independent company founded by Esposito and his assistant Blake Seals. The project fell apart after Andru's passing but was revived years later in song by

3780-496: Was the first inker on what would become Marvel's flagship series. After three issues, Romita inked himself for the next half-dozen before Esposito returned — uncredited for issue #49 (June 1967), then as Mickey Demeo until finally taking credit under his own name with issue #56 (Jan. 1968). Except for one issue (#65) inked by his successor, Jim Mooney , the Romita-Esposito team continued through issue #66 (Nov. 1968), establishing

3843-535: Was transitioning into its 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics ]. ... Stan Lee interviewed me and said, 'Okay, you can start here as a penciler.' So my job was to pencil so many pages a week for my salary." His first confirmed work there is as penciler and inker of the war comics story "Heat of Battle" in Men's Adventures #6 (Feb. 1951), though he had done much uncredited work in the interim, including his first professional inking. He recalled, I didn't do any inking until I

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3906-553: Was well-ensconced at Archie Comics , inking hundreds of teenage-humor stories starring Archie Andrews , Betty Cooper and the other high-schoolers of Riverdale, U.S.A., generally over the pencils of fellow former longtime Marvel artist Stan Goldberg . In 1992, he reunited with writer Gerry Conway and artist Ross Andru for a story in Web of Spider-Man Annual #6. Also in 1992, the graphic novel Spider-Man: Fear Itself, pencilled by Andru, inked by Esposito, plotted by Conway and scripted by Stan Lee

3969-536: Was with Timely Comics and I met a girl up there who was in charge of the inking department. I was at a bar in the Empire State Building with Mike Sekowsky , and I said to her, "Gee, I'd like to get some inking done".... I didn't know then, but she was in charge of all the inking, so she gave me some pages of a story by Ed Winiarski . He did all teenage stuff like Millie the Model . I took one home, and I did it. I

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