JOE SINNOTT, born October 16, 1926 in Saugerties, N.Y. to Edward and Catherine McGraw Sinnott. One of 7 children: Frank, Len (deceased), Ann, Ed, Jack (deceased) and Dick (deceased). Joe's childhood dream was to be a cowboy. After High School Joe joined the U.S. Navy Seabees in Okinawa during WWII. Joe married Betty Kirlauski in 1950. Betty passed away in 2006 after 56 years of marriage. They had 4 children, Joe Jr., Linda (deceased), Kathy and Mark; Four grandchildren, Chris, Malissa, Erin, Trevor and 6 great-grandchildren, Vinnie, Joey,Tyler, Jack, Elizabeth & Mariah. For 3 years Joe worked in a cement factory before entering the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in 1949 (now the School of Visual Arts) in N.Y.C. run by Tarzan artist Burne Hogarth. While there his first comic book work Trudi, a 5 page filler story in Mopsy #12 (Sept. 1950) was published for St. John's Publishing. He also worked for one of his instructors at the school Tom Gill (Lone Ranger artist). He began working for Stan Lee at Timely (Marvel) in 1950, pencilling and inking crime, horror, war, westerns, sci-fi and romance books. He also drew for Dell, Charlton, Treasure Chest, ACG, Archie and Classic Illustrated. Joe illustrated the life stories of Babe Ruth, John Kennedy, Gen.MacArthur, Eisenhower, Pope John XXIII, The Beatles, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Mickey Mantle and many other famous people. In 1965 Joe began working regularly with Jack Kirby on the Fantastic Four. This is the book Joe is most well known for. He also worked on many other Marvel books such as Thor, Silver Surfer, Captain America, The Avengers, West Coast Avengers, The Hulk, The Defenders, The Invaders, Rom, The Thing, Ms. Marvel and Nick Fury to name a few. Joe's favorite character to draw is The Thing! In addition to his comic book work, Joe has illustrated for enclyopedia's, Crossword Puzzle covers and several Bing Crosby magazine and record album covers. He also enjoys drawing sports cartoons, 3 were displayed in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,NY. Joe was elected into the Saugerties Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and honored as the Grand Marshal in the 2011 Saugerties 4th of July Parade. He received the 1967 & 1968 Alley Award as comics best inker, an Inkpot Award at the 1995 San Diego Con, and 2 Inkwell Awards in 2008 among numerous other awards. The Inkwells Hall Of Fame "Joe Sinnott Award" is named in his honor. Joe retired in 1992 from comic books to ink the Sunday Spider-man comic strip for King Features. 2011 is his 19th year inking Spidey, and 61st year with Marvel Comics! Joe is a fan of the 2010 World Champion San Francico Giants, and is related to former Giants manager and Baseball Hall of Famer John McGraw. He is a Bing Crosby fan, and has co-hosted many Bing radio shows. General Custer and the Civil War is another of Joe's interests.
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