Posted By Dan Greenfield on Oct 20, 2023 | 3 comments

The celebrated Mr. K pays a BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to one of the greats of the Silver Age…

By PAUL KUPPERBERG

So, my 13 favorite Nick Cardy covers…

In spite of the fact that I’ve done over 100 of these “13 Favorite” columns for 13th Dimension, I’m not really a favorites list kind of guy. I’ve never been able to narrow a large selection of items down to a specific number of favorites. I have about 200 “10 Favorite Movies,” and even that’s constantly changing. In music, I can name my favorite songwriters easy enough, but when I’m asked to pick a favorite song from their catalogues, I never really know what to say. They didn’t become favorites because of a specific song but because of their overall body of work.

The same is true of comic book artists.

Teen Titans #13

Favorite artists? Sure, and Nick Cardy (born Nicholas Viscardi, October 20, 1920 – November 3, 2013) is high up there on the list! His credits date back to 1940, when he went from attending the Art Students League of New York to working in the legendary shop of comics-packaging pioneers Will Eisner and Jerry Iger, where he toiled on such titles as Fight Comics and Jungle Comics before writing and drawing the weekly Lady Luck feature in Eisner’s 16-page newspaper Sunday supplement The Spirit Section.

After World War II (he was a twice wounded, decorated tank driver in the armored cavalry), Nick returned to comics and advertising. In 1950, he was the artist of the daily Tarzan newspaper strip written by Burne Hogarth and beginning in 1952 he assisted Warren Tufts on the Old West adventure strip Casey Ruggles.

Nick’s career at DC Comics began in 1950, as well, on Gang Busters, a series based on a popular radio program, before moving on to Tomahawk, a Revolutionary War era series. It would be more than a decade before Nick made the move over to superhero comics as the artist on the new Aquaman solo title (1961-68), and, in 1965, he began his long association with the superhero sidekick team, the Teen Titans. In 1968, with co-creators and writers Joe Orlando, Carmine Infantino, Sergio Aragones, Sheldon Mayer and Denny O’Neil, Nick produced what many feel was his comics magnum opus, the short lived satiric Western series, Bat Lash.

Under art director — later publisher — Infantino, Nick was made DC’s main cover artist for several years in the 1970s, but he did his share of covers in the previous decade, which is my comic book fan sweet spot. Even then, Nick’s covers stood out among all those Neal Adams covers that were dominating the newsstand. (Note From Dan: Check out Scott Tipton’s fave 13 Cardy ’70s covers.)

Remember I said I’ve never been able to narrow a large selection of items down to a specific number of favorites? There’s an exception to that when it comes to comic book covers and interior art jobs of the 1960s, and they’re both by Nick Cardy, on the same 1968 comic. The story is below, pulled out of the otherwise chronological order of MY 13 FAVORITE (Mostly) 1960s NICK CARDY COVERS:

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Rip Hunter… Time Master #4 (September/October 1961)

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The Secret Six #2 (June-July 1968)

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Bat Lash #2 (December 1968 – January 1969)

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Tomahawk #120 (January-February 1969)

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Batman #208 (February 1969)

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The Spectre #9 (March-April 1969)

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Young Love #74 (May – June 1969)

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Aquaman #45 (May-June 1969)

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The Witching Hour #5 (October – November 1969)

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Challengers of the Unknown #71 (December 1969 – January 1970)

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Super DC Giant #17 Love 1970 (October 1970)

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Ghosts #1 (September – October 1971)

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Teen Titans #13 (January – February 1968). Knowing Nick Cardy was to be a guest at the 2008 New York Comic Con, I brought with me my copy of this favorite comic from my childhood. This was, as far as I was concerned, the best comic book art (and coloring) job of the 1960s, bar none! I’d always liked Nick’s art on Aquaman and the earlier issues of Teen Titans but this tale, “The TT’s Swingin’ Christmas Carol!” written by Bob Haney, was a creative quantum leap even for the craftsman who was turning out such groundbreaking work on Bat Lash.

While I’d spoken with Nick a few times during my 1990s tenure as a DC Comics editor, I’d never met the artist before that day at NYCC, with my son, 12-year old Max. As I pulled out my TT #13 for him to sign, I lavished praise on the issue and asked him what about that story inspired him to create this masterpiece.

Nick chuckled and said, “Spite,” and proceeded to tell me this story:

In 1967, Nick went to his Titans editor George Kashdan to ask for a $2 increase in his page rate. Kashdan conveyed the request to the bean counters, but it was turned down. The artist had already accepted the assignment for TT #13 and Haney’s script was on his drawing board when he got the news, so being the professional he was, he would finish the job rather than quitting at the last minute and leaving his editor in the lurch. And since this was going to be his last job for stingy DC, he decided to draw the living hell out of the story to show the company what they were losing over a measly couple of bucks a page.

When it was done, Nick turned the story in to Kashdan and broke the news that he was leaving DC. Kashdan took one look at the art, told Nick to wait there, and ran down the hall to art director Infantino’s office. Carmine was a Cardy fan and as an artist himself he knew exactly what a treasure Nick was, so he asked the artist to reconsider and hang tight. Carmine knew an administrative change was coming and he would soon be in a position to give Nick what he deserved. Nick agreed to delay his decision and Carmine came through as promised.

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MORE

— 13 Great NICK CARDY 1970s Covers. Click here.

— NICK CARDY’s 13 Greatest AQUAMAN Stories — RANKED. Click here.