Jerry Grandenetti
In either 1946 or 1948 (accounts differ), he was making the rounds of comic-book companies and met Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, publisher of Quality Comics.
As The Comics Journal editor-publisher Gary Groth wrote, "By the late '40s, Eisner's participation in the strip had dwindled to a largely supervisory role.
[7] DC war-comics editor and writer Robert Kanigher recalled that on the feature "Gunner and Sarge" in particular, Grandenetti "managed to get the grime and the humor of the two Marines (and, eventually their wonderful Pooch) fighting in the jungle as no one else could.
[7][9] Grandenetti became known for cover art rendered in wash-tone, also known as grey-tone, which, as comics-art historian Don Mangus describes, "is executed as an ink-wash drawing, and then a halftone Photostat of the cover is made, the logo added, and finally the color is laid in over this statted wash drawing",[10] rendering a painted effect.
Grandenetti's work for Warren, writes comics-art historian Don Mangus, "returned to a much more expressionistic and experimental phase, building on what he had begun at Eisner's studio, or perhaps due to freedom from Kanigher’s restraints.
Perhaps it was the subject matter or the fluid nature of the wash medium but whatever the case, he produced brilliant work at Warren in the late 1960s and early 1970s".
Grandenetti also helped revive the 1940s DC character the Phantom Stranger, drawing the lead story in his return appearance in Showcase #80 (Feb. 1969).
In Showcase #82 (May 1969), he and writer Dennis O'Neil co-created the minor sword and sorcery character Nightmaster—originally assigned to then-newcomer Bernie Wrightson, who was taken off it after his first seven pages proved disappointing.
The two then co-created the youth culture oddity Prez, about the first teen president of the United States,[12] and the one-episode Green Team: Boy Millionaires, in 1st Issue Special #2 (May 1975).
Grandenetti penciled a parody of the TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker in the Marvel humor comic Arrgh!
I thought he was a marvelous, distinct talent who wasn't precisely suited to the work he was assigned, like The Spectre, Prez and "Nightmaster".
Breaking into advertising, he recalled, "wasn't really [tough] because, unlike a lot of comic book illustrators, all of the time I had my eyes set elsewhere.
[3] As of 2005, Grandenetti was freelancing for ad agencies in New York City, and doing fine art paintings in watercolor, acrylics, and mixed media.
[1] Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's 1962 drawing Jet Pilot is based on a Grandenetti comic-book panel on the cover of DC's All-American Men of War #89 (Feb.
