The Jerry Grandenetti Interview

By Steven Fears

Jerry Grandenetti is a Silver Age legend. I became a fan of his when I started reading the DC war books back during the fifties and sixties. He made a huge impact on me with his interior art as well as his wonderful wash-tone covers. He had a knack for composing the right moment whether a soldier is placing a grenade into some enemy tank treads or a G.I.'s eyes are staring out through some jungle foliage. His covers, as well as his art, had a very distinctive style that could not be mistaken for anyone else's. It also helped in identifying him that he signed his name often.

When those books faded, he did work on DC's Prez, Spectre, The Unexpected, and other titles. He later did work for Tower and the Warren titles. By then, he was experimenting with his style and taking it into new directions. Toward the end of his career in comics, he was taking some visual risks that made for some innovative story telling.

He was born on April 15, 1927, in Bronxville, New York. Although he studied at The School of Visual Arts and the Pratt Institute, his interests leaned more towards architecture rather than comics. However, because he had a growing interest in comics, he put together a portfolio and took it around to find a job. During his long and distinguished career, he drew mystery, horror, war, westerns, and science fiction. If you read a lot of comics from the late forties to the early seventies, then you probably saw some of his work.

Mr. Grandenetti left comics about twenty years ago to go into advertising. It could be argued that his career changed at an opportune time--while he was on top. He definitely left his mark on the comics while he was there. He had a long stint in comics, from joining Will Eisner's group in the late 1940's until he left during the 1970's. He assisted on the Spirit with Will Eisner; "The Secret Files of Dr. Drew" in Fiction House's Rangers Comics; many, many stories for the DC war comics; Tower; and his unprecedented Warren work. He and writer Ed Herron almost sold a newspaper strip called Rip Tide, but the deal fell through. (Check out a one page biography of him in Ron Goulart's The Great Comic Book Artists, Volume 2, 1989, from St. Martin's Press.)

Needless to say, it was a thrill to talk with this comics' legend not too long ago. Despite his accomplishments in comics, he hopes he has made more of a mark in advertising as an art director/designer/illustrator.

Beginnings:

Steven Fears: "What are some of the things that you do in advertising?"

Jerry Grandenetti: "I work for a large advertising firm in Manhattan. I do some art direction, some sketch work, concepts, illustrations, and computer graphics. We do some unbelievable things with computers!"

SF: Well, I hope you won't mind if I talk to you and ask you about some of your past work in the comics."

JG: "Sure, but forgive me because I've been away from the industry although I still talk to people like Joe Simon, because I'm good friends with him, but I'm not really familiar too much with the market anymore. I never thought it would happen, but I think right now the comic book industry is struggling because it's nothing but visual effect. The reproductions are beautiful, but the substance on the inside is lacking. Consequently, with television and motion pictures, and now with computer graphics, they can do almost anything with motion pictures. Whereas, years ago, when we drew comic books, we used to boast about the fact that we could draw things that couldn't be done in the motion pictures. It's not the case anymore."

SF: "What were some of your influences while growing up?"

JG: "My father was a sculptor but probably not a sculptor as you would think of today. He did a lot of the motifs that you would see on buildings years ago that you don't see too much anymore, like on the corners of architectural buildings, gargoyles and things like that.

"I was going to be an architect, at least, I thought I was in the beginning because of my father's influence. For some reason, I went into the Service. I guess they didn't know what to do with me so they made me draw cartoons and portraits of people on the bases. Maybe, that was what did it"

SF: When were you in the Service and what branch?"

JG: "I was in the Navy in 1942 or 1943."

SF: "After the Service, did you go to art school?"

JG: "Yes, under the G.I. Bill. I went to the Pratt Institute. I was very lucky, I think, with my meager portfolio of the stuff I did while in the Service. I went around, and comic books were relatively new at that time, to Quality Comics. "Busy" Arnold, who was the publisher then, wasn't looking for anybody new but was nice enough to send me to, of all people, Will Eisner who was looking for an assistant. I was lucky to get started there."

SF: "Did you like the comic strips when you were growing up?"

JG: "To tell you the truth, when I was in the comic book industry, I kind of frowned upon it because I had my sights on doing full color illustration. I did do, at that time, some full color illustrations for some magazines and brochures. Looking back upon it now, having gone full circle, I guess, I kind of think that it's almost like the last frontier of illustrators, and, maybe, I was, in a way, being unfair to the comic book industry.

"I think my biggest enjoyment was when I was working with James Warren."

Style:

SF: "Oh, yes, Creepy and Eerie. I saw your work there, too. I know that you did a lot of work for DC. When I was growing up, I became familiar with your work in the war books--especially some of your covers. Recently, there has been some interest in those 'Wash-tTone' covers."

JG: "Again that was my influence to try to get away from the industry so I was dying to get into the world of full color magazine illustration. They were nice enough to let me experiment with their covers."

SF: "Jack Adler was the senior colorist in the production department. Were you the one, or one of the ones, who started those 'Wash-tone' covers?"

JG: "A lot of those were done in ink washes, but the black and white I totally did in black and white. Again, they would make silver proofs and color key from those."

SF: "When you first got into art, what kind of art really interested you before you got into comic books or illustration?"

JG: "Comic books are what I really went into first. It was so new, the comic book industry, that at random I probably picked up a comic book and got an address and went up to Quality Comics. I only became influenced when I was finally doing the work. Luckily, working with Eisner, I began to see other people's work, and I was more influenced by the illustration world like Robert Fawcett. He, and others like him, was a fabulous illustrator. I think that people in the comic book industry looked to those people as gods because they were masters. They got paid more, spent more time, and had other benefits. Another one was Noel Sickles. Those were people who were really my mentors."

SF: "I've talked to some other artists, and they gave some of the same influences outside of the comic books like Alex Raymond, Noel Sickles, Hal Foster, and Roy Crane."

JG: "Of course, we had giants in the comic book industry. While I was in the industry, I was kind of unfair to it, but looking back upon it now, although I don't consider myself one of the giants, names I can think of are Bernie Krigstein and Alex Toth. Those are giants in the comic industry."

SF: "Those two worked for EC Comics, and you probably saw their work, along with the other EC artists, and were influenced by what you saw."

JG: "There is probably a thing about me, and I think you could see it in my work for Warren where my work changed all of the time. I was forever exploring and bordered on the experimental. In the end, just as Warren was closing his shop, I finally latched on to something that I liked. Then he closed up."

SF: "Compared to your Fiction House work or DC work, the Warren work was noticeably different in that you had a looser style by then. It was more evolved."

JG: "It was more experimental. As I remember, I would change my technique from story to story."

SF: "Do you remember some of the work that you did for Quality when you started out?"

JG: "I actually never worked for Quality. They sent me over to Will Eisner. Then after Eisner, I worked for Fiction House. Then I went to DC Comics."

SF: "You were at DC Comics for a very long time."

JG: "I was with them twelve or fifteen years. I'm not sure. Every once in a while, I did a few jobs outside of DC with Marvel. I did the Hulk three or four times. Looking back upon it, I enjoyed it. I can't deny it."

SF: "I always liked the way that you drew people. There was a lot of characterization. You also did a lot of war comics. Was that by choice?"

JG: "It wasn't my choice, really. I did them mainly for the DC war comics. I also did some westerns like the Indian feature, 'Strong Bow,' but it was mainly the war books. I guess that was because they had a tendency, of course, wisely on their part, to use a team of people to work on the war books, and the results were good. As far as sales were concerned, they would keep you on certain books. I think that's how some people got associated with certain books."

SF: "Every once in a while I would see a 'JG' and know that it was you."

JG: "To tell you the truth, in the end--every once in a while--the last couple of 'Gunner and Sarge' stories that I did, I was so desperate to experiment that I would actually ink it, then scratch it out with a razor blade, and ink on top of that. It would be ragged looking. I never saw what the stuff looked like when printed. It was kind of strange. It was very, very experimental even in comic books. By the time I got to Warren, it was a lot of fun because I could do wash and Ben Day.

SF: "You did a lot of wash tones for DC and Jack Adler. When I looked at them, I could see your ink work and washes which were more apparent than others who were also doing wash tones. I was very impressed with your covers. I think you worked with others who would ink your pencils."

JG: "In the end, I did most of my inking. In the beginning, I did a lot of penciling. In fact, it began with Eisner. When I started working with Eisner, there was a guy by the name of John Spranger who did the penciling and Eisner did most of the inking. I began by doing the backgrounds. By the time I left, I was penciling the Spirit, and there was a black guy by the name of Jim Dickson who did the inking, and Jules Feiffer was writing it. Many times, though, Eisner did his own penciling and inking. I started in that shop with John Spranger."

SF: "Whenever you received a script to illustrate, did you usually know who wrote it?"

JG: "Most of the time I did know."

SF: "You did a lot of Robert Kanigher's stories..."

JG: "Yes, and Bill Finger. Bob Haney. And another fabulous writer by the name of Ed Herron."

Leaving comics:

SF: "With Warren folding, was that a motivation to leave comics and go into advertising?"

JG: "Actually, what it was, after Warren, I was still doing things with DC on and off, and I was losing interest and wasn't that thrilled about staying in comic books. At this point, they began to want everyone to work in a certain 'look'; you know, that slick, polished 'look', and here I am, wanting to look 'artistic.' I think that's what really made me reach out, and I was lucky to get into advertising."

SF: "I guess that it pays better."

JG: "Yes, but you also work with color, magic markers, and paints. Looking back upon it, probably in comic books, my best of times was with Warren because I got to experiment."

SF: "I collect the DC war comics, and just looking at all of the covers and stories that you did, like Gunner and Sarge--you did a lot of everything! Did you have any favorites?"

JG: "To tell you the truth, no, because it was a job. I had my sights elsewhere, but whatever they assigned me to do, I was glad to do it."

SF: "Now, you preferred penciling and inking."

JG: "That I did because you kind of lose money if you have to tighten your pencils for someone to follow."

SF: "What was your work speed?"

JG: "It was pretty fast. A lot of guys developed speed because you had to if you wanted to make a decent buck. If I penciled and inked my own things, I would do about three a day. I think a lot of people did it that way. Now, we're not talking about a regular six or eight hours but ten or eleven hours. On rare occasions we might even do six pages if it was a rush job, but it was pushing; but you would do it."

SF: "This is just my own observation, but it seems that I saw your work, and everybody else's, on a regular basis so I figured that all of you were very steady and reliable. You took the responsibility to get the jobs in on time."

JG: "Oh, yes.

SF: "You would kind of agree with me that the world of motion pictures, as we spoke about, and computer technology is so fantastic these days that what can be done nowadays could almost be done in comic books. It's almost a reversal. I'm sure you'll agree, too, that nothing beats the hands-on approach--actually picking up a pencil or a brush and doing the work."

JG: "That's from the point-of-view of the person doing the work; I was thinking about from the entertainers' view."

SF: "Sometimes, I look at some of that stuff, and my mouth nearly falls open because it's so fantastic."

JG: "That's because you're an artist. I'm thinking about the average person who just wants to be entertained."

SF: "I think that they like to be entertained without knowing how it's done."

JG: "That's right. Realistically speaking, that's what generated sales when people weren't necessarily art motivated, but people just wanted to be entertained. I hope I'm wrong because I have hope for the industry. It's a terrific industry, and it's a terrific industry for children because they don't do enough reading as it is."

SF: "I agree with that. Comic books are very pretty to look at, but the stories were what I read when I was growing up. That's something that I wish kids would do more of is read! I grew up reading not only comic books, but other kinds of books, as well. Comic books were just one of the many different kinds of things that I read. These days, the newspaper is about as much as some of my students will read."

JG: "It's sort of sad."

SF: "Yes, I think that they're missing out on something. It's the same as comic book fans just narrowing their view of art to just comic art. There's a whole world of other art out there."

JG: "What do you think of the comic books today?"

SF: "They're pretty to look at, and I still read some of them, but I miss the kind of 'feeling' of discovery like I had when I was growing up; of reading something neat for the first time. I think that today's books are a little 'slick'."

JG: "They have beautiful reproduction. A lot is spent on reproduction. It's unbelievable."

SF: "Sometimes, it's a little too slick for me. Pretty to look at, but I think they're missing something like the soul of the spirit of it."

JG: "I think you're right. That's a way of putting it."

SF: "Do you look at any of the new books that are being published?"

JG: "Every once in a while I'll flip through some of them but not closely."

SF: "As a whole, you don't follow the industry that much."

JG: "No, I really don't."

Advertising:

SF: "I know that you've worked for a few publishers over the years, and you've had some good writers. You've also done some interesting characters for those publishers. Your Fiction House work is something that I've discovered during these past few years. Of course, I've been familiar with your DC work for a long time, and when you went to Warren, I saw your work there, too. I really hated to see Warren cease their publications."

JG: "That was a big disappointment for me."

SF: "You did work for them and so did Alex Toth and Steve Ditko and quite a few others. Overall, you enjoyed doing comics when you were doing them. Do you look back to those times with a little twinge of nostalgia now and then?"

JG: "Oh, yes. I think they properly coined the phrase, 'The Golden Age of Comics.'"

SF: "Advertising has been good for you, obviously."

JG: "Yes, yes. It's certainly a growing industry. A lot of people would like to believe that it's a very necessary industry. It's a big industry."

SF: "Was it tough to get into?"

JG: "It wasn't really because, unlike a lot of comic book illustrators, all of the time I had my eyes set elsewhere. I was developing that ability, while at the same time working for the comic book companies, by doing spot drawings and illustrations for small agencies. By the time I was ready, I had this well developed portfolio so I was able to break in."

SF: "I know that some people knock on the door or try to knock the door down, and you just eased your way in."

JG: "I did. I was unlike other people who just drew comic books, and that's all they wanted to do."

SF: "How much longer do you plan on doing this?"

JG: "Until I keel over, I guess. I only go in maybe two or three times a month into Manhattan. Most of my work is done on my fax machine so I have a nice setup."

SF: "You can't beat that."

JG: "It's a nice deal."

SF: "The fact that you can do it from your home is a lot less stress."

JG: "I did go in for about twenty years on staff. I put on a suit and tie and worked there on staff, but for the last six years I've been working from my office at home, which is kind of nice. What they have me doing is almost like doing comic books; I'm doing television storyboards. What I do is panel sequences."

SF: "You're right; that's very similar to comic books."

JG: "Very similar except for the subject matter. Instead of having people shooting up a scene, you have a person holding up a product."

SF: "Do you work for a lot of different clients?"

JG: "For twenty years, I've worked for a pretty big advertising agency in Manhattan. I occasionally do some work for them, and now I'm doing work for some smaller agencies on the island here."

SF: "When you went to work for DC, who hired you there?"

JG: "I went to DC twice, and the second time, they gave me some work. The second time I was interviewed, I was given a script to try. It was a break."

SF: "Had you been referred to DC or did you just decide to go on your own?"

JG: "I went on my own accord."

SF: "I would like to say that your were lucky, but your own skill is what got you in the door."

JG: "I would like to think that. At the time, I was penciling The Spirit, and I was doing that freelance. I had a seven-pager with me, and I think I showed them that."

SF: "Have you always been freelance?"

JG: "No, when I first began with Eisner, I was on staff in the office. For the rest of my career, I was freelance, and when I started working in advertising, I was back on staff, again. And now, I'm back to freelancing."

SF: "I'm sure that you prefer freelancing."

JG: "Oh, yes, you can't beat it!"

SF: "I really want to thank you for your time and insights into your career. I've always been impressed with your work and have enjoyed it for many, many years. It's been a pleasure talking with you."

JG: "That's kind of you to say. Thank you, too, Steve.'

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Thanks to Mr. Grandenetti for his time and recollections. He was one of the best artists to emerge from the Eisner Studio. Don't overlook his work because a majority of it was done for the DC war comics. A lot of fans are now discovering the Big Five titles and are getting to see a lot of his work along with the other worthy artists of those books. Looking at his artistic output over many years, one can see the changes in his style as it evolved. He was one to take chances in doing something a little different as his career progressed. His style was always on the edge in experimentation. Sometimes, it looked simple, but there was an underlying structure and execution of great craftsmanship. Looking at his art over and over is like re-reading a favorite book for enjoyment. So, find some of his work in Fiction House comics, DC, Warren, and Tower. Jerry Grandenetti is an artist worth discovering--all over again!

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