Nick Cuti

Nick Cuti
File:Nick&Lady Blackhawk2.jpg
Born	United States
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciller, inker, writer, editor
Pseudonym(s)	Nick Cuti
Notable works	E-Man, Moonchild, Captain Cosmos, Moonie

Nicola Cuti, aka Nick Cuti, (b. October 29, 1944) is an artist and comic book writer-editor, known for his creation of E-Man and Moonchild Comics. He has also worked as an animation background designer, a magazine illustrator and screenwriter.

Biography

Cuti grew up in Brooklyn, where, as a boy, he immersed himself in Golden Age comic books of the pre-Comics Code era and the early "space opera" TV shows, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and Captain Video.

In the mid-1960s, while serving with the Air Force in Europe, he encountered the Warren graphic horror and science-fiction magazines, and was inspired to write and submit a story script, "Grub," which was accepted and eventually illustrated and published in Warren's Creepy. Cuti also drew a simple six-panel comic strip for a French friend's fledgling art magazine. Both events were to shape his future.

Returning home, Cuti began attending the New York Comic Art Convention initiated by the late Phil Sueling, and determined to make his future in comics. He associated with other young artists such as Vaughn Bode, Trina Robbins and Bill Pearson, worked for a time in the animation studios of Ralph Bakshi. He also continued to produce scripts for the Warren magazines.

Starting in 1968 he self-published three Underground comix featuring his first original character, "Moonchild," a buxom, big-eyed and innocent waif of outer space. "Moonchild Comics" sold well in the Head shops of that era, and are now collectors’ items.

Cuti had long admired the work of legendary comic artist Wally Wood, and on impulse phoned him asking permission to show him his portfolio. Wood saw promise in the youngster's naive drawings, and Cuti eventually became Wood's studio assistant at Wood Studio in Valley Stream, Long Island. He worked on the strips Cannon and Sally Forth for Wood.

Work at Charlton (1972-1976)

In 1972, when he was hired as the assistant to George Wildman, editor of the Charlton Comics in Derby, Connecticut. Charlton was a hardscrabble, low-paying outfit that nonetheless produced a variety of comic book genres from 1946 until its demise in 1986, even after most publishers had long since turned to a steady diet of superhero titles.

Cuti immediately began turning out scripts for Charlton's horror and fantasy titles, working with artists such as Steve Ditko, Don Newton, Wayne Howard and Tom Sutton. He recruited younger artists such as John Byrne and Mike Zeck, who began freelancing for Charlton and illustrated some of Cuti's stories. All told, Cuti produced well over 200 story scripts and text features for Charlton, in a little less than three years.

File:E-Man4.jpg

In 1973, he teamed up with Joe Staton, another young artist, who collaborated with him in the creation of "E-Man", a naive alien superhero who epitomized Cuti's disdain for the melodramatic, cape-wearing superheroes of the other publishing houses. E-man became a cult favorite among comics cognoscenti.

Cuti and Staton also co-created "Michael Mauser," a grubby and uncouth little private investigator who began as an extra in "E-Man" but was quickly spun off into a series of his own stories.

Both characters survived the implosion of Charlton, and have remained popular enough to continue appearing at intervals up to the present, with Cuti and Staton collaborating on one-shots and series of new "E-Man" and "Michael Mauser" comics and stories.

Post-Charlton

Cuti left Charlton in 1976 and went back to work for Warren, producing more than 100 story scripts for Warren's horror and fantasy magazines, until that company's demise in the early 1980s. At various times he held the titles of Contributing Editor, Assistant Editor and Consulting Editor.

In the same period, he taught himself the demanding medium of scratchboard, emulating another artist he admired, Frank Kelly Freas. Cuti developed a "realistic" scratchboard style in contrast to his inked "cartoony" style, and began selling illustrations to mainstream magazines such as Amazing Stories and Heavy Metal.

After he left Warren, Cuti became an assistant editor and then digest editor at DC Comics, handling various superhero and children's titles, and also scripting his own six-part space-opera epic, "Spanner's Galaxy," illustrated by Tom Mandrake.

Cuti moved to California in 1986 to begin work in the animation industry, producing background and prop art for about a dozen different studios, including Disney and Universal Studios, for many animated TV series. At the same time, he continued to produce magazine and book art in both scratchboard and paint, and wrote comic book scripts for various publishers.

File:Cpt Cosmos1s.jpg

"Captain Cosmos," Cuti's homage to the TV space operas of his childhood, appeared in a series of comic books created in collaboration with Joe Staton, and also in Cuti's novel, Spin a Web of Death, three radio dramas and three short films made for television. The first of Cuti's memorable creations, Moonchild, also returned to print, appearing in two three-part comic series in 1992 and, as Moonie, in 2003.

File:Moonie Slave1r.jpg

Cuti moved to Florida in 2003 where he has devoted himself to script writing for independent films—some adapted from his Charlton and Warren scripts—and consolidating his "Captain Cosmos" TV series into a full-length movie. New "Moonchild", ("Moonie"), and "Captain Cosmos" comics are also underway. Cuti has now turned to filmmaking producing such films as the Spirit Inspectres - Shock House; Tagged!, and the upcoming film sequel TAGGED! 2, Game Theory, and others.

Recently Cuti has written and illustrated two text novels with his character "Moonie" as the heroine, "Moonie and the Spider Queen" (inks by Dave Simons) and "Moonie in the Slave Market of Opuul" (inks by Mark Stegbauer). A third novel, "Moonie in Too Many Moons" is due out by the end of 2010 with inks by Mark Stegbauer. Detailed information can be found at moonieandthespiderqueen.com.

Awards and honors

Cuti was twice awarded Warren’s Ray Bradbury Award for writing. In 2009, Cuti was awarded the Inkpot Award for career achievement at the San Diego Comic-Con International.

References

• Ambrose, Michael (ed.): Charlton Spotlight, issues 1-5, 2005–2007
• Cooke, John B: (ed.):Comic Book Artist (magazine) #9, 2000
• Cooke, John B. (ed.): The Warren Companion, 2001
• Estren, Mark James: A History of Underground Comics, 1974, 1986, 1993
• Kennedy, Jay: The Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide, 1882
• Stewart, Bhob (ed.): Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood, 2003
• Personal correspondence with: Nicola Cuti, Joe Staton, Mike Zeck, Bhob Stewart, William DuBay (comic book artists), 2003–2007

External links

• Nick Cuti at the IMDB
• Nicola Cuti at the GCD
• Nick Cuti at the GCD
• Nick Cuti at Jerry Bails' Who's Who