Marvel’s top artist from the 1950s finally gets reprinted in full

Joe Maneely could well be one of the most important Marvel Comics’ artists you've never heard of; he was a prolific artist from Marvel's original imprint Atlas Comics, during the golden age of Comics and was a contemporary of Steve Ditko, John Romita, and John Buscema. For the first time many of this overlooked artist's best work is being reprinted in new book The Atlas Artist Edition Vol. 1: Joe Maneely.

Sadly Maneely died young at the age of 32 and never got to leave the horror, crime and western genres of Atlas and succeed in comic's silver age. But he did leave behind a spectacular body of work for Atlas that showcased his textured, chiaroscuro graphic approach to comic art.

Dr. Michael J. Vassallo has written the book’s introduction, "Unlike many other artistic contemporaries of his Atlas tenure, who all entered the industry around the same time, dabbled there and then further blossomed in the Silver Age – Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, John Romita, and John Buscema, for example – Maneely never had that second act, and in the 1950s, he was considered more accomplished than even that talented quartet. It's hard to say how comic-book history might have been different if Joe Maneely had lived, but, unquestionably, whatever he would have done would have been wonderful."

Maneely's work has rarely been reprinted, so the release The Atlas Artist Edition Vol. 1: Joe Maneely is an exciting chance to delve into the gritty and tactile work of this amazing comic artist, covering genres that are refreshingly devoid of capes and spandex, including horror, humour, crime, science fiction, war and westerns.

Many of Maneely's comics were written by Stan Lee, including the complete story you can read below called 'Your Name Is Frankenstein', which is just a taster of the 38 complete and never-before-reprinted stories reprinted in The Atlas Artist Edition Vol. 1: Joe Maneely, releasing 16 January, price $75.

Publisher Fantagraphics plans future books on the art and comics of Bill Everett, John Romita, Bernie Krigstein, Jerry Robinson, Harry Anderson, and Matt Fox.