Nick Cardy, a revered and influential comic book artist known best for his DC Comics work in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, passed away Sunday at age 93, according to multiple industry reports.
“Nick Cardy has always been a true gentleman, a monumental talent and a class act,” artist George Perez wrote Sunday on his Facebook page.
Cardy, born Nicholas Viscardi, started his career in 1939 working for Eisner and Iger Studio, a company founded by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger to create comic books for publishers interested in the then-burgeoning medium. His professional comics career was interrupted upon being drafted into World War II, where he served as an assistant tank driver, and received two Purple Hearts.
At DC Comics, Cardy worked on the first 43 issues of the original “Teen Titans” series as either a penciler or inker (or both), in a run lasting from 1966 to 1973. He also drew the first 39 issues of the initial “Aquaman” solo series, along with extensive cover illustrations on DC books including “Action Comics,” “Batman” and “Justice League of America.” Cardy wrote two issues of DC western “Bat Lash,” along with drawing all seven issues of the series.
Cardy moved from the comic book industry to commercial illustration in the mid-’70s, working on advertisements for films including “Apocalypse Now” and “The Street Fighter.” His most recent comic book work included a pin-up for SLG Publishing’s “Monstrosis” #1 in 2011, and a cover for DC’s “The Spirit” #31 in 2009.
Eva Ink Publishing released “The Artist at War” in 2011, collected sketches by Cardy illustrated during his military service. “There was a lot of mayhem, but when we had a break, I’d take my pad out and draw what I remembered,” Cardy told CBR in an April 2011 interview discussing the book. “I had notes. It was something. Those are things that I remember, but in talking about it, I talk about the light things that happened. I try to lean towards that.”
Cardy was named to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2005. In his later years, he lived in Sarasota, Florida, where local newspaper Sarasota Herald-Tribune profiled Cardy in May 2013, spotlighting his comic book legacy and time in the military. “I had a policy after I got out of the Army,” Cardy told the paper. “I was so tickled to get out of the Army alive, I was not gonna let anything bother me.”
Artist Craig Rousseau shared Friday on Twitter that Cardy was in the intensive care unit of a Sarasota hospital. Cardy had made convention appearances as recently as this past July at the Florida Supercon in Miami Beach.
