Vito Delsante knows comics. To that end, he very nearly is comics. His 9-to-5 gig has him managing Jim Hanley’s Universe in Manhattan. Jim Hanley’s is one of those New York institutions, a trusted source of comics for a horde of fans both dedicated and casual. And, generally speaking, you don’t work there unless you know your stuff. So yes, there’s that. But it’s the other job that’s beginning to take over.
Delsante is also a writer with a growing list of credits to his name, including having written for properties in both the DC and Marvel lines*. Surfing his website you come across the following list of credits:
- Batman Adventures #9
- Batman Adventures: Volume 2: Shadows and Masks
- X-Men Unlimited (Volume 2) #5
- Reflux Comics #3
- Beowulf #7
- Hope: New Orleans GN
- Scooby-Doo #’s 109, 110, 126, and 128
- The Mercury Chronicles #0
- Savage Tales #7 & #8
- Cartoon Network Block Party #42
- Superman #676
- No Formula: Stories From The Chemistry Set Volume 1 GN
Vito’s list of accomplishments is at the intersection where “Not too shabby” veers off into “Pretty damn good.” And now the comics writer is stepping out on his own with his first graphic novel: Before They Were Famous: Babe Ruth.
The Before They Were Famous titles, of which Babe Ruth is the first, are being billed as "fictionalized graphic biographies (that will) give you a front row seat to the childhoods of well-known public figures unfolding through vivid, engaging scenes." [via Simon & Schuster] There also appears to be a second book on the way, also by Vito Delsante, centering on Albert Einstein.
And these graphic novels might mean that Vito's career goals are, with plenty of hard work, falling into place. As he said in a 2006 interview with NewsARama, "I don't necessarily want to do 'franchise comics," as Dean Haspiel calls them. I want to do my own comics. I never actually aspired to do Batman, but as luck would have it, I got the gig and other characters fell in from there. I want to create (...)"
Check out Vito, his works, and his thoughts on comics at his website: VitoDelsante.com
*Note how I resisted the urge to write something cheesy like "Delsante, like Superman, has a dual identity" or some other such thing. It was tough because there is a strange temptation to roll something like that out there. But I resisted. Until I wrote this footnote**.
**Crap!
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