Nick Cardy
Nicholas Viscardi (October 20, 1920 – November 3, 2013), known professionally as Nick Cardy and Nick Cardi, was an American comics artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters. Cardy was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2005.
Nick Cardy
Nicholas Viscardi
October 20, 1920
New York City, New York, U.S.
November 3, 2013 (aged 93)
Florida
American
Nick Cardi
Inkpot Award, 1998
Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, 2005
Early life[edit]
Nick Cardy was born Nicholas Viscardi on October 20, 1920, in New York City.[1][2] He began drawing when he was very young, telling one interviewer that some paintings he had done for his school were "published in the [New York] Herald-Tribune or one of those early papers. The teachers wanted one on sports. It was a 4 × 8 panel. ... So that was published and quite a bit of the stuff was published. ... "[3] He also provided artwork for the Boys Club of America,[4] and attended the Art Students League of New York, studying life drawing.[3]
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
As did many early comics professionals, Cardy entered the comics field working for Eisner & Iger, a company founded by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger, that was one of a handful of comic book "packagers" creating comics on demand for publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium. Joining the studio circa 1940,[5] he worked on Fight Comics, Jungle Comics, Kaanga Comics, and Wings for Fiction House Publications.[6] He wrote and drew the four-page backup feature "Lady Luck" in Will Eisner's 16-page, newspaper Sunday-supplement comic book colloquially called "The Spirit Section", from the May 18, 1941 strip through February 22, 1942.[7] Though his Lady Luck stories were credited under the house pseudonym Ford Davis, Viscardi would subtly work in the initials "NV" somewhere into each tale.[8] He used both his birth name and the pen name "Nick Cardy" concurrently for a time, he eventually adopted Nick Cardy for his comic-book work.[6]
Cardy recalled of his start at Eisner & Iger that he worked alongside
Awards[edit]
Nick Cardy received an Inkpot Award in 1998.[28] On July 15, 2005, Cardy was one of four professionals inducted that year into the comics industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.[29]
Viscardi also earned two Purple Hearts for wounds suffered as a tank driver while serving with the 3rd Armored Division in WWII. He also designed the patch for the 66th Infantry Division after winning a competition.