Coletta’s rage quit letter should be analyzed in high school AP English classes. Glorious

He didn't fire him because he didn't want to take away another man's income.

By the early 80s, George Perez famously refused to let Colletta touch his work. He went on record, calling Vinnie a "great equalizer". He lifts or brings down every artist to his level, no matter the penciller, it all ended up looking like Colletta.

What I got from this:

He meeting his deadlines probably kept a lot of important issues from being cancelled

Too bad he didn't become a writer instead. That letter was epic!

Seems Colleta missed his vocation. Should've been a writer, not an artist.

It sounds like this guy was a product of the industry, and not really bad by himself.

Love that scathing letter Colletta wrote. Maybe he missed his calling. He was a writer in an inker's body.

Honestly, he doesn't really seem like a bad guy, nor that much a bad artist. He was just always given last-minute assignments that he had no choice but to rush through since he knew how to simplify them down to what was needed. Things like simplifying backgrounds or removing a figure or whatnot are industry standard when considering both how much time you got and what tools you're working with. You can't make a magnum opus every single month and there are limitations to be made when on a quota like that. Better inkers are out there, sure, but I don't really see him as "ruining" it, he seems to simply reflect the industry and expectations at the time

He wasn't even bad, just not amazing. If this work is him rushing and cutting corners then he still had talent.

That letter to the Marvel editors was epic. Kudos to Coletta for sticking up for his friend, even if it unfortunatley cost him his career.

When you consider how badly almost all of the artists and writers were treated by the industry and you look at how well Colletta provided for his family, he was right: comics at the time were commerce, not art. We rightly revere Kirby and his brethren, but they did not get a seat at the table when money was apportioned. Vince had a grand house and provided well for his wife and family. I certainly agree that he hurt Kirby's art, but my dislike of his work is lessened by my hatred for comics publishers. It was a sleazy business and I'm not sure how much better it is now.

neil gaiman was right:

"Jesus had one Judas, Jim had several"

Lesson here is he was a decent inker, but knew his limitations which is why he preferred romance comics. Too bad he couldn't have found non superhero titles to work on that weren't so demanding with all the detail.