According to his Facebook page, comic book creator Nicola “Nick” Cuti died on Friday, February 21, following a battle with cancer. He was 75. An artist, writer, editor, screenwriter and novelist, Cuti was best known for creating (with artist Joe Staton) the light-hearted Charlton hero E-Man, and the underground comix character Moonchild the Starbabe.
Cuti was born on October 29, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York. He served in the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman from 1966 to 1972: it was during this time that his first comics work was published, including three self-published Moonchild comics, about a buxom innocent waif who could survive in outer space. His work landed him a job as Wally Wood’s assistant at his studio in Valley Stream, Long Island, and then as an assistant editor at Charlton Comics from 1972 to 1976.
While at Charlton, Cuti and Staton created the naive young alien hero E-Man, and the grubby P.I. Michael Mauser: both characters would continue to resurface in new stories from both creators long after Charlton’s closure in 1986. Cuti produced over 200 story scripts and text features for Charlton, working with artists like Steve Ditko, Don Newton, Wayne Howard and Tom Sutton, as well as newcomers like John Byrne and Mike Zeck. He then worked as assistant editor for Louise Simonson at Warren Publishing, contributing to Creepy and Vampirella magazines, and then under Len Wein at DC Comics.
In 1986, Cuti relocated with his family to California to work in animation as a background artist. He worked for Disney, Universal and Sony designing layouts on series like BraveStarr, Defenders of the Earth, The Critic, Street Fighter, Gargoyles, 101 Dalmatians, Dilbert, and The Cramp Twins. By 2003, Cuti had moved to Florida to become an independent filmmaker and novelist, often adapting his own characters.
For his work, Cuti was twice awarded the New York Comic Con’s Ray Bradbury Award (not to be confused with the SFWA’s award of the same name), and an Inkpot Award at the San Diego Comic Con in 2009. He was married to Charlene Veselsky from 1972 to 1995. He is survived by his daughter Jaymee, his brother Emil, his great-aunt Lee Sica, and his many cousins.
