Nicola "Nick" Cuti, whose comics and media career spanned half a century, passed away on Friday, February 21, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. He was 75 years old. The cause was cancer.
From his Facebook page:
Legendary comic creator Nicola Cuti, whose career has spanned over fifty years, has died.
Sources close to the family have reported that Cuti passed in Tampa on Friday, February 21, 2020, after a battle with cancer. He was surrounded by family and close friends, including his daughter, Jaymee, brother, Emil, and his business partner and friend, Nakoma DeMitro.
Known to everyone as “Nick”, Cuti was born October 29, 1944. He served in the United States Air Force for four years. It was during this time that his first works were published.
An artist and comic and science-fiction writer and editor, he is best known as a co-creator of Moonchild the Starbabe and superhero E-Man, a series he worked on with his dear friend, Joe Staton. Other creations of his included Captain Cosmos, Brightstar, and Starflake the Cosmic Sprite. During his career, he worked alongside legends such as Wally Wood, Stan Lee, and Bill Black, founder of AC Comics. His works were featured in Charlton Comics, Warren Publishing, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics. He contributed to famous franchises such as Vampirella, Popeye, and Creepy Magazine.
In addition to his work in the comic industry, Cuti also worked in many productions for Disney, Universal Studios, and Sony Pictures as an animation background designer. Some of the shows he worked on included Gargoyles, 101 Dalmatians, and The Critic.
He was twice awarded the Warren’s Ray Bradbury Award and was also awarded the Inkpot Award at the San Diego Comic Con for his career achievements. He was a fixture at many conventions including the Tampa Bay Comic Con and Spooky Empire in Orlando. He has been a special guest at the San Diego Comic Con and Infinity Comic Con, where he was asked to create the badge. He was scheduled to be a guest at Sci-Fy Bartow in Tampa and Mega Con in Orlando this year.
Cuti’s hobbies included being an amateur magician, an avid reader, and a huge space exploration supporter.
Cuti was a loyal and devoted father, son, brother and friend. He is survived by his daughter Jaymee Cuti, of Portland, Ore., brother, Emil Cuti of New Port Richey, Fla, Great-Aunt Lee Sica of Holiday, Fla, and many cousins. He will be deeply missed by family, friends, colleagues and fans.
Speaking personally, he was, along with Joe Staton, the guy who created E-Man. E-Man, which was a rare superhero title from the mostly-scary comics/king fu comics/licensed comics company Charlton, first appeared in 1973. It was a light-toned, fun superhero comic that Cuti said was inspired by the Thin Man movies and Plastic Man. It was canceled after two years and 10 issues. It was, oddly, Charlton's lowest selling title but most-subscribed to comic book. It was a cult hit, and would return more than once from different comic book companies. Cuti and Staton had succeeded in creating a terrific series. I always enjoyed the book and collected all of its original run.
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