'Roy Raymond TV Detective' - 'The Aliens Among Us' (Detective Comics #487).
Dave Hunt was an American painter, comic book inker and occasional penciller during the so-called "Bronze Age of Comic Books" (1970-1985). He was mainly active for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and has worked with such pencillers as Ross Andru, Sal Buscema, John Byrne, José Delbo, Keith Giffen, Gil Kane, Jim Mooney, Tom Morgan, Don Newton, George Pérez, Keith Pollard, John Romita, Kurt Schaffenberger, Curt Swan and George Tuska. He later worked mainly on properties related to the Disney company and Hanna-Barbera.
Early life and career
Born in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey, Hunt grew up as an avid collector of Golden Age comic books. Although showing an early interest in art, he initially studied at Rutgers University, where he majored in bio-chemistry. He later enrolled at Newark State College to study fine arts. Graduating in the 1960s, he began his career as a senior art designer at the publishing house Crowell, Collier & MacMillan. On the side, Hunt drew occasional comics for a couple of underground comix under the pen name David Argo.
Dave Hunt's inking over Curt Swan's pencils for Superman #383.
Marvel Comics
By the early 1970s Hunt applied at Marvel Comics, where he was quickly hired as an inker. He initially worked as an assistant to Mike Esposito and Frank Giacoia, and eventually had regular inking jobs on superhero titles like 'Spider-Man', 'Captain America', 'Daredevil' and 'The Fantastic Four', which were pencilled by John Byrne and Ross Andru, among other artists. Hunt also colored over 1,000 comic book pages when he worked in the Marvel Bullpen during the 1970s.
DC Comics
In 1978 he joined DC Comics, where he mainly worked with Curt Swan and Kurt Schaffenberger on 'Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'. Hunt especially enjoyed this work, since 'Superboy' was one of the first comic books he read as a child. Hunt further inked for DC's 'Wonder Woman' and 'DC Comics Presents', and contributed occasional pencil art to 'Detective Comics' (#487), 'Supergirl' and 'Little Shop of Horrors'.
Underground comix
The cartoonist also drew stories for underground comic books like 'Barn of Fear' (1977, edited by Lawrence Shell) and '50's Funnies' (Kitchen Sink Press, 1980).
'Spaced Rat-Poi' (50's Funnies #1, inks by Alfredo Alcala).
Marvel / Disney / Hanna-Barbera
Hunt returned to Marvel in the late 1980s, where he inked José Delbo's pencils for 'Transformers'. In the 1990s, Hunt worked extensively for Disney Adventures magazine, inking stories with Disney features like 'Darkwing Duck', 'Goof Troop', 'Aladdin', 'Bonkers', 'Disney's Recess' and the Disney rendition of André Franquin's 'Marsupilami'. He also worked on the Marvel comic books with Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Beauty and the Beast'. In the mid-1990s he inked 'Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man' for Tekno Comix. He worked on comics with Hanna-Barbera's 'Scooby-Doo' for DC from 1999 to 2005.
Dave Hunt did the background pencil art on this 1986 'Supergirl' special for the US Department of Transportation's National Safety Belt Campaign. Lay-outs by Jose Delbo, characters by Joe Orlando.
Final years and death
Dave Hunt was additionally a talented hyperrealist painter, especially known for his paintings of caves and other natural scenes. He passed away from complications of cancer on 5 March 2017. He spent the final years of his life working with Lee Benaka on a biography called 'Dave Hunt: An Artist's Life'.
Hunt's inking over Cosme Quartieri's pencils for The Little Mermaid #4.