a Family". Death On the night of his death, "past midnight of what was early Sunday morning," June 7, 1958, Maneely had dined hours earlier with fellow laid-off Atlas colleagues, including George Ward and John Severin, in Manhattan. He did not have his glasses with him, and was killed when he accidentally fell between the cars of a moving commuter train on his way home to New Jersey. Fellow Atlas artist Stan Goldberg recalled that on the night of Maneely's death, His last original published story was the five-page Ringo Kid tale "One Bullet Left" in Gunsmoke Western #53 (July 1959), and his final published comics work was the cover of Gunsmoke Western #55 (Nov. 1959), featuring Kid Colt and Wyatt Earp. Historian Ger Apeldoorn believes Maneely's last drawn work was published earlier: the first page of the eight-page story "The Revenge of Roaring Bear" in Two-Gun Kid #45 (Dec. 1958), which was completed by a different artist (Jack Davis), and bears the highest published job number (T-67) of Maneely's work. Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee opined in the early 2000s that had Maneely lived, "he would have been another Jack Kirby. He would have been the best you could imagine". Personal life In 1947, following his discharge from the U.S. Navy, Maneely married his childhood sweetheart, Elizabeth "Betty Jean" Kane (died April 16, 2003). Their first child, daughter Kathleen, was born in 1950. They would have two more, daughters Mary Carole, born 1951, and Nancy, born 1956. References External links Joe Maneely at the Lambiek Comiclopedia Joe Maneely at AtlasTales.com Joe Maneely at the Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index Vassallo, Michael J. "What If? Joe Maneely: Marvel's Forgotten Star", Comicartville Library, n.d. WebCitation archive. 1926 births 1958 deaths American comics artists Atlas Comics Artists from Philadelphia People from Tinton Falls, New Jersey Railway accident deaths in the United States Marvel Comics people United States Navy sailors Accidental deaths in New York (state)