Paul J. Lauretta was an artist for National Publications and Timely Comics during the Golden-Age of comics. He was one of Joe Shuster's early assistants on the 'Superman' comic. He primarily inked stories and did backgrounds, but he also did pencilling on some of the dailies. He was also the writer of the 'American Ace' comics, that appeared in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. When he left Timely publishers, he continued the comic as 'Lieutenant Lank' at Centaur. Lauretta studied art at the Art Institute of New York and worked for years as a commercial artist for the Western Electric Company and Merrimack Valley Credit Union. Paul J. Lauretta died of cancer in October 2000.