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Jean Giraud had one of the most interesting double lives in comics history. Under his own name, he co-created the legendary western comic 'Blueberry' (1963-2012) with writer Jean-Michel Charlier. He also used the shortened signature of "Gir" for this series. This cowboy series was noted for its highly realistic artwork and more gritty, complex and adult story lines, which had a tremendous impact on several other European western comics from the late 1960s on. Giraud also created another western series with Charlier, 'Jim Cutlass' (1979), but later wrote the stories himself while Christian Rossi provided artwork. As Moebius, he was one of the most innovative and influential comic artists of the 20th century, known for groundbreaking science-fiction and fantasy works like 'Arzach' (1975), 'The Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius' (1976-1979) and 'The Incal' (1980-1985). He experimented with graphic styles, lay-out, dialogue, visuals and plot development. Its themes, highly influenced by philosophical writings and hallucinogenic drugs, elevated adult comics to another level. Moebius was at the forefront of a new wave of experimental comic authors, who gathered in the comics magazine Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal) and the publishing label Les Humanoïdes Associés. He was active as a comics writer, screen writer, storyboard and concept designer too. Last but not least, superhero fans may know him from his mini-series based on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's 'The Silver Surfer' (1988-1989). Both as Giraud and as Moebius he is one of the most important comics authors of all time, whose influence can be felt in several fantasy and science fiction films and video games too.
Early life Jean Henri Gaston Giraud was born in 1938 in Nogent-sur Marne, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris. Giraud was largely raised by his grandparents, with whom he lived in Fontenay-sous-Bois since his parents' divorce in 1941. He grew up reading comics and watching American B-Westerns, while developing a passion for drawing. His mother encouraged him to further pursue his artistic ambitions, and he took art courses from an early age. He enrolled at The Duperré School of Applied Arts in Paris, where he studied alongside Jean-Claude Mézières, who became a close friend, and Pat Mallet for two years. While feeling no desire for designing wallpaper and furniture, he started drawing his own western comic strips, inspired by Belgian artists like André Franquin and Morris. He also published his first illustrations in Fiction magazine. Other artistic influences of Giraud were were Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Winsor McCay, Harold Foster, Jijé, Jack Kirby and Robert Crumb.
After leaving the Academy in 1955 he went to live with his mother in Mexico for eight months. There, he was exposed to mind-expanding substances, sex and the desert for the first time. The experience had an enormous impact on his future life and career, both as Giraud and as Moebius. Back in France in 1956, he sold his first comic story ('Les Aventures de Frank et Jérémie') to Far West, a western magazine edited by Marijac. Through Mézières he subsequently got the opportunity to work for the children's publications of Éditions Fleurus, such as Fripounet et Marisette, Coeurs Vaillants and Âmes Vaillantes between 1956 and 1958. His contributions were mainly short stories of an educational and historical nature, and he also provided artwork to a publication called Sitting-Bull. He spent his military service in Algeria and Germany, where he made illustrations and comic strips for the army monthly 5/5 Forces Françaises. Another contributor to this magazine was André Chéret.
Assistant of Jijé Back in civilian life, Giraud became an apprentice of Joseph Gillain, the classic Belgian comic artist known as Jijé. He inked the episode 'La Route de Coronado' of Jijé's western series 'Jerry Spring', which was published in Spirou magazine in 1961. Jijé learned Giraud the finer points of the comics profession, training him in creating simple lay-outs, effective usage of black, rhythm in storytelling and working with photo documentation. He also worked on comic stories for Bonux-Boy (1960-1961) and Total Journal (1966-1968), two advertising comic magazines edited by Jijé's son Benoît, who had become a close friend of his. In 1961 and 1962, Giraud and Mézières were artists at Studio Hachette, where they participated in collections like 'L'Histoire des Civilisations'.
Blueberry When scriptwriter Jean-Michel Charlier proposed Jijé to create a new western series for Charlier's magazine Pilote, Jijé suggested Giraud for the assignment. The first story, 'Fort Navajo', premiered in Pilote on 31 October 1963. The initial set-up featured an ensemble cast, but the character of Lieutenant Mike S. Donovan, a.k.a. Blueberry, quickly took the centre stage. Along the way, he received two sidekicks, namely the boozing gold prospector Jimmy McClure and Redneck, an expert on Indian matters. However, Dargaud, the original publisher of the books, continued to use the series title 'Fort Navajo, une Aventure du Lieutenant Blueberry' until 1973.
The first 'Blueberry' cycle dealt with the American Indian Wars, and consisted of more basic adventure stories in the tradition of Charlier's other series, such as 'Buck Danny', 'La Patrouille des Castors' and 'Barbe-Rouge'. Giraud based Blueberry's original looks on the French western actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, while his artwork in general was still heavily inspired by Jijé. As the series evolved, Giraud became more and more influenced by the gritty western movies of Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci and Sam Peckinpah, American comic artists Milton Caniff and Hal Foster, and Western painter Frederic Remington. Giraud's brushwork became grittier too, and his involvement in Charlier's scripts increased. Giraud let Blueberry age as the stories progressed, which was highly unusual in comic series at the time. The stories and the action became more hard-boiled after Pilote began to focus on a more mature readership from 1968 on.
The series gained full maturity when Giraud and Charlier made a cycle about a hidden treasure of Confederate gold in Mexico. This story arc consists of the albums 'Chihuahua Pearl' (1973), 'L'Homme qui Valait 500.000 $' ('The Half-A-Million Dollar Man', 1973), 'Ballade pour un Cercueil' ('Ballad for a Coffin', 1974), 'Le Hors-la-loi' ('The Outlaw', 1974) and 'Angel Face' (1975). The flawless hero of 'Fort Navajo' had by now transformed into a normal human being, one who wasn't safe from being manipulated, betrayed and tortured. Giraud's explicit graphic portrayals of the dirty and sweaty Far West with all its violence and dangers paved the way for other European western comics, such as 'Comanche' by Hermann and Greg, 'Jonathan Cartland' by Michel Blanc-Dumont, 'Durango' by Yves Swolfs and even the later 'Jerry Spring' stories by Jijé. A dispute over royalties with publisher Georges Dargaud led to a more complex publication history of 'Blueberry' stories after 1973. Stories were prepublished in Nouveau Tintin (1975), Métal Hurlant (1979), Super As (1980), L'Écho des Savanes (1981) and Spirou (1983), before they were published directly in albums. The books were published by Fleurus, Novedi and Alpen, before Giraud returned to Dargaud in 1995. In addition, Giraud and Charlier had been presenting scenes from Blueberry's younger years in Super Pocket Pilote from 1968. Dargaud published three books with these stories in 1975 and 1979. Three new installments of 'La Jeunesse de Blueberry' ('Young Blueberry') were created by Charlier and New-Zealand artist Colin Wilson at Novedi between 1985 and 1990. During their dispute with Dargaud, Giraud and Charlier created 'Jim Cutlass', another western comic of which one album was published by Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1979. Giraud revived the series in 1991 and wrote six more books for artist Christian Rossi at Casterman until 1999.
Moebius While Giraud and Charlier had basically renewed the western comics genre with 'Blueberry', Giraud embarked upon even more innovative territory under his pen name Moebius. He had first used the name for a couple of short stories in the satirical monthly Hara-Kiri in 1963-1964. Starting in 1969, Moebius made a series of science fiction illustrations for sci-fi novels published by Opta, which marked the beginning of Giraud's exploits outside of the mainstream. Giraud further developed his Moebius persona while on a hiatus from 'Blueberry' between 1974 and 1979. With comic artist Philippe Druillet, journalist/writer Jean-Pierre Dionnet and financial director Bernard Farkas he launched the revolutionary comics anthology Métal Hurlant in December 1974. The men gathered under the collective name Les Humanoïdes Associés, which also became the name of the associated publishing house. Métal Hurlant published mainly avant-garde science fiction and fantasy comics. Besides aforementioned authors, it also ran work by international creators like Richard Corben, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Enki Bilal, Caza, Serge Clerc, Alain Voss, Berni Wrightson, Milo Manara, Jordi Bernet, Antonio Segura and Frank Margerin. A licensed US edition called Heavy Metal was launched in April 1977. The final issue of the original run of Métal Hurlant appeared in 1987, but Les Humanoïdes Associés has continued to publish comics and graphic novels in France since then.
The Airtight Garage Moebius experimented with every aspect of the comics medium. He switched from drawing with a brush to a pen, which resulted in more open drawings with influences from the "Clear Line" style. He crafted highly imaginative worlds and creatures, while his narratives are mainly based around improvisation and character development instead of plot. An essential character in Moebius' output is Major Grubert, a rather stereotypical explorer inspired by Frank M. Buck's 1930 novel 'Bring 'm Back Alive'. The character had first appeared in a short story for Pilote, and then in experimental and surreal stories for France-Soir and Fluide Glacial. He was also instrumental in one of Moebius' masterpieces, 'Le Garage Hermétique' ('The Airtight Garage', 1976-1979). In this series of often confusing short stories, Major Grubert encounters several entities seeking to invade an asteroid in a pocket universe. Another notable character is Jerry Cornelius, a secret agent created by sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock as a sort of "open source" character for other authors to work with.
The Airtight Garage
'Le Garage Hermétique' was serialized in Métal Hurlant from 1 March 1976 to 1 June 1979., and in the US edition Heavy Metal from 1977. The original French book version was published in black-and-white under the title 'Major Fatal' in 1979. The story was colorized for the US publication, and has been published both as a graphic novel (Titan Books, 1989) and a 4-issue comic book series in 1992. The comic is widely praised because of its improvised nature, which makes the reader a witness of the artistic process of story development, while it also leaves a lot open to the reader's own interpretation. Therefore, 'The Airtight Garage' is not only a journey through a fictional world, but also through an artist's mind. In later years, Moebius created sequels like 'L'Homme du Ciguri' ('The Man from the Ciguri', 1995) and 'Le Chasseur Déprime' (2008), while the first Moebius book at Éditions du Fromage, 'Le Bandard Fou' ('The Horny Goof', 1974) can be considered a prequel. Major Grubert has continued to appear in Moebius' work throughout his career, and was also the central character in the "sketchbook graphic-novel" 'Le Major' in 2011.
Arzach Moebius' talent for creating strange and desolate landscapes was even more showcased in 'Arzach', a collection of short comic stories about a silent warrior riding on a pterodactyl-like creature. The stories have no balloons, captions or onomatopoeias, which makes up for a surreal and psychedelic reading experience. Even the main character's name seems disturbing, as Moebius spelled it differently in every story (Arzak, Arzach, Harzac, Harzach, Harzack). The installments appeared in Métal Hurlant between 1 April 1975 and 1 January 1976 and were collected in book format in 1976. Moebius returned to this character at the end of his life, when he planned to explore the character's origins in a trilogy. Only the first book was published under the title 'Arzak: L'Arpenteur' ('Arzak: The Surveyor') by Glénat in 2010. The second and third installment were never created because of the author's death in 2012.
L'Incal Moebius' first collaboration with avant-garde comics writer and film director Alejandro Jodorowsky was in 1975, when he did creature and character designs and storyboards for Jodorowsky's planned movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel 'Dune' in 1975. The project was never completed, but Moebius and Jodorowsky continued to work together on comics projects. After releasing the comic book 'Les Yeux du Chat' at Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1978, they created a comics classic with 'L'Incal' ('The Incal'). The saga focuses on P.I. John Difool, who receives the Light Incal, a crystal of enormous powers. The original series by Moebius and Jodorowsky was prepublished in Métal Hurlant from December 1980 on and then made available in six books by Les Humanoïdes Associés between 1981 and 1988. It was the first installment in Jodorowsky's own sci-fi universe known as the "Jodoverse", which also includes 'Meta-Barons' (drawn by Juan Giménez), 'The Technopriests' (drawn by Zoran Janjetov) and 'Mégalex' (drawn by Fred Beltrán). A sequel called 'Après L'Incal' was started by Jodorowsky in 2000. Moebius drew only the first book; the second and third installments were drawn by José Ladrönn. The character's early years were explored in 'Avant l'Incal' by Jodorowsky and Zoran Janjetov (1988-1995) and a final cycle called 'Final Incal' was produced by Jodorowsky and Ladrönn (2008-2014).
Moebius was highly influenced by drugs and the philosophies of French New Age guru Jean-Paul Appel-Guéry and Swiss nutritionist Guy-Claude Burger for his next major work, 'Le Monde d'Edena' ('The Aedena Cycle'). The artist's journeying lifestyle also left its mark on the comic; the installments were drawn in Tokyo, California and France. The cycle had its origin in a promotional comic Moebius had made for French car manufacturer Citroën in 1983 ('Une Croisière Citroën sur l'Étoile'), in which two characters are transported to a "Garden of Eden" in another galaxy. Éditions Casterman collected the rest of what has to be Moebius' most philosophical series in four books between 1988 and 2001. Main themes are dreams, nutrition, health, biology and sexuality, structured societies and the archetype of good and evil. The series was published in English by Marvel/Epic comics between 1988 and 1994. Moebius and Jodorowsky also made 'Le Coeur Couronné' (1992-1998), a comics trilogy about the affair of a Philosophy professor with a delusional student, as well as the erotic one-shot 'Griffes d'Ange' (1994).
Another notable comic by Moebius is 'The Long Tomorrow' (1976), a futuristic crime noir short story written by Dan O'Bannon, who also did the special effects on Jodorowsky's 'Dune' project. The story has been a huge source of inspiration for George Lucas' 'Star Wars' film 'The Empire Strikes Back', Ridley Scott's sci-fi film 'Blade Runner' (1982) as well as the fashion in the videoclip for 'Firestarter' by The Prodigy (1996). Compilations of Moebius' other short stories were published by Les Humanoïdes in books like 'Double Évasion' (1981), 'La Citadelle Aveugle' (1989) and 'Escale sur Phargonescia' (1989).
From 1983, Moebius was active in merchandising his properties. He co-founded the publishing label Aedena in 1984, while his wife Claudine Giraud oversaw Starwatcher, a company specialized in publishing and distributing related products. Based in Los Angeles, Moebius got most of his graphic novels published in the US through Marvel Comics. He furthermore worked with Stan Lee on a two-issue mini-series starring the 'Silver Surfer' for Marvel's Epic imprint in 1988 and 1989. Under his own Aedena label, he produced the portfolio 'La Cité-Feu' (1985) with Geoff Darrow, and he published 'La Nuit de l'Étoile' (1986), a sci-fi comic written by Moebius and drawn by Marc Bati.
Writings Giraud had been writing comic stories for other artists since the early 1970s. For Pilote, he wrote the initial episodes of the post-apocalyptic comic 'Jason Muller' for Claude Auclair in 1970, as well as a couple of short stories for Jacques Tardi. His further scriptwriting work includes six books of 'Altor' with Marc Bati, a comic initially published under the title 'Cristal Majeur' (Dargaud, 1986-2003), and 'Little Nemo', a sequel to the classic American newspaper comic 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' by Winsor McCay, which was drawn by Bruno Marchand (Casterman, 1994-2002). Giraud and Bati have also made a comic book based on George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' ('La Ferme des Animaux' at Novedi in 1985). In 2005 Moebius wrote the French manga story 'Icare' for Jirô Taniguchi (Éditions Kana). With Jean-Marc Lofficier, who also translated most of his works to English, he worked on the scripts of a couple of stories set in the same universe as 'The Airtight Garage'. 'The Elsewhere Prince' was drawn by and Eric Shanower and published by Epic Comics in six issues in 1990, while Jerry Bingham did the art for 'The Onyx Overlord', which was published in four issues in 1992. Witch scriptwriter Jean-Luc Coudray, he made 'Les Histoires de Monsieur Mouche' in 1994.
Not surprisingly, 'Blueberry' also changed into a different direction because of Giraud's work under his alter ego Moebius. Especially after Jean-Michel Charlier's death in 1989, Giraud further developed the character's background and deeper emotions. He completed the final story he had started with Charlier, 'Arizona Love' (Alpen, 1990), and wrote and drew five more albums, which form the 'Mister Blueberry' cycle (1995-2005). Instead of following Charlier's plan of rehabilitating Blueberry and sending him back to the army, Giraud decided to turn his protagonist into a loafing civilian who spends his days playing poker. He also added another spin-off to the 'Blueberry' universe, which focused on Blueberry's adventures as a marshal in the war against the Apaches prior to the Confederate gold storyline. The first two books of 'Marshal Blueberry' were drawn by William Vance (Alpen, 1991, 1993), while the third one was drawn by Michel Rouge (Dargaud, 2000). In the meantime, the 'Young Blueberry' series was still continued by François Corteggiani and Michel Blanc-Dumont, although with no creative input from Giraud.
A third planned spin-off about an elderly Blueberry was called 'Blueberry: 1900', and was supposed to be drawn by François Boucq. Giraud wanted Blueberry to reside with the Hopi tribe and meditate under the influence of mind-expanding substances, while a comatose President McKinley is levitated in his bed. The project was halted by Philippe Charlier, the son and heir of Jean-Michel Charlier, who found this new direction too far away from the creative integrity and legacy of his father. However, the psychedelic hallucinations did end up in the 2004 movie 'Blueberry, l'expérience secrète' starring Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen and Juliette Lewis (with Jean Giraud in a cameo role). The film was no commercial success, but did gain a certain cult status as a "trip film". Since it deviated so much from the source material, the Charlier heirs demanded that their family name should be removed from the credits.
Film work Besides the abandoned 'Dune' project, Jean Giraud/Moebius has participated in the development of several movies. He did storyboards and concept designs for Ridley Scott's movie 'Alien' (1977), 'Tron' by The Walt Disney Company (1982), René Laloux's 'Les Maîtres du Temps' ('Time Masters', 1982), James Cameron's 'The Abyss' (1989) and Luc Besson's 'The Fifth Element' (1997). A comic album with stills from 'Les Maîtres du Temps' and a companion book with storyboard drawings and photos were published by Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1982. In 1985 Moebius headed for Tokyo to work on the script and conceptual art for 'Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland' (1989), an animated film based on Winsor McCay's 'Little Nemo in Slumberland'. Giraud also made original character designs and did visual development for the Warner Bros movie 'Space Jam' in 1996. In the 1990s, Giraud worked on a planned movie adaptation of 'The Airtight Garage', which remained unreleased due to financial problems. The Chinese 3D-CGI feature film 'Thru the Moebius Strip' (2005) was based on an original story and designs by Jean Giraud.
Later career & recognition Several artbooks with Moebius' drawings and paintings have been published, such as 'Starwatcher' (1986), 'Made in L.A.' (1988), 'Quattre-vingt huit' (1990), 'Chaos' (1991), 'Chroniques Métalliques' (1992), 'Fusion' (1995), 'Une jeunesse heureuse' (1999). He additonally made illustrations for books and magazines, including an edition of Paulo Coelho's novel 'The Alchemist'. He also worked with Coelho on the video game 'Pilgrim' in 1997. In 1999, Giraud released 'Giraud/Moebius - Histoire de mon double', which featured a biography of Giraud by Moebius and vice versa. From 2004 to 2010, Stardom published 'Inside Moebius', an illustrated autobiographical fantasy featuring many of his longtime characters, such as Major Grubert, Blueberry and Arzak. The project covers 700 pages and was published in six hardcover volumes.
Jean Giraud was invested with a knighthood in the Ordre National du Mérite in 2011. He died in Paris, on 10 March 2012 at the age of 73, after a long battle with cancer. One of his final comics created under his own name was 'La Version Irlandaise', the first of a two-part volume in the 'XIII' series, which was released at the same time with its companion piece by the regular authors William Vance and Jean Van Hamme in November 2007.
An interview that Numa Sadoul had with Jean Giraud was published under the title 'Mister Moebius et Docteur Gir' at Albin Michel in 1976. It was reprinted by Casterman in 1991 in 'Moebius : Entretiens avec Numa Sadoul', which also contained later interviews. A large career retrospective called 'Trait de Génie Giraud/Moebius' was on exhibit in the Comics Museum in Angoulême, and an extensive catalogue edited by Thierry Groensteen was published for this occasion.
Legacy and influence With an oeuvre fuelled by mind-expanding drugs and New Age philosophies, Moebius has created a legacy which remains an inspiration to science fiction and fantasy authors to this day. He is considered one of the most influential comic artists since Hergé, and among his many and diverse admirers are comic authors like Hergé, Stan Lee and Marc Sleen, film directors Federico Fellini, George Lucas, Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino, and novelists Paulo Coelho, Neil Gaiman and William Gibson. He was an influence on the work of Hayao Miyazaki, William Stout, Emmanuel Roudier, Arno, Georges Bess, Dominique Hé, André Juillard, François Boucq, Geof Darrow, Louis Paradis, Martin tom Dieck, Milan Misic, Katsuya Terada, Jean-Jacques Sanchez, Zalozabal, Karel Verschuere, Jan Bosschaert, Stedho, François Schuiten, Frank and Thierry Van Hasselt. 'Arzach' was a major influence on the development of the 'Panzer Dragoon' video game by Team Andromedia in 1995. 'The Airtight Garage' inspired by the name for a San Francisco-based bar and video game parlor and for a band from Washington DC (1993-1996).- Writer
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Robert Crumb was born on 30 August 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer, known for Crumb (1994), American Splendor (2003) and Meatball (1969). He was previously married to Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Dana Morgan.- Writer
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Tezuka Osamu was born on November 3, 1928 in Toyonaka, Japan as the first child of Fumiko & Yutaka Tezuka. At 5, he & his family moved to the village of Kohama in Hyogo prefecture (present day city of Takarazuka). When he was 7, he entered Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka. Due to his diminutive stature, he was bullied a lot in school. His mother was a good story teller & would tell stories to him. His father was a big comic & animated movies fan. Therefore, he would do a private showing of movies he bought at his house. This influence would later inspire him to write story length comics that was as exciting as watching a movie. He drew his first comic when he was in 3rd grade titled Bin Bin Namachan, a story of a bald-headed boy that was modeled after himself. During those days, he read comics such as Norakuro & Nakamura Manga Library. He even drew a story about martians called Kaseijin Kuru! He also invented his famous character Hyotantsugi in a work he titled Fuku-chan to Uotsuri. . Another one of his works called Shina no Yoru caused quite a sensation.
His other love in life was insects. He would roam around the fields to study them & he would draw his own encyclopedia. One day, he found an insect named Osamushi, which resembled his name. Therefore, he adopted Osamushi as his pen name. He started to draw using pen & ink as well as write comics when he was 15. He self-published 13 books that year. In 1945, he entered Osaka University's medical division. The following year, he made his professional debut w/ the comic Maachan no nikki-cho in an Osaka children's newspaper. Later that year, he met Nanama Sakai at the Kansai manga club meeting & was asked to draw a feature length cartoon. W/ Sakai as story writer, he published Shin Takarajima the following year, selling 400,000 copies. He then went on to win 1st place at the YMCA for his piano performance. He was also a member of the university's acting club during & dabbled in school plays. What separated him from artists before him was that his comic had a 3-dimensional feel to his pictures & more lively motion to his characters.
In 1950, he began writing Jungle Taitei, which was published in the magazine Manga Shonen. After graduating from Osaka University the following year, he wrote the pilot episode for Tetsuwan Atom titled Atom Taishi, which was featured in the magazine Shounen. In 1952, he passed the exam to become a practicing physician. Atom Taishi ended in March & is renamed Tetsuwan Atom w/ syndication continuing until March 1968. He was in a dilemma as to which profession he would choose as his career: to be a manga artist or a doctor. He consulted his mother about his career choice & she advised him to choose whichever he loved the most. Encouraged by this, he chose manga.
In 1953, he moved to the now legendary Tokiwaso apartment where many young comic talents from all over Japan lived to start their career. Most of them were not only younger, but considered him as their guru, becoming a mentor. In 1959, he married Etsuko Okada. That same year, Tetsuwan Atom airs on Fuji TV featuring live actors. In 1961, he started his own animation production company called Tezuka Osamu Production Animation Department & beginning work on the pilot of animated version of Tetsuwan Atom. On January 1, 1963 Tetsuwan Atom starts airing on Fuji TV & is broadcasted by NBC as Astro Boy in the U.S. the following year. He followed up w/ the animated version of his comic Big X & W 3. In 1965, he created his 1st color anime Jungle Taitei, later airing in the Americas as Kimba the White Lion. His works from late the 60s such as Magma Taishi & 70s such as Mitsume ga tooru & Black Jack aren't as well known outside Japan, but he continued to draw at a prolific pace during those years. In 1972, due to internal strife, Mushi pro disintegrates. He later created another production company named after himself called Tezuka pro. During the 80s his work load slowly declined & he was more of a cultural icon, becoming a guest on many social events & TV interviews. He was also busy running his production company.
In 1988, he felt pain in his abdomen & underwent surgery. Not knowing this was due to stomach cancer as his his physician chose not to reveal his terminal illness, he was heard saying, "This doctor doesn't understand my question" as he asked about his condition. He passed away on February 9, 1989. Magazine headlines read Manga Taitei iku. Now, he's remembered as the greatest manga artist of all time, single-handedly jump starting both genre of modern day manga & anime with many manga artists were influenced by Tezuka's works. He was also 1 of the most prolific artist in the field w/ over 700 stories spanning over 170,000 pages to his credit . His impact on the entire social culture of Japan's also seen as immeasurable as he influenced so many different areas of art & society through his comics. Never in history has a comic artist influenced the society of a single country the way he did. He'll be remembered as the founding father of modern day manga.- Writer
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Alan Moore was born on 18 November 1953 in Northampton, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), From Hell (2001) and Watchmen (2019). He has been married to Melinda Gebbie since 12 May 2007. He was previously married to Phyllis B. Dixon.- Writer
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Jack "The King" Kirby was an influential comic book writer and artist, particularly famous for creating or co-creating some of the most famous characters for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
In 1917, Kirby was born under the name "Jacob Kurtzberg" on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He was a son of garment factory worker Benjamin Kurtzberg and his wife Rose Bernstein. Both his parents were Austrian-Jewish immigrants.
He developed an interest in drawing at an early age. He was mostly self-taught as an artist, having started by studying newspaper artwork from comic strip artists and political cartoonists. He cited among his main influences comic strip artists Milton Caniff (1907-1988), Hal Foster (1892-1982), and Alex Raymond (1909-1956), who were all pioneers of the adventure genre in comic strips. His professional name "Jack Kirby" was possibly chosen in reference to Rollin Kirby (1875-1952), an influential political cartoonist, who had won three Pulitzer Prizes in the 1920s.
At age 14, Kirby enrolled in Pratt Institute, a prestigious school for illustrators. He dropped out early. According to Kirby, his personal philosophy did not agree with that of the school. He was interested in producing quantities of artwork at a rapid rate and "get things done", while the Institute taught students to devote large amounts of time to a single piece of artwork.
After publishing a few works in outlets for amateur artists, Kirby entered the world of professional cartooning in 1936. He was hired by the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate to work on comic strips and advice cartoons. He stayed there until 1939. He then briefly joined the field of animation and was hired by the Fleischer Studios. He worked as an in-betweener in animated shorts, drawing intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image. He quit after a short period, feeling dissatisfied with the factory-like conditions at Fleischer.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the comic book medium was taking off and there were many available positions for writers and artists interested in working in the medium. Kirby soon joined the staff at the Eisner and Iger Studio, working under co-founders Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. The Studio was one of a number of pioneering companies selling completed comic book stories and artwork to the fledgling publishing companies of the time. Under various pseudonyms, Kirby contributed artwork to series in various genres, including humor, science fiction, swashbucklers, and Westerns.
The Eisner and Iger Studio dissolved for uncertain reasons by 1940. By that time comic book publishing companies were starting to hire writers and artists directly, instead of simply buying stories. Kirby found work at one of the publishers of the time, Fox Features Syndicate. Kirby's first superhero stories were Blue Beetle stories. He was not credited as an artist, the credit going to the non-existent "Charles Nicholas".
While working at Fox, Kirby was acquainted with Joe Simon. Simon was producing stories for various publishers and had recently created a superhero called Blue Bolt for Novelty Press. He had seeking for a partner to work on the second issue of Blue Bolt and was impressed enough with Kirby's work to offer him the partnership. Kirby accepted and the duo ended up working together for the following decades.
Simon was soon hired as an editor for Timely Comics (later renamed to Marvel Comics) and was also interested in contributing stories. He had the idea for a new patriotic superhero and managed to convince Timely publisher Martin Goodman that the new hero would work as the star of a solo comic book. This was at the time rare, since most comic book characters were featured in anthology titles. Once securing a publisher, Simon asked Kirby to join him in working on the character. The new character was called Captain America and debuted in 1941. Despite its strong similarities to an earlier MLJ Comics character called The Shield, Captain America became the most successful of the two characters and the fist two issues of his title were major best sellers of the comic book medium. This helped establish co-creators Simon and Kirby among the most famous comic creators of the time.
Despite the commercial success of Captain America, Kirby was not paid more than the average comic book artist of the time: 75 dollars per week. He and Simon continued working on the Captain America series until issue #10 while secretly negotiating a deal with another publisher. An early incarnation of DC Comics was offering them a combined weekly salary of 500 dollars if they switched publishers. The switch was formalized by 1942.
At first DC was uncertain on what work to assign Simon and Kirby. After a few minor assignments, they were asked to contribute their own story ideas. The duo soon took over the already established Sandman series featured in Adventure Comics and revamped the character. They also created a new version of the Manhunter, this time as a superhero. Kirby and Simon wanted to name the character "Rick Nelson", but the editor changed the name to "Paul Kirk", essentially naming him after an earlier character called Paul Kirk, Manhunter.
Simon and Kirby found more success with a non-superhero idea. They created the Boy Commandos, a combination of the "kid gang" concept that was already established in comic books, this time with a then-modern war setting. The Commandos soon became one of the most popular DC series of their time, graduated to their own title, and reportedly sold "over a million copies each month". In their heyday, the commandos were the third highest selling characters DC had in its stable. Only Superman and Batman actually sold more.
Besides the Boy Commandos, Simon and Kirby co-created another "kid gang" for DC: the Newsboy Legion. While never as popular as the Commandos, they became the feature characters of Star-Spangled Comics and were considered a hit in their own right.
Kirby's comic book career had to be put in hiatus in 1943, when he was drafted into the United States Army. While he never took part in any major battle, he was deployed in the European theatre of World War II in 1944. Following the Invasion of Normandy, Kirby was tasked with drawing reconnaissance maps and images of areas which the Army was considering to occupy. He was effectively a military scout and reconnaissance agent, and his work put him at risk. A case of severe frostbite in the winter of 1944-1945 resulted in his hospitalization. There were fears that his feet would have to be amputated for him to survive, though he managed to recover with no amputation necessary. He was discharged from the Army in July, 1945, having been awarded medals for his service.
Following his discharge from the Army, Kirby was reunited with Simon. Simon had spend the majority of the War serving in the United States Coast Guard. They were both looking for a way to return to comic book work, though their old jobs at DC had been taken by other creators. They spend the next several years working for Harvey Comics. For Harvey, the duo created some original characters such, as the superheroes Stuntman (1946) and Captain 3-D (1953). However, these characters were not as popular as their earlier creations.
Besides their relatively steady work for Harvey, Simon and Kirby freelanced for other publishers. Their employers of the time included publishers such as Crestwood Publications and Hillman Periodicals. For Crestwood, Simon and Kirby created one of their greatest hits: Young Romance, the first of the romance comics. At the time traditional comic book genres such as superheroes were in decline and publishers and creators were looking for new ideas. Simon and Kirby noticed that romance magazines of the 1940s sold well and had the idea of adapting the genre to comic books. It worked far better than expected. Young Romance and its spin-off series Young Love continued to sell millions of copies for years.
Due to the "follow the leader" mentality of comic book publishers of the time, other publishers soon published their own romance comics. Though few managed to successfully compete with the Simon and Kirby created titles, who were considered better in quality than most of their imitators. The success had an effect in the lives of the duo. Simon and Kirby had negotiated a contract which earned them a large percentage from the profits. Kirby earned more money than ever before and was able to purchase a new home for his family.
In 1953-1954, Simon and Kirby were annoyed to find out that Atlas Comics (the then-current name of Marvel Comics) was reviving Captain America. They had never asked for any input from Simon and Kirby to do this, nor offered to rehire them. Seeking for a way to outdo their old creation, the duo created a new superhero called Fighting American (1954) for Crestwood Publications. At first conceived as a serious 1950s take on the old patriotic hero concept, Fighting American's series soon became largely satirical. It never sold well and did not last long, though it has left enough of a mark in the comic book medium to be constantly reprinted and occasionally revived from a relatively high number of publishers.
In late 1953-1954, Simon and Kirby founded their own comic book publishing company: Mainline Publications. At the time the comic book industry was under attack by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (1895-1981) and politician Estes Kefauver (1903-1963). Many of the older comic book publishers were affected by the controversy and the resulting drop in sales, either getting out of the business or reducing their output. There was still a high demand for new material and Mainline Publications hoped to fill the void left by the demise of the older publishers.
Simon and Kirby's plans for their company turned out to be too optimistic. They published only four titles, all in established genres. They were "Bullseye: Western Scout" (a Western), "Foxhole" (a war comic), "In Love" (a romance comic), and "Police Trap" (a crime comic). None of them was a great success in sales, but they were noticed by Wertham, who used them as exhibits of comic book "filth". At the same time, Simon and Kirby entered into a complex legal battle with Crestwood Publications. They claimed their former employer owed them at least 130,000 dollars, but the case was settled out of court with the payment of only 10,000 dollars. It was not not enough to solve ongoing financial problems for Mainline Publications, which closed in 1956.
The partnership of Simon and Kirby did not survive the demise of their company. Simon was considering leaving the comic book medium altogether and seeking employment as an advertising artist, but Kirby wanted to keep working in his original medium. They parted amiably. Several of the unpublished material for Mainline Publications was sold to Charlton Comics. Kirby was left with an unused idea for a new team of adventurers. He would continue developing the idea over the following year, and eventually sell it to DC Comics. It was the the earliest incarnation of Challengers of the Unknown, though Kirby did not stay with DC long enough to further develop it.
From 1956 to 1958, Kirby was producing freelance work for DC Comics and Atlas Comics (Marvel Comics), mostly as a writer and penciller, and occasionally as an inker. He contributed stories for characters such as the Green Arrow and the Yellow Claw, though he did not create any major characters of his own. His take on Green Arrow was considered controversial, as Kirby included more science-fiction themes in the stories and was trying to revamp the character. Green Arrow co-creator Mort Weisinger reportedly hated Kirby's concept for the character.
In addition to comic books, Kirby co-created a comic strip called "Sky Masters of the Space Force" (1958). It was a science fiction comic book set in the near-future. It was a minor hit but got Kirby in a legal dispute with Jack Schiff, editor of DC. Schiff had helped bring Kirby in contact with his collaborators for the comic strip. He claimed that Kirby owed him a share of the strip's profits. The matter was settled in court and Schiff won the trial. This helped severe Kirby's relations with DC, and he soon quit the comic strip as well.
In late 1958, Kirby started producing more work for Atlas Comics (Marvel Comics). For various reasons Atlas had lost much of its creative personnel and there was a need for the remaining staff to increase its productivity. Kirby decided he could use some extra money and started mass producing art for Atlas. He became arguably the most prolific artist of the company, with his artwork appearing in almost any ongoing title. His best-remembered production from this time involved anthology stories for Atlas' series of supernatural-fantasy and science fiction titles. They were minor hits of their time and considered classics by later Marvel artists and readers. Most of his creations were supposed to be one-shot characters, but some of his characters have been revived and have made appearances in several works by other creators. They include characters such as Fin Fang Foom, Groot, and Grottu.
Kirby still did not work exclusively for Atlas. He collaborated with Joe Simon to create two more superheroes for Archie Comics. They were the Fly (1959) and a new incarnation of the Shield, called Lancelot Strong (1959). He also worked for the "Classics Illustrated" comic book series by The Gilberton Company, Inc.
In 1961, Atlas/Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee wanted to create a new superhero team to compete with DC's Justice League of America, which was turning out to be a hit. He decided to collaborate with Kirby in creating the team, the result being the Fantastic Four. For the first story of the new team, Lee created a synopsis of what he wanted the story to be like. Kirby then incorporated his own ideas and drew the whole story. Then Lee added his own dialogue to the finished artwork and narrative captions. The finished story was then offered for further inking, coloring, and eventual publication. This was the so-called "Marvel Method" of producing stories, where both co-creators had considerable influence on what was being created.
In later years, both Kirby and Lee would argue over who was the true creator of the Fantastic Four and the driving force behind the series. They both claimed that they came up with most of the concepts and that their collaborator only added relatively insignificant details. A number of comic book historians have tried to determine which version was true, though no definite evidence can be produced. Historian Mark Evanier, who has written a biography of Kirby, has argued that none of the two versions were true. He has argued that the two men were equal collaborators and that the credit for the series belongs to both of them.
The Fantastic Four title became a commercial hit and Kirby was its main artist for the first 102 issues (November, 1961-September, 1970). Atlas/Marvel soon launched a new line of titles, with Kirby serving as an artist for most of them. Besides contributing artwork and plots, Kirby was asked to train other Marvel artists in how to draw the characters. He provided "breakdown" layouts and the other artists would learn to draw based on them. Before long, Kirby's style had become Marvel's new house style. This did not prevent his personal style from further evolving, by incorporating new drawing techniques and other experiments.
In the 1960s, Kirby created or co-created hundreds of major and minor characters for Marvel Comics. Among his major creations were Doctor Doom (1962), the Hulk (1962), Thor (1962), Iron Man (1963), Magneto (1963), Uatu the Watcher (1963), the original X-Men (1963), the Inhumans (1965), the Black Panther (1966), Ego the Living Planet (1966), Galactus (1966), and the Silver Surfer (1966). For some of them Kirby only contributed their debut stories, for others entire runs of featured stories. He also helped revive older characters, such as Captain America, Namor, and Ka-Zar (who was given an entirely different setting and backstory).
By the early 1970s, Kirby felt increasingly dissatisfied with his working relationship with Marvel. He was paid much better than before, earning about 35,000 dollars per year. But he felt that he was not given adequate credit for his own creations, that his plot contributions went mostly uncredited, and that Marvel was earning much more money from characters that he had created. He consequently left Marvel. He was hired by DC Comics, as the result of a deal with editorial director Carmine Infantino.
Kirby's contract with DC, produced in 1970, gave him essentially a free reign as writer and penciller in whatever title he worked on. He soon worked in four inter-connected titles. They were the already established (but low-selling) title Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (which had no one assigned to it so Kirby could take it over without having someone lose their job) and the new titles New Gods, Mister Miracle, and the Forever People. The concept of the titles became known as Jack Kirby's Fourth World.
The idea for the so-called New Gods had reportedly come to Kirby a few years earlier, while he was working on the "Tales of Asgard" sub-series for Marvel's "Thor" title. He wanted to produce a story about two planets at war with each other and the grand finale would be the Ragnarok ("Twilight of the Gods"), the battle that ends the gods at the finale of Norse mythology. Marvel never allowed him to work on such a story, DC on the other hand did. Kirby came up with the idea of the New Gods born out of the death of the old ones. He soon developed an entirely new mythology for his creations, combining disparate ideas from multiple sources. The scope was epic.
Kirby at first intended to tell a finite story about the New Gods. It would have a start, several chapters, and a definite conclusion. But the titles initially sold too well and DC argued against the idea, wanting the tales to continue indefinitely. Kirby was forced to compromise and the story continued, though sales soon dropped. "New Gods" and the Forever people were canceled in 1972. Mister Miracle continued under Kirby until 1974, though the stories became a bit more conventional.
Though Kirby's take on the New Gods and associated characters was considered a bit too weird for mainstream comics, DC never completely lost interest in the characters. They were revived by later creators, reused for decades, and a few (like Darkseid) went on to play prominent roles in the wider DC multiverse. Meanwhile Kirby went on to work in other series.
The other 1970s DC characters created or co-created by Kirby included Etrigan the Demon (1972), Kamandi (1972), OMAC (1974), a new version of Sandman (1974), Atlas (1975), a new version of Manhunter (1975), the Dingbats of Danger Street (1975) and Kobra (1976). All these characters were considered as series protagonists, and some of them did receive their own title. However, none of them enjoyed long-term success.
In 1975, Marvel Comics announced that Kirby would return to work with them. He was soon producing new runs as sole writer and penciller of "Black Panther" and "Captain America". His most enduring work, however, was in the creation of new series and characters. His best known work was "The Eternals" (1976-1978), a 19-issue series about immortal gods active on modern Earth. It was very similar in concept to the New Gods. The human-looking gods were called Eternals, their demonic looking counterparts were the Deviants, and they were both inferior to the mysterious space gods called the Celestials. The series was never a best-seller but has its dedicated fans. The characters and concepts have been incorporated to the wider Marvel multiverse, with several other creators adding to them over the decades.
Somewhat less ambitious were the rest of the Kirby creations of the 1970s for Marvel. They included Machine Man (1977) and Devil Dinosaur (1978). Each held its own short-lived series, but enduring success eludes them. They still have enough fans to warrant several revivals over the following decades.
Kirby left Marvel in 1978 to return to the field of animation, after an absence of nearly 40 years. He spend much of the late 1970s and 1980s working on television animated series such as "Thundarr the Barbarian" and "The Centurions". Futhermore, Kirby found the experience much more satisfying, considering he was in a senior creative post as production designer and worked with young employees who did the more laborious work of animation. They treated him with far more respect than the people in the comic book industry.
Never satisfied with his lack of creative control over his older creations, Kirby briefly returned to comic books with the creator-owned series "Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers" (1981-1984). It was intended as his own sequel to the New Gods. The title character, Captain Victory, was implied to be the son and heir of Orion. His supposed grandfather "Blackmaas" was a look-alike of Darkseid.
In the mid-1980s, when the Kenner toy company judged his New Gods villains, like Darkseid, ideal antagonists for the Super Powers Collection toy-line, DC asked Kirby to design the action figure versions for character. He received royalties for the use of his character designs, the only time he was so compensated. He also returned to his characters in the DC graphic novel called The Hunger Dogs!.
In the early 1990s, Kirby licensed his creator owned-characters to Topps Comics. Existing characters and unused Kirby-produced concepts from earlier decades were used for the so-called Kirbyverse line of comic books. Kirby himself did not contribute new work to Topps. He attempted to make a comeback to the comic book medium with a comic book series called "Phantom Force", but died in 1994 before its publication.
Some of Kirby's unpublished work has seen posthumous publication. His creator-owned characters were inherited by his family and have continued to appear in new works by various publishers. The Kirby family has repeatedly attempted to claim partial ownership over Jack Kirby's Marvel creations, though their legal efforts have so far been unsuccessful. The Kirby family has not disputed the ownership of his DC creations.- Writer
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Trina Robbins was born on 17 August 1938 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was a writer, known for Funny Ladies (1991), No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics (2021) and Independent Lens (1999). She died on 10 April 2024 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Writer
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Frank Miller was born in Olney, Maryland, to a nurse mother and a carpenter and electrician father, and was raised in Montpelier, Vermont. He is of Irish descent. Miller was a big comics writer/artist in the '70s and '80s. He wrote and penciled the Marvel series "Daredevil" for a long time. His friend, Klaus Janson, inked. He also wrote two spinoffs about the character "Electra" and did a miniseries about the "X-Men" character "Wolverine". His hit miniseries "Ronin" was published by DC in the mid-eighties. His greatest success came with DC's character "Batman". In 1980, he wrote the acclaimed "Batman" story "Wanted - Santa Claus - Dead or Alive!" for DC Comics. In 1986, his most notable comic-book work, the groundbreaking "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns", an alternate history story about Batman in a grim future, was published by DC. Miller wrote and penciled. In 1988, he wrote the acclaimed "Batman: Year One", about Batman's first year on the job, for DC. In 1996, he wrote "Spawn versus Batman", a one-shot issue published by DC and Image Comics. He wrote the major motion pictures RoboCop 2 (1990) and RoboCop 3 (1993) and did the "Robocop" comic series for a little while.
Miller directed The Spirit (2008) and co-directed Sin City (2005) and Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)_.- Writer
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Will Eisner was an American comic book artist and writer of Austrian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish descent. He was one of the pioneering artists of the American comic book industry. He is most famous for creating the masked crime-fighter Spirit/Denny Colt, and for being the main creator of the original eponymous series "the Spirit" (1940-1952). Later, Eisner worked primarily with graphic novels. He is credited with popularizing the term "graphic novel" in 1978. The Eisner Award (for creative achievement in American comic books) and the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame were both named after him.
In 1917, Eisner was born in Brooklyn, New York City. Both of his parents were first-generation European-Jewish immigrants, and distant relatives of each other. Eisner's father was the artist Shmuel "Samuel" Eisner (born 1886) from Austria-Hungary. Before World War I, Shmuel worked in Vienna, painting murals for wealthy patrons and for Catholic churches. He migrated to the United States, primarily to avoid conscription. He found work in New York City, painting backdrops for vaudeville and for the Jewish theater.
Eisner's mother was the Romanian-Jewish Fannie Ingber (born 1891). She was born aboard a ship which transported her immigrant parents to the United States. Ingber's parents died c. 1901, when she was 10-years-old. She was then primarily raised by her older stepsister. Her stepsister turned out to be a harsh taskmaster, who kept Ingber mostly preoccupied with chores. Ingber was not allowed to socialize with others or to attend school. She was consequently illiterate.
Will was the eldest of three children born to the Eisner family. His family was impoverished, and moved frequently during his childhood. Eisner was often a target of anti-Semitic insults from his schoolmates, and was frequently involved in physical confrontations with them. His family was not particularly religious.
During his childhood and adolescence, Eisner was an avid reader of pulp magazines. He was also interested in films, particularly enjoying the avant-garde films of Man Ray (1890-1976). He aspired to become an artist, and Shmuel bought art supplies for his son. In 1930, Fannie pressured her son to get a paying job to supplement the family income. His first job was selling newspapers on street corners. There was intense competition among newsboys for the best locations, and Eisner often had to fight competing newsboys,
Eisner received his secondary education at the DeWitt Clinton High School, an all-boys public high school located in The Bronx. He drew art for the school newspaper "The Clintonian", for its literary magazine "The Magpie" and for its yearbook. His early artwork was primarily influenced by the work of commercial artist J. C. Leyendecker (1874-1951), one of the most famous cover artists of his era. Besides illustrations, Eisner worked on scenic design for the school's theater.
Following his graduation from high school, Eisner studied art at the "Art Students League of New York" , an art school located in Manhattan. His teacher there was the veteran artist George Bridgman (c. 1864-1943), who specialized in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Following his graduation, Eisner was hired as an advertising writer-cartoonist by the newspaper "New York American". The newspaper was owned at the time by William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951).
To supplement his income, Eisner started drawing illustration for pulp magazines. His rate at the time was 10 dollars for every completed page. Among his early employers was the Western-themed magazine "Western Sheriffs and Outlaws". In 1936, his high-school friend Bob Kane (1915-1998) suggested to him that he should also try to sell art to comic books. For most of the 1930s, American comic books consisted mostly of comic strip reprints in color. By 1935, some of them had started including new material in their publications.
Eisner fist sold new material to the comic book magazine "Wow, What A Magazine! ", by convincing its editor Jerry Iger (1903-1990) that he could deliver quality work. Eisner's first series character was Captain Scott Dalton, an globe-trotting adventurer who searched for rare artifacts. "Wow" also published further series by Eisner, including the pirate-themed series "The Flame" and the spy-themed series "Harry Karry".
"Wow" only lasted for 4 issues (July-November, 1936). Afterwards Eisner and Jerry Iger became business partners, founding the art studio "Eisner & Iger". It was one of the early comic book "packagers", companies which sold original material to fledgling comic book publishers. Eisner sold art at the rate of 1.50 dollars per page. Among the studio's main customers were the companies Fiction House, Fox Feature Syndicate, and Quality Comics. They also sold material to the British publisher Boardman Books. The company was profitable. In 1939, Eisner had an income of 25,000 dollars. A respectable income, considering that the Great Depression was still ongoing.
Among the characters Eisner created or co-created were the jungle girl Sheena, Queen of the Jungle/Sheena Rivington (for Fiction House), the size-changing superhero Doll Man/Darrel Dane (for Quality Comics), and the ace pilot Blackhawk (for Quality Comics). Sheena was among the earliest female jungle heroes, and has been described as a female Tarzan. She became Fiction House's most famous character, and inspired many derivative jungle girl heroines. Doll Man was Quality's first super-powered character and a pioneer in the genre of superheroes who could shrink in size. He predated characters such as Ant-Man/Hank Pym and Atom/Ray Palmer by two decades. Blackhawk served as the leader of the military-themed group "The Blackhawks", featured in one of Quality's longest-running series. After Quality went out of business, the series was continued by DC Comics.
In 1939, Eisner was involved in a legal controversy. At the time, the most popular superhero character was Superman/Clark Kent, published by an early incarnation of DC Comics. Victor Fox (born 1893), the owner of the Fox Feature Syndicate, commissioned Eisner to create a Superman-like character. Eisner created Wonder Man/Fred Carson, a character empowered by a magic ring. Despite a different origin story, Wonder Man appeared as an imitation of Superman. Wonder Man looked similar to Superman (though he had blonde hair instead of Superman's black hair), wore a similar costume, and had near-identical powers. DC Comics sued the Fox Feature Syndicate for copyright infringement, and won the case in court. Fox and Eisner had to cease using Wonder Man as a character. This was the first copyright lawsuit in comic book history.
Also in 1939, Eisner and Iger dissolved their business partnership. Their motivation for this decision is unclear. Eisner sold his share in their company at the price of 20,000. In December 1939, Eisner received a business proposal Henry Martin, sales manager of "The Des Moines Register and Tribune Syndicate". A number of Sunday newspapers wanted to compete with their contemporary high-selling comic books, by publishing a comic-book insert into the newspapers. They wanted Eisner to handle this insert and to provide its contents. Eisner took the offer.
Eisner provided three new characters as series protagonists for the comic-book insert: the Spirit/Denny Colt, Lady Luck/Brenda Banks, and Mr. Mystic/Ken. By agreement, the characters were copyrighted in the name of Everett M. "Busy" Arnold (1899 -1974), Quality Comics' publisher who had agreed to publish the insert. But by the terms of this agreement, their copyright ownership would revert to Eisner himself if their partnership dissolved. This eventually occurred, and the trio were among the earliest creator-owned characters in American comics.
The Spirit served as the main series for the comic-book insert, with the other two as back-up series. The Sunday supplement was nicknamed "The Spirit Section"). It was published in 20 newspapers, with a combined circulation of 5 million copies. It was published from 1940 to 1952.
In late 1941 or early 1942, Eisner was drafted by the United States Army. He was 25-years-old and he was of eligible age to serve in then-ongoing World War II (1939-1945). He was initially assigned to work camp newspaper at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, located in Aberdeen. His comics were used as training material for soldiers. He became a warrant officer.
During his military service, Eisner provided new illustrations for the Baltimore-based military magazine "Army Motors", and served as an editor to the Pentagon-based ordnance magazine "Firepower". He would continue to work for "Army Motors" until 1950, and then continue to work for its successor publication , "PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly" until 1971, While working for "Army Motors", Eisner created the series character Joe Dope. Dope was the protagonist in an educational comic strip aimed at a military audience. He was depicted as a bumbling soldier, and his stories illustrated various methods of preventive maintenance of various military equipment and weapons.
While Eisner was preoccupied with military service, he supervised an entire studio which continued to work on the Spirit. Several of his assistants served as ghost writers and ghost artists of the Spirit from 1942 until Eisner's return to civilian life in 1945. His most notable assistant at the time was Jules Feiffer (1929-), later a leading editorial cartoonist in his own right. Other known ghost artists of the Spirit were Jack Cole (1914-1958) and Lou Fine (1914-1971). Jack Keller (1922-2003) worked as a background artist on the strip. Known ghost writers of the Spirit include the pulp fiction writer Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) and the novelist William Woolfolk (1917-2003).
In 1945 took over as the writer and artist of the Spirit again. The Spirit was a masked crime-fighter, wearing a simple costume. The costume included a blue domino mask, a business suit, a white shirt, a red necktie, a fedora hat, and gloves. His real identity was that of Denny Colt, a criminologists who was considered deceased following a short period under suspended animation. His headquarters were located underneath his own tombstone. His adventures were heavily influenced by film noir, and featured a "gritty, detailed view of big-city life", with drama taking place in urban streets, dilapidated tenements, and smoke-filled back rooms.
Eisner often combined elements from different genres in the Spirit series, wanting to experiment in story style. The series was noted for its frequent use of femme fatales, The Spirit's main love interest was the feisty feminist Ellen Dolan, his archenemy was the mysterious master-of-disguise known as the Octopus (whose real face was never depicted), and his most prominent sidekick was Ebony White. Ebony was an African-American taxi driver, and was among the earliest major African-American characters in comics. He was phased out of the series in 1949.
The Spirit's original series ended on October 5, 1952, possibly due to declining sales. From 1940 to 1950, Spirit stories were reprinted in comic book form by Quality Comics. From 1952 to 1954, they were reprinted by Fiction House. From 1966 to 1967, the stories were reprinted by Harvey Comics. For this edition, Eisner illustrated original covers, and a few original stories to supplement the reprints.
Back in 1948, Eisner formed the company American Visuals Corporation, which produced instructional materials for the government, related agencies, and businesses. His main customer was the United States Army, for which he continued to produce military publications until the 1970s. Other prominent clients of the American Visuals Corporation were the football team Baltimore Colts, the New York Telephone, and RCA Records.
In 1978, Eisner published his first graphic novel, called "A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories". It was a cycle of connected short stories, depicting the lives of impoverished Jewish characters within a tenement in New York City. From this point onward, he produced about one graphic novel per year. Among his most notable graphic novels was "Fagin the Jew" (2003), a biography of the literary villain introduced in the serial novel "Oliver Twist" (1837-1839). Eisner disliked Fagin's stereotypical depiction in the original novel, and wanted to depict Fagin as a complex and conflicted individual. The story was depicted as a narrative presented by Fagin himself, the night before his execution by hanging.
In the last decades of his life, Eisner was a lecturer at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He taught students essential lessons on cartooning. He also wrote the ,educational books "Comics and Sequential Art" (1985) and "Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative" (1996).
On December 22, 2004, Eisner had a quadruple bypass surgery. On January 3, 2005, he died due to surgery-related complications. He was 87-years-old at the time of his death. A memorial service was held for him at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, an art gallery located in in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Eisner was survived by his wife Ann Weingarten Eisner, and by their son, John. His only known daughter, Alice Eisner, had predeceased him in 1970.- Writer
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Like many pioneers, the work of 'Winsor McCay' has been largely superseded by successors such as Walt Disney and Max Fleischer but he more than earns a place in film history for being the American cinema's first great cartoon animator. He started out as a newspaper cartoonist, achieving a national reputation for his strips 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' and 'Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend'. Inspired by his son's flick-books, he spent four years and produced four thousand individual drawings in making his first animated cartoon 'Little Nemo', completing it in 1911. But his biggest cartoon success was 'Gertie the Dinosaur' (1913), which was the centrepiece of a vaudeville act in which the live McCay would interact with his cartoon character. For this, he single-handedly produced ten thousand individual drawings, laboriously re-drawing the background every time. It is often wrongly cited as the first animated cartoon, but it was certainly the first successful one, and influenced dozens of imitators. His 1918 production 'The Sinking of the Lusitania' was even more ambitious: comprising 25,000 drawings, it was the first feature-length American cartoon, and the second one made anywhere. He retired from film-making in the 1920s, but would subsequently describe himself as "the creator of animated cartoons". This honour, strictly speaking, belongs to the Frenchman Emile Cohl - but McCay was certainly the first to bring them to a wide audience.- Ann Nocenti is a veteran comic book writer and editor from New York City. As a writer, she is primarily remembered as the main writer for "Daredevil" vol. 1 #236-291 (1986-1991), "Catwoman" vol. 3 (2012-2014), and "Katana" (2013-2014). She has written stories for several other characters, including (among others) Spider-Woman, Doctor Strange, Nightmare, Spider-Man, and Venom. As an editor, Nocenti is primarily remembered for serving as an editor for both the "Uncanny X-Men" and the "New Mutants" from 1984 to 1988.
Nocenti has created several recurring characters for Marvel Comics. Her most popular creations include the tyrant and slave-master Mojo (portrayed as a parody of television executives), the young demon Blackheart (a son of the hell-lord Mephisto), the dimension-traveling sorceress Spiral/Rita Wayword, the pyrokinetic assassin Typhoid Mary/Mary Walker (both a love interest and a foe for Daredevil), the rebel leader Longshot (a love interest for Dazzler), the Inhuman prince Ahura Boltagon (a son of the heroes Black Bolt and Medusa), and the cyborg assassin Bushwacker/Carl Burbank (a recurring foe for Daredvil and the Punisher).
Nocenti was interested in comic books as a child, though her parents allowed her access to few series of the time. She liked teenage humor stories by Archie Comics, but thought that "bad girl" Veronica Lodge was a smarter and more enjoyable character than her "good girl" rival Betty Cooper. Nocenti loved reprints of the satirical comic strip "Pogo" (1948-1975) by Walt Kelly. Nocenti also enjoyed reprints of the detective-themed comic strip "Dick Tracy" (1931-) by Chester Gould. She found the strip's "grotesque" and deformed villains to be fascinating, and thought that the strip's heroes were comparatively bland. Nocenti never had access to superhero comics.
Nocenti received her college education at the "State University of New York at New Paltz", a public university which had its own art education program. As a college student, Nocenti found herself interested in the underground comix of Robert Crumb. They were representative of the values of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Following her graduation from college, Nocenti replied to a Marvel Comics ad for new personnel. She was hired as an assistant editor by the editor Dennis O'Neil (1939-2020).
From 1982 to 1984, Nocenti primarily worked as an assistant editor for various Marvel titles. She variously worked under the supervision of the editors Al Milgrom, Carl Potts, and Louise Jones. She was also interested in writing her own stories. Her debut story was published in a 1982 issue of the anthology title "Bizarre Adventures".
Nocenti's first regular writing assignment was to write the final few issues of a series featuring the superheroine Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew. Since Nocenti was aware that the series was ending due to a decline in its sales, she decided to write a storyline which ended with Jessica's death. She came to regret this decision, as she realized that the readers had a "personal attachment" to the character. Nocenti served as a story consultant to an Avengers storyline which featured the resurrection of Spider-Woman.
Nocenti served as the solo writer of the miniseries "Beauty and the Beast" (1984-1985). It served as a spotlight for the mutant superheroes Dazzler/Alison Blaire and Beast/Hank McCoy. The series depicted them as lovers, and portrayed Dazzler as an outcast, following the end of her acting career. These subplots were not followed by other writers.
Nocenti created Longshot and his original cast of friends and foes in the eponymous miniseries "Longshot" (1985-1986). She used atypical influences for a comic book writer, crediting the works of Marshall McLuhan, Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman and Walter Lippmann for inspiring aspects of the series. Nocenti was pursuing her master's degree at the time, and figured that some of the texts available to her would make great material for a comic book story.
In 1986, Nocenti was asked to contribute a story to the series "Daredevil". The series had no regular writer at the time, following the end of long runs by Dennis O'Neil and Frank Miller. Two issues later, Nocenti was assigned as the series' new main writer. She took the series to a new direction, with the character Daredevil/Matt Murdock running a non-profit urban legal center. Nocenti's stories for the series often explored social issues, such as "sexism, racism, and nuclear proliferation". Nocenti continued writing the title until 1991, and she became the series "longest-running regular writer". She was then replaced by Daniel G. Chichester, who tried to conclude several of the series' long-running subplots.
From 1993 to 1994, Nocenti wrote the series "Kid Eternity" for Vertigo Comics. The series featured a revamped version of the Golden Age character Kid Eternity/Christopher "Kit" Freeman, who could summon demons to assist him in conflicts. For Marvel, Nocenti wrote 1990s miniseries for the villains Typhoid Mary (which she had created years earlier) and Nightmare. Nightmare had been a long-established demonic villain, who could manipulate subconscious minds of dreaming beings. Nocenti worked on the first attempt to turn him into a villain protagonist and to provide him with his own supporting cast.
In 1996, Nocenti wrote two issues of "The All-New Exiles" for Malibu Comics. The series focused on a misfit cast of villains and antiheroes who were forced to join forces after finding themselves collectively blamed for a mysterious disaster in New York City. They had to clear their names and discover what had actually caused the disaster. Nocenti's issues focused on a treacherous ally of the team, who was manipulating teammates Amber Hunt and Siena Blaze into fighting each other. The series only lasted for 11 issues, with its storyline resolved in a crossover title. This was Nocenti's last work for Marvel and its imprints during the 1990s.
During the 1990s, Nocenti started a new career as a journalist. She eventually placed her comic book work in hiatus, in order to pursue new career opportunities. She worked as a writer for the political magazine "The Nation" (1865-), while publishing articles in several other publications. In 2004, Nocenti became the new editor of the monthly magazine "High Times" (1974-).
In 2004, Nocenti started regularly writing for DC Comics. She wrote several stories for the Batman-related comic books. She published the graphic novel "Batman/Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows" (2004). The story had the hero Batman/Bruce Wayne and the female villain Poison Ivy/Pamela Lillian Isley teaming up for a case. Nocenti placed emphasis on Ivy's redeeming qualities, and hinted that Ivy's long-term attraction to Batman was based on genuine emotional needs, rather than mere lust.
In 2004, Nocenti wrote a two-part miniseries about Catwoman/Selina Kyle. In 2012, she was assigned as the main writer in a rebooted version of Catwoman's solo series. She continued writing the series until 2014. Nocenti contributed a Catwoman story to the anthology collection "Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular" (2020). The anthology celebrated the completion of 80 years of stories about the popular villain and antihero.
By 2022, Nocenti was 65-years-old. She has never fully retired from comic book writing, but she has mostly contributed stories to anthologies and miniseries in recent years. She has had a fan following due to her interesting takes on several established characters, and her own creation of eccentric characters. - Writer
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René Goscinny was a French comic book writer, of Polish-Jewish descent. His parents were Stanislaw Simkha Goscinny and Anna "Hanna" Beresniak-Goscinna. The family name Goscinny means "hospitable" in the Polish language. Stanislaw was a chemical engineer from Warsaw, and Anna was from a small village called Chodorków, in the vicinity of Zhytomyr. Warsaw is currently part of Poland, and Zhytomyr part of Ukraine.
Both of Goscinny's parents were born in the Russian Empire, but migrated to the French Third Republic prior to the end of World War I. They met each other in Paris, and were married there in 1919. René was born in Paris in 1926, as the second son of the couple. He received French citizenship at birth.
In 1928, the Goscinny family migrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, as Stanislaw had found employment there. René was primarily raised in Buenos Aires, where he attended French-speaking schools. He reportedly a shy boy, but often acted as the "class clown" to seek attention. He enjoyed reading illustrated stories, and practiced drawing as a hobby.
In 1943, Stanislaw Goscinny suffered from cerebral hemorrhage and died. René was forced to quit school and find a job. He first worked as an assistant accountant, then as an illustrator in an advertising agency. In 1945, René migrated from Argentina to New York City, United States, to join his older brother who lived there. In 1946, René returned to France for his mandatory military service. He served in the 141st Alpine Infantry Battalion, and was discharged with the rank of a senior corporal.
In the late 1940s, Goscinny returned to New York City to seek employment there. He worked in various small studios, but managed to befriend a number of comics writers and artists who worked in the City at that time. Among them were Joseph Gillain (pen-name Jije, 1914-1980), Maurice De Bevere (pen-name Morris, 1923-2001), Will Elder (1921-2008), Jack Davis (1924-2016), and Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993).
In 1951, artist and publisher Georges Troisfontaines hired Goscinny to head the Paris office of the "World Press" agency. In his new position, Goscinny met and befriended a French-artist of Italian descent, Albert Uderzo (1927-). The two collaborated in a number of early comics works, most notably the comedy-adventure series "Jehan Pistolet ". It featured a good-natured French privateer leading a crew of misfits into adventure.
During the 1950s, Goscinny collaborated with various writers and artists in producing new series of comics and children's books. He created characters like "Le Petit Nicolas" (a mischievous schoolboy) and "Oumpah-pah" (a heroic Native American caught up in 18th-century warfare), and took over the writing or older series like "Lucky Luke". However, few of his creations were particularly popular.
In 1959, Goscinny and Uderzo co-created the new series "Asterix" and its main characters. Featuring heroic Gauls fighting in the historic Gallic Wars (58-50 BC), the series mixed historical fiction with fantasy elements and satire. It soon became one of the most popular European comics, and Goscinny continued writing the series until his death.
In the 1960s, Goscinny became one of the most prolific writers of French comics. In 1962, he had a second major hit when collaborating with Jean Tabary (1930-2011) for the series "Iznogoud". The series features a villain-protagonist, the evil vizier Iznogoud who serves in the royal court of the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258) in Baghdad, and spends most of his life trying to depose and replace the incompetent Caliph.
In 1967, Goscinny married Gilberte Pollaro-Millo. In 1968, they had their only daughter, Anne Goscinny. She would grow up to become a professional writer, following her father's footsteps.
In 1977, Goscinny was going through a routine stress test at the office of his doctor, when he suffered a cardiac arrest. He died instantly. He was only 51-years-old. His main legacy remains with his most popular series: "Asterix", "Iznogoud", "Lucky Luke", and "Le Petit Nicolas", which have all received several adaptations.- Director
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Marjane Satrapi was born on 22 November 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She is a director and actress, known for Persepolis (2007), The Voices (2014) and Chicken with Plums (2011). She is married to Mattias Ripa. She was previously married to Reza.- Writer
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Kelly Sue DeConnick was born on 15 July 1970 in Ohio, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for Captain Marvel (2019), The Marvels (2023) and Emerald City (2016). She has been married to Matt Fraction since 29 September 2002.- Writer
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Katsuhiro Ôtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation.
In 1979, after writing multiple short-stories for the magazine Action, Otomo created his first science-fiction work, titled Fireball. Although the manga was never completed, it is regarded as a milestone in Otomo's career as it contained many of the same themes he would explore in his later. In 1982, Otomo made his anime debut, working as character designer for the animated film Harmagedon. The next year, Otomo began work on a manga which would become his most acclaimed and famous work: Akira. It took eight years to complete and would eventually culminate in 2000 pages of artwork. While the serialization of Akira was taking place, Otomo decided to animate it into a feature film, although the manga was yet to be finished. In 1988, the animated film Akira was released.
Otomo became the fourth manga artist ever inducted into the American Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2012, and was awarded the Purple Medal of Honor from the Japanese government in 2013.- Writer
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Born under the name Georges Remi on May 22, 1907 in Brussels, Belgium. As a child, Herge had a gift for drawing but never had any formal training in the visual arts. He attended both school and the boy scouts during the World War 1 and post-World War 1 Era. After he finished school Herge published his first ever cartoon: "The Adventures of Totor" for Le Boy-Scout Belge (a scouting magazine).
In 1928, he became in charge of the producing material for Le Petit Vingtieme (The Little Twentieth) a youth supplement newspaper. He began illustrating "The Adventures of Flup", "Nenesse", "Poussette", "Cochonnet", etc. January 10, 1929, Herge introduced a cartoon about a traveling Belgium reporter (Tintin) accompanied by his fox terrier (Snowy) traveling the Soviet Union. By 1930, Herge published the very first Tintin book: "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets". Tintin soon became Herge's "ligne claire" (French for clear line) legacy.
The later adventures of Tintin involved other locations of the world from China all the way to America. Within the next 50 years Tintin became one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, due to its well-researched plots, appealing characters, humor, political thrillers, & real world settings. After completing 23 books, Herge passed away on March 3, 1983, leaving "Tintin and Alph-Art" (the 24th book) unfinished. Despite Herge not being able to give his Tintin series the proper end, all of his works along with Tintin will continue to inspire artists and enchant readers from the years to come.- Producer
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Stan Lee was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics' industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
He had cameo appearances in many Marvel film and television projects, with many yet to come, posthumously. A few of these appearances are self-aware and sometimes reference Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters.
On 16 July 2017, Lee was named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Stan was married to Joan Lee for almost 70 years, until her death. The couple had two children. Joan died on July 6, 2017. Stan died on November 12, 2018, in LA.- Writer
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Hugo Pratt was born on 15 June 1927 in Rimini, Italy. He was a writer and actor, known for Corto Maltese, Corto Maltese (2003) and Jesuit Joe (1991). He was married to Anne Frognier and Gucky Wogerer. He died on 20 August 1995 in Lausanne, Switzerland.- Actor
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Scott McCloud was born on June 10, 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA as Scott McLeod.
He's perhaps best-known in the comics world for his fine comics works "Understanding Comics", "Making Comics", and "Reinventing Comics", in which he expertly and smartly uses the comic strip medium to shed light on the aesthetics, mechanics and possible futures, respectively, of the medium itself.- Actress
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Claire Bretécher was born on 17 April 1940 in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France. She was an actress and writer, known for Roads to the South (1978), Alertez les bébés (1978) and La grande Paulette (1974). She was married to Guy Carcassonne. She died on 10 February 2020 in Paris, France.- Writer
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Richard Corben was born on 1 November 1940 in Anderson, Missouri, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Heavy Metal (1981), Darkstar: The Interactive Movie (2010) and The Dark Planet (1989). He was married to Dona Corben. He died on 2 December 2020 in the USA.- Art Department
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Juan Giménez was born on 26 November 1943 in Mendoza, Argentina. He was a writer and art director, known for Heavy Metal (1981), Star Knight (1985) and Infantrymen (2021). He died on 2 April 2020 in Mendoza, Argentina.- Writer
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Grant Morrison was born on 31 January 1960 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Grant is a writer and producer, known for Happy! (2017), Brave New World (2020) and All-Star Superman (2011).- Writer
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A comic book stylist noted for his horror illustrations, Wrightson helped revamp the horror comic in the 1970s. He combined a modern sensibility with a distinctive drafting ability rare to the then-moribund industry, bridging the gap between the previous decade's giddy optimism and the explosion of more sophisticated content ahead. Among his career high points were co-creating the Swamp Thing character for DC Comics and adapting classic horror tales for Warren Publications. He later worked in Hollywood production design.- André Franquin was born on 3 January 1924 in Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium. He was a writer, known for Fais gaffe à la gaffe! (1981), Gaston Lagaffe (2018) and HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami (2012). He was married to Liliane Servais. He died on 5 January 1997 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
- Alain Saint-Ogan was born on 7 August 1895 in Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He was a writer and director, known for Prosper et le concours de beauté (1932), Zig et Puce sauvent Nénette (1955) and L'invité du dimanche (1968). He died on 22 June 1974 in Paris, France.
- George Herriman was born on 22 August 1880 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for A Krazy Katastrophe (1917), Moving Day (1917) and A Tempest in a Paint Pot (1916). He was married to Mabel Lillian Bridge. He died on 26 April 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Pierre Culliford (pen name:Peyo) was a Belgian comics writer and artist. He contributed to several series, but his main claim to fame is creating the sword-and-sorcery series "Johan and Peewit" (1947-2001) and its spin-off, the adventure comedy series "The Smurfs" (1963-). His works have received several animated adaptations.
In 1928, Peyo was born in Schaerbeek, a municipality within the Brussels-Capital Region. In the early 20th century, Schaerbeek was a booming suburb with a large middle-class population. Peyo's father was an Englishman, while his mother was Belgian. Peyo received his art training at the "Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts", an art school located in Brussels.
Early in his career, Peyo worked for the animation studio "Compagnie belge d'actualités" (CBA). The studio folded after World War II, and Peyo decided to seek work as a comics artist. He was hired by the sports-oriented newspaper "La Dernière Heure" (The Latest Hour, 1906-). His salary was meager, and he supplemented his income through providing artwork for advertisements.
In 1947, Peyo created the character Johan for the "La Dernière Heure". The character was a heroic page of the Middle Ages, skilled in swordsmanship and aspiring to become a knight. Peyo had the character involved in fantasy-style adventures. In 1949, Peyo was hired by the newspaper "Le Soir" ("The Evening", 1887-), transferring the Johan comic strip to it. He created for this newspaper the comic strip "Poussy" ("Pussy"), featuring a cute black cat as the protagonist. This comic strip developed in a typical gag-a-day format.
In 1952, Peyo was hired by the comics magazine "Spirou" (1938-). He was reportedly recommended for hiring by his old friend André Franquin (1924-1997), who already worked for the magazine. Peyo transferred Johan to this magazine, and started writing longer adventures for him.
In 1954, Peyo retooled the "Johan" series to "Johan and Peewit", by adding a comic-relief sidekick for Johan. Peewit was a dwarf, depicted as a reformed thief, a professional court jester, and an inept musician. Unlike Johan, Peewit was a reluctant hero. But his cunning, his capacity for outwitting opponents, and his fighting skills made him a useful companion for the hero.
In 1958, Peyo wrote an adventure story called "The Flute with Six Holes", where Johan and Peewit seek a magical flute which was stolen. They meet the flute's creators, a race of blue-skinned gnomes, called the Smurfs. Peyo designed them as wearing traditional Phrygian caps (conical cap used in antiquity by various peoples of Anatolia and the Balkans), a developed a peculiar language and habits for them.
By 1959, the Smurfs had become popular enough to inspire merchandising of their own. Peyo was asked to create a spin-off comic strip for them. The characters supplanted Johan and Peewit in popularity, though Peyo preferred writing the original series. In 1960, Peyo founded his own studio, allowing him to have trained assistants work on Smurf-inspired stories, and other comics projects (such as "Steven Strong" and "Jacky and Célestin"). Peyo's most notable assistant during the early 1960s was François Walthéry (1946-), who would later create a number of successful series of his own.
In 1963, the first comics album devoted to the Smurfs was published. It was the story "The Purple Smurfs", featuring an infectious disease which turns the affected Smurfs into "violent, irrational and uncontrolled" beings with an urge to bite others. The album was successful, and ensured the production of further albums. By the time of Peyo's death in 1992, 16 comics albums had been completed.
Peyo remained active in the 1970s, but his work output diminished. He did, however, provide a script for the animated film "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" (1976). He also was tasked with overseeing production aspects of the film. In the 1980s, Peyo authorized an adaptation of his work by the American studio Hanna-Barbera. He served as a story supervisor for the animated series "The Smurfs" (1981-1989). A notable hit of its era, the series lasted for 9 seasons and introduced the Smurfs to a wider international audience.
Until 1989, all Smurf stories were published by Dupuis due to a long-standing contract with Peyo. In 1989, Peyo decided to terminate their business relationship and to establish his own publishing house, Cartoon Creation. It turned out to be a failed business venture. Peyo had been facing recurring health problems throughout the decade, and was unable to properly handle the affairs of the new company. Within a few years, the company folded "due to management problems".
In 1992, the publishing rights to the Smurfs were sold to Le Lombard, a publisher known for holding the rights to "Tintin" since 1946. Peyo tried working with his new publisher, but his career was ending. On Christmas Eve 1992, Peyo died of a heart attack in Brussels at the age of 64.
A number of Peyo's series have been continued by other writers and artists. New Smurfs-related comics albums were published into the 2020s, often with input by Peyo's son, Thierry Culliford. The popularity of the Smurfs has endured, decades after the demise of their creator.- Writer
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Albert Uderzo is a French comic book writer and artist, of Italian descent. Albert was born in 1927 in the town of Fismes, in the Marne department of north-eastern France. Marne was created from the remains of the older province of Champagne, and the local capital is Chalons-en-Champagne.
Alnert's parents were Silvio Uderzo (1888-1985) and Iria Crestini. They had met in 1915, during World War I. Silvio was at the time serving in the Royal Italian Army, and Iria was working at the arsenal of La Spezia, Liguria, where she was maintaining and repairing weapons and ammunition. Silvio was discharged from military service in 1919, and the couple married in 1920. Silvio returned to his civilian job as a carpenter, and the Uderzo family soon migrated to the French Third Republic, where there were more job opportunities.
Albert was named after his older brother Albert Uderzo, who had been born in 1925 . The older Albert had died of pneumonia when he was only 8-months-old, and the grieving parents wanted a replacement. The official name of the younger Albert at the birth registry was Alberto Aleandro Uderzo, due to a misunderstanding between Silvio and the employee at the registry. The family rarely used this "official" name.
Albert was born an Italian citizen, and officially gained French citizenship 1934. He experienced racism against Italian immigrants as a child, though he was both born and raised in France. He recalled people blaming him for Benito Mussolini's policies and spitting at him.
In the 1930s, Albert developed a fascination for American comic and animated cartoons, and was particularly impressed with the works of Walt Disney. He was a poor student at school, but received good grades in sketching and art-related lessons. He had been practicing drawing as a hobby since he was in kindergarten, and he was good at it. When he was 11 or 12 years old, his parents realized that Albert was color-blind. It had not affected his sketches, because most of them were black-and-white.
During World War II, Albert was too young to serve in the conflict, but his older brother Bruno was conscripted and fought in the Battle of France (1940). By the 1950s, Albert had become a professional artist, and he met his partner René Goscinny in 1951. During the 1950s, Uderzo provided the artwork for moderately successful series such as the historical fiction series "Oumpah-pah" and "Jehan Pistolet" (both written by Goscinny) and the aviation comic series "Tanguy et Laverdure" (written by Jean-Michel Charlier).
Uderzo and Goscinny created the historical fiction series "Asterix" in 1959, featuring heroic Gauls fighting in the historical Gallic Wars (58-50 BC). It became one of the most successful European comic book series, with Uderzo serving as its main artist from 1959 to 2004. When Goscinny died in 1977, Uderzo decided to take over the writing duties as well. While writing several successful stories of his own, Uderzo is mostly considered an inferior writer to Goscinny. There was a perceived decline in the writing quality of the series over the decades.
In 2005, Uderzo released "Asterix and the Falling Sky", the only science-fiction entry in this historic fantasy series, and intended to serve as a parody of then-popular anime and manga series. The story was widely mocked for its dated humor, and the use of anti-Japanese stereotypes dating back to World War II. It was the last Asterix story written by Uderzo.
In 2007, Uderzo sold his shares of the company "Editions Albert René" (which owns the rights to Asterix) to the publishing company Hachette. He had a public falling out with his daughter Sylvie Uderzo who also owned shares of the original company and disagreed with her father's decision. After a few years of mostly working on short-stories and comic strips, Uderzo announced his retirement in 2011. He died in 2020.
According to UNESCO's Index Translationum, Uderzo was the 10th most often translated French-language author, with Goscinny being the 4th one. He was the third most often translated French-language comics author behind René Goscinny and Hergé.- Animation Department
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Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.
Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga studio, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible drawing ability and the seemingly endless stream of movie ideas he proposed.
In 1971, he moved to the A Pro studio with Isao Takahata. In 1973, he moved to Nippon Animation, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next 5 years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Future Boy Conan (1978). Then, he moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). In 1984, he released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), which was based on the manga of the same title he had started 2 years before. The success of the film led to the establishment of a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli. Since then, he has since directed, written, and produced many other films with Takahata. More recently, he has produced with Toshio Suzuki. All enjoyed critical and box office success, in particular Princess Mononoke (1997). It received the Japanese equivalent of the Academy Award for Best Film and was the highest-grossing (about USD $150 million) domestic film in Japan's history at the time of its release.
In addition to animation, he also draws manga. His major work was Nausicaä, an epic tale he worked on intermittently from 1982 to 1984 while he was busy making animated films. Another manga Hikotei Jidai, later evolved into Porco Rosso (1992).- Writer
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Born in 1950 in New Jersey but raised in East Flatbush and Brownsville, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were separated and he was raised by his mother and adoptive father. Started out as a gofer for the legendary artist Gil Kane at 19, which also led him to work for Wally Wood, Gray Morrow, Neal Adams and Byron Preiss, all of whom are greats in the field of comics. This is where he honed his skills as an artist and a writer. Before starting to work in film and television he was one of the pioneers of the graphic novel with "Stars Be My Destination" and "Empire". He was also the artist of the comic adaptation of "Star Wars" as well as the artist of one of the "Luke Skywalker" movie posters for the film. He also created the revolutionary comics "American Flagg" and "Black Kiss" and did modern updates of "The Shadow" and "Blackhawk".- Additional Crew
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Jacques Tardi was born on 30 August 1946 in Valence, Drôme, France. He is a writer and actor, known for The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010), April and the Extraordinary World (2015) and Association de bienfaiteurs (1994).- François Bourgeon was born on 5 July 1945 in Paris, France.
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Bill Finger was a comic book writer. His father Louis Finger was born in Austria and emigrated to the United States in 1907, while still a teenager. Louis worked as a tailor. Tessie, Bill's mother, was born and raised in New York City. Both parents were in their early 20s at the time of Finger's birth. Bill Finger had two sisters.
Finger was born in Denver, Colorado, but the Finger family eventually moved to New York City. Finger was mostly raised in The Bronx, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School. He graduated high school in 1933, and started his working career in the Great Depression. In 1938, Finger entered the comic strip business, as a ghost writer for a few comic strips created by Bob Kane's studio. Kane was a fellow graduate of DeWitt Clinton High School and the two of them were acquaintances.
In 1938-1939, National Comics (predecessor of DC Comics) had its first major success with a character called "Superman". This created a market for superheroes and several creators started working on creating other hero/vigilante characters. Bob Kane came up with a hero called "Bat-Man" or "Batman", and asked for Finger's assistance on the project. Finger rejected several of Kane's initial ideas about the character and suggested several changes in design and characterization. He came up with a civilian identity for the character as "Bruce Wayne", which Finger named after Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland and general Anthony "Mad Anthony" Wayne.
Kane marketed the "Batman" character to National Comics, and Batman's first story was published in "Detective Comics" #27 (May 1939). The script was written by an uncredited Finger, making him the first of many ghost writers to work on comics officially credited to Bob Kane. When Kane negotiated a contract about selling the rights to the "Batman" character, he claimed he was the sole creator of the character and demanded a sole mandatory byline on all Batman comics and adaptations thereof, acknowledging him as the creator. Finger's work on the character was not acknowledged.
Finger kept on working in "Batman"-related stories for much of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s either as a writer or a ghost writer. He is generally credited by comic book historians with creating or co-creating a number of Batman's foes and supporting characters. Among them: the Joker, Catwoman, Robin, Ace the Bat-Hound. Bat-Mite, Clayface, Bat-Girl/Betty Kane, the Penguin, the Scarecrow, Two-Face, the Riddler, and the Calendar Man. He also came up with the name "Gotham City" for the previously nameless metropolis where Batman operates, and co-created the Batmobile and the Batcave.
Besides "Batman", Finger's other writing credits for National Comics/DC Comics involve various stories for "Green Lantern", "Superman", and "Superboy". He is credited with co-creating Green Lantern/Alan Scott, the original character with that code-name. The Green Lantern series of the 1940s was a fantasy series, and the hero had magical powers. A reboot of the series in 1959 turned "Green Lantern" into a science fiction series featuring space cops and aliens, as the fantasy concept was considered outdated. In "Superman" stories, Finger is credited for adapting "Kryptonite" into comic books in 1949. The fictional element was created for the Superman radio series, but was adapted into the comic book series and became a permanent part in of the "Superman" saga. Finger's main contribution in the "Superboy" series was creating the character Lana Lang, as a love interest for the teenage hero.
Outside National Comics,Finger also contributed stories and characters to rival companies, such as Fawcett Comics, Quality Comics and Timely Comics (predecessor of Marvel Comics). Marvel credits him with the co-creation of the All-Winners Squad (introduced in 1946), the company's first superhero team.
Finger mostly retired from comic book writing c. 1961, starting a new career as a screenwriter for films and television series. He was even hired to write two episodes for the 1960s "Batman" live-action series. But he was in increasingly poor health, suffering a series of heart attacks in 1963, 1970 and 1973. He died due to atherosclerosis in 1974. His remains were cremated, and the ashes scattered on a beach. Finger has no known grave.
Finger was married twice, and he was survived by a son, Fred. While he never claimed rights to the Batman character, his granddaughter Athena Finger requested a creator's credit for his work. After negotiations, DC Entertainment finally credited Finger as Batman's co-creator in 2015.- Writer
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Jean-Michel Charlier was born on 30 October 1924 in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. He was a writer and director, known for The Aeronauts (1967), Les dossiers noirs (1974) and Les nouveaux chevaliers du ciel (1988). He was married to Christiane. He died on 10 July 1989 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Animation Department
- Director
Nikita Mandryka was born on 20 October 1940 in Bizerte, Tunisia. He was a director, known for Zeaux productions: Bande de présentation (1989), Je veux être... toi (1977) and Tac au tac (1969). He died on 13 June 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland.- Director
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Chris Ware was born on 28 December 1967 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Quimby the Mouse (2009), In the Realms of the Unreal (2004) and Mirror (2015).- Jaime Hernández was born on 10 October 1959 in Oxnard, California, USA.
- Writer
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Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga writer, manga artist, and character designer for video games. He has been a working artist since 1978. In manga, he is better known for creating the science fiction comedy series "Dr. Slump" (1980-1984) and the martial-arts-themed series "Dragon Ball" (1984-1995). "Dragon Ball" has been adapted into four animated series: "Dragon Ball" (1986-1989), "Dragon Ball Z" (1989-1996), "Dragon Ball GT" (1996-1997), and "Dragon Ball Super" (2015-2018). Toriyama has provided character designs for several of the adaptations. As a video game designer, Toriyama is primarily known for co-creating the long-running series "Dragon Quest" (1986-). He has continued to work in most of the series' games. Toriyama's works are credited with boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was named as a Chevalier (knight) of the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" ("Order of the Arts and the Letters") by France. It is a French order of merit, awarded to writers and artists.
During the 20th century, Nagoya became a center for automotive, Several manufacturing companies of the industry have their headquarters in Nagoya. By 1961, Toriyama started drawing pictures of animals and vehicles as a hobby. He was reportedly inspired by the animated film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians"(1961), as he was impressed by the film's art style.
During his elementary school years, Toriyama has access to the manga collection owned by the older brother of a friend. He was fascinated by the science fiction series "Astro Boy" (1952-1968), which featured the adventures of a sentient android with superpowers. During his middle school years, Toriyama was increasingly fascinated with live-action film and television. He was a fan of the tokusatsu series (science fantasy series, using special effects) "Ultraman" (1966-1967). The series focused on the adventures of a gigantic superhero, who regularly defended the Earth from aliens and monsters. He also enjoyed kaiju films (films about giant monsters). His favorite film series was "Gamera" (1965-2006), which featured the adventures of a fire-breathing turtle.
Toriyama attended a high school which focused on teaching creative design to its students. Against the wishes of his parents, he decided to not pursue a college education. Shortly after graduating high school, Toriyama used his art skills to get hired at an advertising agency in Nagoya. He spend several years in designing posters, but was increasingly fed up with his job. He was repeatedly reprimanded for dressing casually at work. He quit his job at age 23, and started considering a professional career as a manga artist.
Trying to get an entry into the manga industry, Toriyama created a manga story which parodied the recent film "Star Wars" (1977). He submitted the story to a contest organized by the magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump", hoping to win the magazine's "Newcomer Award". The story was rejected because it was a derivative work, and the contest was for original works. But magazine editor Kazuhiko Torishima (1952-) liked Toriyama's art style. He encouraged him to send more original material to the magazine.
Toriyama's first published work was the story "Wonder Island" (1978). It featured a kamikaze pilot who had been stranded on an island for 35 years, and was trying to find a way to escape. The story came last in a popularity contest, disappointing Toriyama. The sequel "Wonder Island 2" (1979) focused on the police searching for a missing criminal. It parodied elements from the film "Dirty Harry" (1971). This story was also considered a flop. Most of Toriyama's early stories failed to impress his readers. He had more success with "Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe" (1979), a story about a rookie detective. It was his first work featuring a female lead, and was well-liked by the readers.
Toriyama decided to use a female lead in next major effort. The result was the best-selling series "Dr. Slump". (1980-1984) It focused on Arale Norimaki, a sentient robot in the form of a little girl. She had superhuman strength, but her naivety and inexperience landed her in trouble. The series also featured a cast of eccentric supporting characters. Among them was the shape-shifting superhero Suppaman, a parody version of Superman who was depicted as a pompous buffoon. The series became one of the most popular manga of its era, and received an animated adaption (which lasted from 1981 to 1986). Toriyama wanted to end the series after its first six months, but his publisher insisted that the story should be continued. In 1981, Toriyama won a "Shogakukan Manga Award" for his work on "Dr. Slump".
Despite his success with a long-term series in the early 1980s, Toriyama continued to regularly submit one-shot stories for publication. He was frustrated when several of these stories met with lukewarm response by his readers. At about this point in his career, he created his own artist's studio, under the name "Bird Studio". The name was a pun on his own last name, as "tori" means "bird". He started employing assistants to work on the background details of his stories.
Kazuhiko Torishima (Toriyama's editor) noted that Toriyama enjoyed viewing kung fu films, but had never used martial arts elements in his stories. He suggested that Toriyama should try creating a kung-fu manga. Toriyama responded by creating the two-part story "Dragon Boy" (1983). It depicted a young martial artist who escorts a princess on a return journey to her home country. The story was warmly received, and Toriyama would later incorporate aspects of this story in "Dragon Ball".
In 1984, Toriyama finally concluded the "Dr. Slump". He had to promise his editor and publisher that he would soon start work on a replacement series. This new series was "Dragon Ball", which lasted for 11 years. Toriyama produced 519 chapters of the manga, which were collected into 42 volumes. The story focused on the life of martial artist Son Goku from childhood to adulthood, and gradually introduced the character's wife and descendants. The series gained in popularity due to its large cast of colorful characters, and its exciting use of combat scenes. Toriyama reportedly used Jackie Chan's films as the main inspiration for the fighting scenes.
Despite a busy working schedule due to long-term commitment to "Dragon Ball", Toriyama continued submitting one-shot stories for publication. In 1986, he was recruited as a character designer for the role-playing video game "Dragon Quest". He later admitted that he had never even heard of role-playing games before being offered the job, and he was not certain what the demands of the job were. He was created as the co-creator of the game, and the initial game launched a long-running franchise. Based on this success, Toriyama was later hired as a character designer on the role-playing game "Chrono Trigger" (1995) and on the fighting games "Tobal No. 1" (1996) and "Tobal 2" (1997).
Until the late 1980s, Toriyama had never worked in animation. His first substantial effort in the field was the animated film "Kosuke & Rikimaru: The Dragon of Konpei Island" (1988). He wrote the initial concept for the film, he co-wrote its screenplay, and designed all of its characters.
In 1995, Toriyama decided to conclude the "Dragon Ball" manga with a low-key ending. Son Goku left the planet Earth to serve as the mentor to a reincarnated former foe, leaving room for a new generation of heroes. Toriyama wanted to imply that the story would continue, though he had no actual intention to write a sequel at that point. When the animated series "Dragon Ball GT" (1996-1997) was conceived as a sequel, Toriyama was hired as a character designer. For the following few years, Toriyama primarily produced short-lived manga series. Among them were "Cowa!"(1997-1998), "Kajika" (1998), and "Sand Land" (2000). In 2002, Toriyama made a promotional visit to the United States, as a number of his works were about to be reprinted in the American magazine "Shonen Jump".
In 2005, Toriyama served as the main designer of an electric car for CQ Motors. It was not a commercial success, with only 9 vehicles being produced. In 2006, Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda created the crossover story "Cross Epoch". It featured characters from "Dragon Ball" co-existing with fantasy characters from the series "One Piece" (1997-). Also in 2006, Toriyama served as a character designer for the video game "Blue Dragon". The story featured a small group of heroes trying to stop the villain Nene's efforts to massacre villagers.
In 2009, Toriyama was credited as both a creative consultant and an executive producer for the live-action film "Dragonball Evolution". He reportedly cautioned the film's producers that the film's script was "bland" and uninteresting, but his suggestions to alter the script were ignored. The film was a commercial flop. Also in 2009, Toriyama created a promotional manga for the environmental organization "Rural Society Project". In 2011, Toriyama helped raise awareness for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.
From 2012 to 2013, Toriyama was part of the film crew for the animated feature film "Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods" (2013). It was the first theatrical animated film based on "Dragon Ball" since 1996. In the film, the god Beerus threatens to destroy the planet Earth. He only backs down when one of the heroes achieves godhood. Also in 2013, a touring exhibition displayed Toriyama's manga manuscripts from "Dragon Ball".
Toriyama served as the main screenwriter for the animated film "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F" (2015). The film featured the resurrection of the long-dead villain Frieza, who tries to improve his skills before seeking revenge. Toriyama continued to work on the film's sequels until 2022. He also provided the scripts for the sequel manga "Dragon Ball Super" (2015-), though the artwork was provided by the younger artist Toyotarou (1978-). There were 18 volumes of the manga published between 2016 and 2022.
By 2022, Toriyama was 67-years-old. He has been married to the retired manga artist Yoshimi Kato since 1982, and they have two adult children. He works from his home studio in Kiyosu, and reportedly lives a reclusive life. He rarely appears in public or offers interviews. He has never retired, and seems to have no intention to do so.
Akira Toriyama died at the age of 68 on march 1, 2024.- Writer
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Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films. He is best known for the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.
As a child and a teenager, Gaiman read the works of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, Mary Shelley, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe, and Alan Moore.
Gaiman also wrote episodes of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, during Matt Smith's as the Doctor.- Art Department
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Neal Adams is an American comic book artist and writer from New York City. He has been active in the field since the early 1960s. His work has been critically acclaimed, and he has been inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame. He has been a creators-rights advocate since the 1970s, and once led efforts to unionize the comic book creators.
In 1941, Adams was born on Governors Island, an island located in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. The island was used as a United States Army post from 1783 to 1966, primarily used as a training ground for troops. Residential buildings and modern roads were added to the island in the 1920s.
Adams received his secondary education at the School of Industrial Art, a Career and Technical Education high school located in Manhattan. The school had been established in 1936 by a small group of art teachers. Adams graduated in 1959, and then started seeking work as a freelance comic book artist.
Adams submitted samples of his work to the publisher Archie Comics. He aspired to draw stories for the superhero the Fly/Thomas "Tommy" Troy. A panel of his work was published in "Adventures of the Fly" #4 (January 1960), added to another artist's story. The panel was considered superior to one which had been drawn by a more experienced artist. It was Adams' first published work.
Adams was hired by Archie Comics, and tasked with writing, penciling, inking, and lettering humorous filler stories for "Archie's Joke Book Magazine". He earned about16 dollars for each half-page that he completed , and 32 dollars for each full page. The payment was meager, but Adams became the main breadwinner for his impoverished family,
Through a recommendation, Adams was hired for three months as an assistant to experienced comics artist Howard Nostrand (1929-1984). They worked on the short-lived syndicated comic strip "Bat Masterson" (1959-1960), which was based on a Western television series. Adams primarily worked as a background artist on the strip, earning a weekly salary of 9 dollars.
Having left Archie Comics, Adams worked for a while as a freelance artist for the advertising industry. He found regular work at the agency Johnstone and Cushing (1936-1962), which specialized on comic-book styled illustrations. Adams received additional training by veteran illustrator Elmer Wexler (1918 - 2007), and created a number of works in Wexler's style.
In 1962, Adams was hired as the main artist for the comic strip "Ben Casey" (1962-1966), which was based on a medical drama television series. The plots of the script were typical for soap operas, involving "heroin addiction, illegitimate pregnancy, and attempted suicide". But Adams produced artwork in a realistic style, which aided the strip's success. Adams earned a weekly salary of 300-350 dollars.
In 1966, "Ben Casey" ended, and Adams returned to working as a freelancer. He served briefly as a ghost artist for the comic strip "Peter Scratch" (1965-1967), about the career of a hard-boiled detective. He also served as a ghost artist for the long-running comic strip "The Heart of Juliet Jones"" (1953-2000), with art imitating the work of the strip's regular artist Stan Drake (1921 - 1997). He reportedly turned down an offer to work on the comic strip "The Green Berets", which glorified the battles of the Vietnam War. He suggested that the agency responsible should hire Joe Kubert ( 1926 - 2012), an artist who specialized in drawing war comics.
In 1967, Adams was hired by the comic book publisher Warren Publishing, which specialized on horror stories. He collaborated with experienced writer Archie Goodwin (1937 - 1998)) in creating stories for the anthology series "Creepy" and "Eerie". At that time, he learned that Joe Kubert had left DC Comics. The company sought new artists for its war comics, and Adams applied for the job. An 8-page story in the anthology series "Our Army at War" #182 (July 1967) was his first story for DC. He continued working concurrently for both Warren and DC.
Adams aspired to work on stories for the popular superhero Batman/Bruce Wayne, but DC editor's kept rejecting his applications for the job He was instead tasked to illustrate comedy stories for the series "The Adventures of Jerry Lewis" and "The Adventures of Bob Hope", which depicted fictionalized versions of famous comedians. He was also tasked with drawing Superman-related covers for "Action Comics" #356 and "Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane".
In "Detective Comics" #369 (November, 1967), Adams illustrated a lighthearted story featuring the superhero Elongated Man/Randolph "Ralph" Dibny. It was his first superhero story. He soon became the regular artist for stories featuring the undead superhero Deadman/Boston Brand, serving in this role for "Strange Adventures" #206-216 (November 1967-February, 1969). As of issue #212, he was also the series' writer. This series became a fan favorite, and won a number of awards. It established Adams' reputation as a great artist.
In 1968. Adams became the regular writer and artist for a short-lived series featuring the return of 1940s superhero the Spectre/Jim Corrigan. While the series re-established the Spectre as a viable character, it was not commercially successful. The series only lasted for 10 issues, with Adams illustrating about half of them. The only significant villain depicted in Adams' stories was the Psycho-Pirate/Roger Hayden, a man who could manipulate the emotions of others.
In 1969, was asked to rewrite and redesign a Teen Titans story about protesters being manipulated by alien invaders.. His version of the story appeared in "Teen Titans" vol 1 #20 (April, 1969). The original version of the story was intended to introduce a superhero code-named Jericho, while Adams' version featured a one-shot character called Joshua.
Adams' continued to be a freelancer, and he was hired by Marvel Comics in 1969. Adams served as the regular artist for "X-Men" vol 1 #56-63(May-December, 1969), and #65 (February, 1970). In his first story, Adams redesigned the super-villain Living Pharaoh/Ahmet Abdol into the giant form of the Living Monolith. He next introduced the villain Larry Trask, along with the second generation of the mutant-hunting robots known as the Sentinels. He also co-created and designed the energy vampire Sauron/Karl Lykos, who was named after a Tolkien character. He co-created a new super-villain team, the Savage Land Mutates, as rivals for the X-Men. Adams was the first artist to design classic villain Magneto/Max Eisenhardt without his helmet. In his final issue, Adams co-created a new villainous alien race, the Z'nox.
As Adams later recalled in interviews, he found that Marvel provided a friendlier working environment than DC. He got to socialize with his co-workers, and befriended colleague such as John Romita Sr. (1930-), Marie Severin (1929-2018), and Herb Trimpe (1939 - 2015). He also formed working relationships with writers Roy Thomas (1940-) and Dennis O'Neil (1939 - 2020), and the inker Tom Palmer (1942-).
In 1970, Adams finally got a chance to work on Batman, when asked by editor Julius Schwartz to revamp the character. The fairly lighthearted Batman stories of the 1960s had fallen out of fashion. Adams and Dennis O'Neil created stories re-establishing Batman's "dark, brooding nature" and the film noir-like world which he inhabits. They also made changes to Batman's rogues gallery.
In 1970, Adams co-created the shapeshifting villain Man-Bat/Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom as a new adversary for Batman. In May 1971, Adams co-created the femme fatale Talia al Ghul as both a foe and a love interest to Batman. In June 1971, Adams co-created Talia's father, the immortal villain Ra's al Ghul (Arabic for "The Head of the Demon) as a new major threat in Batman's life. In August 1971, Adams revived the classic villain Two-Face/Harvey Dent, who had last been used in 1954. The disfigured villain became one of Batman's main rogues. In September 1973, Adams revamped the Joker into "a homicidal maniac who murders people on a whim and delights in his mayhem". This version of the character more closely resembled the 1940s version of the character than the "goofy prankster" version used since the 1950s.
Back in "The Brave and the Bold #85 (August-Sepembert 1969), Adams had redesigned the classic superhero Green Arrow/Oliver "Ollie" Queen. He gave the character a distinctive goatee beard and a more stylish uniform. In 1970, he further revamped the character into a streetwise protector of the working class and the disadvantaged, with left-wing political beliefs. Starting in "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" #76 (April 1970), the character shared a series with the space cop Green Lantern/Hal Jordan. Jordan was revamped at that time into a conservative man with a strong belief in "law and order". The two heroes formed an odd pairing in their shared stories
Over the following few years, Adams and Dennis O'Neil collaborated in stories where the two heroes faced real-life problems, such as "racism, overpopulation, pollution, and drug addiction". Green Arrow's former sidekick Speedy/Roy Harper was depicted as a drug addict, bringing the problem of addiction close at home. This new direction to the characters was critically acclaimed, but not commercially successful. "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" was canceled with issue #89 (April, 1972), which featured a story based on Jesus' crucifixion. The series was revived in 1976, without any involvement by Adams.
Adams was one of the main artists working in the space opera story "Kree-Skrull War", published in "Avengers" vol. 1 #89-97 (June 1971 - March 1972). The story depicted a war between two rival space empires, that had been introduced in the previous decade. It also featured the alien superhero Captain Marvel/Mar-Vell becoming an honorary member of the Avengers. It finally introduced a romantic relationship between two veteran Avengers, the magic user Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff and the sentient android Vision. The story is considered a highlight in Marvel's history, and introduced many long-running subplots.
In 1973, Adams co-created a new science fiction character for Marvel, Killraven/Jonathan Raven. The character inhabited a post-apocalyptic a future, where humanity has been enslaved by Martians. Killraven was depicted as a member of a group of freedom fighters who wandered in the ruins of the Eastern United States. The initial Killraven series ended in 1976, though the characters has been revived several times.
For the rest of the 1970s, Adams worked on few stories for DC Comics. He worked however frequently as a cover artist, and worked on redesigns of Superman's supporting cast. He was an uncredited co-artist in the crossover story "Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man" (March 1976). In the story the two heroes team-up to foil the combined threats of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus/Dr. Otto Octavius. The story is considered the first modern superhero inter-company crossover.
In 1978, Adams and Dennis O'Neil collaborated on the one-shot comic "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali", where the hero has to face Ali in a boxing match. The story established that Superman typically relies on his superior strength to win fights, and lacked in actual training and fighting skills. The 72-page book was a landmark issue, and a personal favorite of Adams. It was also his last professional comic book story for several decades.
Back in 1971, Adams had founded his own company, the illustration studio Continuity Associates. There comic book artists provided artwork for other companies. In the late 1970s, Adams focused most of his efforts on running the lucrative company. The company's employees have at various times included famous names such as Larry Hama, Walt Simonson, and Jim Starlin.
In the 1970s, Adams led efforts to unionize comic book creators. In 1978, he co-founded the Comics Creators Guild. The organization had about 40 members. In 1975, his lobbying efforts convinced DC Comics to pay a yearly stipend and medical benefits to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster,, Superman's original creators. The two men did not own their own creation, and had struggled financially for years. In 1987, Adams' lobbying efforts convinced Marvel Comics to return original artworks from its archives to the artists responsible. These artists could earn additional income from selling the artwork to collectors.
In 1984, Adams founded the subsidiary company Continuity Comics (1984-1994), to publish work by himself and others. Its most popular character was the witch Ms. Mystic, a character which Adams had created in 1982. She had her own series for 9 issues. Adams was involved in a legal controversy when fellow artist Michael Netzer (1955-) claimed that he was an uncredited co-creator of Ms. Mystic, and demanded ownership rights. Adams won the court case, but Continuity Comics collapsed due to financial problems. Adams and Netzer have maintained an adversarial relationship ever since.
In 2005, Adams made his comeback in comics, when hired by Marvel to draw an 8-pages long story featuring the X-Men. In 2010, he both wrote and designed the mini-series "Batman: Odyssey". From 2011 to 2012, he worked on the sequel series "Batman: Odyssey" vol. 2. In 2012, he worked on the X-Men again, co-writing and designing the mini-series "First X-Men". This series established that Wolverine/James Howlett and Sabretooth/Victor Creed led a mutant team of heroes before the X-Men were founded. It also provided additional background information on several characters associated with the X-Men, such as Professor X/Charles Xavier and Bolivar Trask.
Adams produced a number of Batman short stories for DC Comics in 2013 and 2014. In 2016, he created new versions of some of his most famous covers for DC Comics. Also in 2016, he wrote and designed the miniseries "Superman: Coming of the Supermen". In 2017, Adams wrote and designed a mini-series featuring Deadman. So far, this has been his last major work for comic books.
In 2008, Adams participated in efforts to convince the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum to end its ownership of artwork created by the artist Dina Babbitt (1923-2009). Babbitt had created the artwork while serving as an inmate of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and ownership over it was held by the camp's authorities. She later wished to reclaim ownership over her work, but the museum rejected her petitions. Adams believes that the artwork properly belongs to Babbitt's descendants, and not to the museum. He has illustrated a graphic documentary about Babbitt's story, and continues to support the case of the Babbitt family.
As of 2021, Adams is 80 years old. He is no longer particularly active as an artist, but he is fondly remembered for creating or co-creating several popular characters. Some of his creations have stood the test of time, and his contributions to long-running characters such as Batman and the X-Men are well-regarded.- Writer
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Steve Ditko was an American comics writer and artist of Rusyn descent. He is better known for co-creating the superheroes Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange for Marvel Comics. He created many other characters for various publishing companies. Among his better known creations are Blue Beetle/Ted Kord, Captain Atom/Allen Adam, the Creeper/Jack Ryder, Hawk and Dove/Hank Hall and Don Hall, Mr. A/Rex Graine, the Question/Charles Victor Szasz, Shade the Changing Man/Rac Shade, Ditko was an adherent of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand (1905-1982). Her work had a significant influence on his own work, which often reflected Objectivism's belief in moral absolutism.
In 1927, Ditko was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a city located 56 miles (90 kilometers) to the east of Pittsburgh. His parents were master carpenter Stephen Ditko and his homemaker wife Anna. Both parents were first-generation American Rusyn immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Steve was the second of four children born to the Ditko family, and he was raised as a typical member of a working class family.
Stephen Ditko, Steve's father, loved newspaper comic strips. He introduced his son to the work of comic strip artists of the 1930s and 1940s. The Ditko family's favorite comic strip was the adventure series "Prince Valiant" by Hal Foster (1892-1982). As Steve grew up, so did his interest in both comic strips and comic books. His favorite characters during his adolescence were Batman/Bruce Wayne and the Spirit/Denny Colt.
Ditko received his secondary education at the Greater Johnstown High School, and graduated in 1945. In October 1945, Ditko enlisted in the United States Army. He spend his military service in Allied-occupied Germany. While there, Ditko drew comic strips for a military newspaper. It was his first comics-related work, though he lacked formal training at the time.
Following his discharge, Ditko had the option to receive a college education, thanks to the G.I. Bill. The G. I. Bill was a law that provided a range of benefits to returning veterans, including the payments of tuition and living expenses needed for them to attend high school, college, or vocational school. In 1950, Ditko chose to enroll at the art school "Cartoonists and Illustrators School" (later known as the School of Visual Arts) , located in New York City.
While studying at art school, Ditko found a mentor in veteran comic book artist Jerry Robinson (1922-2011). Robinson had been one of the main artists of the "Batman" series, and was credited as the co-creator of Robin/Dick Grayson and the Joker. Robinson found Ditko to be a dedicated student, and a very hard worker. He encouraged Ditko to write his own stories and to create his own characters,
By 1953, Ditko had graduated and began work as a professional comic book artist. His first work was illustrating the science fiction story "Stretching Things" for Stanmor Publications. Stanmor sold this story to the comic book publisher Farrell Publications, which first published it in 1954.
Ditko's second professional story, but first published work, was the romance story "Paper Romance" . It was published by Gillmor Magazines in October, 1953.
Ditko was soon after hired by the studio operated by veteran comic book writers and artists Jack Kirby (1917-1994) and Joe Simon (1913-2011). While working for them, Ditko received additional training by his co-worker Mort Meskin (1916-1995). According to an interview, Ditko admired Meskin's ability to create detailed drawing compositions without cluttering the image.
Some of Ditko's earliest known work was published by Prize Comics, an imprint of Crestwood Publications which was co-headed by Kirby and Simon. In 1954, Ditko was first hired by the publisher Charlton Comics, a low-budget company located in Derby, Connecticut. His first story for them was a vampire story, titled "Cinderella". He continued working for Charlton on-and-off until 1986, when the company shut down.
In 1954, Ditko contracted tuberculosis and had to take a hiatus from his comic book work. He recuperated at his family's house in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. By 1955, Ditko had recovered and he moved back to New York City. In 1956, Ditko was hired by Atlas Comics, Marvel Comics' predecessor. He mostly illustrated surreal stories, written by Atlas' writer-editor Stan Lee (1922-2018).
Ditko's work for Atlas Comics was published in its anthology titles, including "Amazing Adventures", "Journey into Mystery", "Strange Tales", "Strange Worlds", "Tales of Suspense" and "Tales to Astonish". Ditko's stories were sufficiently were sufficiently popular for him to be assigned as the main artist of "Amazing Adventures" in December, 1961. The anthology was renamed to "Amazing Adult Fantasy", to reflect its publication of stories that were more sophisticated that Atlas/Marvel's typical output.
Ditko's stories for Atlas and Marvel Comics were composed according to the company's "Marvel Method" of writer-artist collaboration. The writer provided a brief outline of the plot, while the artist fleshed out the story and illustrated it. This gave Ditko significant creative influence on any story, though he did not receive a credit as a co-writer or co-plotter.
In the early 1960s, Stan Lee wanted to create a new teenage hero, called Spider-Man. He first gained permission to create such a story by his publisher Martin Goodman (1908-1992). He then had to design the new character, and then gave the assignment to his main artist at the time: Jack Kirby. Kirby created a 6-page-long draft for the character's first story, but Lee rejected his designs. He then gave the assignment of designing Spider-Man to Ditko, who was the company's second most prominent artist at the time. Ditko's version of the character was accepted by Lee.
Ditko created Spider-Man's original costume. He incorporated a face mask which hid the character's facial features, a costume with no shoes that would allow the character to cling on walls, and a hidden wrist-shooter. Ditko also created the character's "web gimmick" and his spider signal. The idea of webs coming out of the character's hands was credited to Ditko's roommate at the time, the fetish artist Eric Stanton (1926-1999).
Spider-Man's origin story was published in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 (August 1962), the final issue of the anthology series. It became a top-seller, so Marvel Comics decided to give Spidey (as the character was nicknamed) his own series: "The Amazing Spider-Man" vol. 1 (March, 1963-November, 1998). Ditko was the new magazine's main artist for its first 38 issues (March, 1963-July, 1966).
Besides Spidey himself, Ditko co-created most of his early supporting cast and early foes. His creations included (in order) Aunt May/May Reilly Parker, Uncle Ben/Ben Parker, the Burglar, Crusher Hogan/Joseph Hogan, Flash Thompson/Eugene Thompson, Elizabeth Allan, Maxie Shiffman, Raymond Warren, Bluebird/Sally Avril, and Seymour O'Reilly (all introduced in Amazing Fantasy #15),J. Jonah Jameson (issue #1), Man-Wolf/John Jameson (issue #1), Chameleon/Dmitri Smerdyakov (issue #1),Vulture/Adrian Toomes (issue #2), Tinkerer/Phineas Mason (issue #2), Doctor Octopus/Otto Octavius (issue #3), Betty Brant (issue #4), Sandman/Flint Marko (issue #4), Principal Davis/Andrew Davis (issue #4), Lizard/Dr. Curtis Connors (issue #6), the Living Brain (issue #8), Charlie Murphy/Charles Murphy (issue #8), Electro/Maxwell "Max" Dillon (issue #9), Dr. Nicholas Bromwell (issue #9), Montana/Jackson Brice (issue #10), Fancy Dan/Daniel Brito (issue #10), the Ox/Raymond Bloch (#issue #10), the Big Man/Frederick Foswell (issue #10), Crime-Master/Bennett Brant (issue #11), Mysterio/Quentin Beck (issue #13), Green Goblin/Norman Osborn (issue #14), Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff (issue #15), Anna Watson (issue #15), the Great Gambonnos/Ernest Gambonno and Luigi Gambonno (issue #16), Wilson Allan (issue #17), Hobgoblin/Ned Leeds (issue #18), the Scorpion/Mac Gargan (issue #20), Princess Python/Zelda DuBois (issue #22), Lucky Lobo/Francisco Lobo (issue #23), Mary Jane Watson (issue #25), Professor Spencer Smythe (issue #25), Spider-Slayer (issue #25), Crime-Master/Nicholas "Nick"/ "Lucky" Lewis (issue #26), Barney Bushkin (issue #27), the Molten Man/Mark Raxton (issue #28), Doris Raxton Allan (issue #28), Prowler/Cat Burglar/ the Cat (issue #30), Green Goblin/Harry Osborn (issue #31), Gwen Stacy (issue #31), the Jackal/Professor Miles Warren (issue #31), Dean Corliss (issue #31), the Looter/Meteor Man/Norton Fester (issue #36), Sally Green (issue #36), Robot Master/Gaunt/Professor Mendel Stromm (issue #37), Max Young (issue #37), and Guy Named Joe/Joe Smith (issue #38).
Ditko eventually demanded credit for his plot contributions, and Stan Lee complied. Fros issue #25 onward, Ditko started receiving plot credits. One of the most celebrated issues plotted by Ditko was issue #33, titled "If This Be My Destiny...!", In it Spider-Man is pinned down by heavy machinery, and is plagued by visions of having failed to rescue his uncle and being then unable to rescue his aunt. He eventually escapes through sheer force of will. The story has been repeatedly cited as one of Marvel Comics' best stories.
While continuing his work on Spider-Man, Ditko co-created Dr. Strange. The character was introduced in "Strange Tales" #110 (July 1963), and continued to appear regularly in the magazine. Ditko's Doctor Strange artwork was acclaimed "for its surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly psychedelic visuals". It became a favorite series for college students of the 1960s. Dr. Strange was a magic user whose adventures took place in "bizarre worlds and twisting dimensions".
In the Dr. Strange series, Ditko introduced some of the earlier cosmic characters used by Marvel. A multi-part story in "Strange Tales" #130-146 (March 1965 - July 1966) introduced Eternity, a living personification of the universe,
Besides Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, Ditko contributed stories for other Marvel characters of the era. He drew stories of the Hulk/Bruce Banner and Iron Man/Tony Stark. Ditko is credited for designing the Leader/Samuel Sterns in 1964, who has since served as the Hulk's primary adversary.
In 1966, Ditko decided to quit working for Marvel Comics, though he never explained the reasons for his decision. His relationship with Stan Lee had deteriorated sometime earlier, and they were no longer on speaking terms. Art and editorial changes in their stories were handled through intermediaries. According to John Romita Sr. (1930-), Ditko's replacement in the Spider-Man series, Ditko and Lee had disagreed on how to handle their characters.
After leaving Marvel Comics, Ditko returned to Charlton Comics. The pay rates at Charlton were considerably lower than Marvel's, but its creators enjoyed more creative freedom over their stories. Between 1965 and 1968, Ditko was the main creative force behind the stories of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, and the Question.
From 1966 to 1967, Ditko also worked for Warren Publishing. The publisher specialized in comic magazines, and Ditko contributed 16 stories for the anthology series "Creepy" and "Eerie".
In 1967, Ditko created the creator-owned character Mister A. The character was inspired by Objectivism philosophy, and often delivered lethal justice to criminals. The first Mister A story was published in "witzend", an an underground comic which handled creator-owned stories by comic book professionals. Its original publisher was veteran comic book artist Wally Wood (1927-1981). Ditko regularly worked on Mister A stories for various publishers between 1967 and 1978. He eventually published the penultimate Mister A story in 2000, and the ultimate story in the series in 2009.
In 1968, Ditko was hired by DC Comics. His first major creation for the company was the Creeper, with the character introduced in "Showcase" #73 (April 1968). The sibling duo Hawk and Dove were then introduced in Showcase #75 (June 1968). The Creeper graduated to his own comic book series called "Beware the Creeper: (June 1968 - April 1969), and Ditko handled all 6 of its issues.
In 1969, Ditko resigned from DC Comics. He contributed a story to the first issue of Wally Wood's series "Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon" (1969), but otherwise worked near-exclusively for Charlton Comics in the early from 1969 to the mid-1970s. In 1974, Ditko became the main artist for the stories featuring Liberty Belle/Caroline Dean.
In 1975, Ditko was hired by the short-lived publisher Atlas/Seaboard Comics (1974-1975). The company was owned by Martin Goodman, Marvel Comics' former owner. Ditko co-created a character called Destructor, which was given his own series. Ditko handled the art for all 4 of its issues (February-August, 1975). He also worked on 2 issues for the series Tiger-Man, and a single issue for Morlock 2001. Atlas/Seabord shut down in 1975.
In 1975, Ditko returned to DC Comics. His first major work there was creating the antihero Stalker/Elpis, who briefly received his own sword-and-sorcery themed series. Ditko handled all 4 of its issues. He also created the character Shade, the Changing Man, and handled all issues of his short-lived series (1977-1978).
Besides working on his own characters for DC Comics, Ditko contributed stories for its other characters. He worked on stories for Etrigan the Demon, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Man-Bat/Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom. Several of his stories were published in anthology titles. In 1980, Ditko became the main artist for the stories featuring Starman/Prince Gavyn, a new extraterrestrial superhero. His stories only covered the first year of Starman's series.
In 1979, Ditko was hired by Marvel Comics again. He took over the series "Machine Man", featuring Jack Kirby's character Machine Man/Aaron Stack. The character was a sentient robot. Ditko also wrote stories for Captain Universe and the Micronauts, space-faring heroes. In 1980, Ditko co-created a new hero: Dragon Lord/Tako Shamara. The character failed to caught on with readers.
From 1984 to 1986, Ditko drew a series featuring the character of Rom the Space Knight/Rom of Galador, another extraterrestrial superhero. The long-running series ended in 1986. In 1988, Ditko co-created a new teenage superhero for Marvel, called Speedball/Robbie Baldwin. Speedball graduated to his own series, which lasted for 10 issues. Ditko was the series main artist, and contributed most of its plots. Following the series' cancellation, Speedball became a featured character in the team book "New Warriors".
While Ditko mostly worked for Marvel Comics during the 1980s, he also contributed for Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics, First Comics, and Archie Comics. He contributed stories for Archie's resident superheroes, including the Fly/Thomas "Tommy" Troy, Flygirl/Kim Brand, and Jaguar/Ralph Hardy.
In 1982, Ditko was on contract with Western Publishing to serve as the main artist for a new science-fiction series called "Astral Frontiers". The series ended in development hell, and Western stopped publishing comics in 1984.
In the early 1990s, Ditko was hired by Valiant Comics to contribute stories for its stable of characters. Ditko worked on stories for "Magnus, Robot Fighter", Solar/Phil Seleski, and X-O Manowar/Aric of Dacia.
Ditko contributed an Iron Man and Dr. Doom crossover story in the anthology Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8 (January, 1992). This story introduced new super-heroine Squirrel Girl/Doreen Allene Green. The character eventually gained a cult following, joined the Great Lakes Avengers (an Avengers' spin-off team), and graduated to her own series. She was among the last original characters Ditko created for Marvel Comics, and the last one to become popular.
In 1995, Ditko served as the main artist for a comic-book miniseries featuring Phantom 2040/Kit Walker, the 24th incarnation of the Phantom. The series was an adaptation of a then-popular French-American animated series. It was among Ditko's large mainstream works. His other commercial works of the 1990s included one-shot publications for Dark Horse Comics, Defiant Comics, and Fantagraphics Books.
In 1998, Ditko wrote a few stories featuring Iron Man, Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and the Power Rangers. Then he mostly retired from mainstream comics. His final mainstream work was a 5-page-long story featuring the New Gods. It was intended for publication c. 2000, but was not published by DC Comics until 2008.
During the last decades of his life, Ditko mostly worked on creator-owned stories. Most of them were published by his long-time associate Robin Snyder, a former editor of Charlton Comics. Most of these works did not receive a wide circulation. In 2008, Ditko published the essay book "The Avenging Mind", and a collection of editorial cartoons under the title "Ditko, Etc...,".
In 2010, Ditko helped in the publication of reprint collections featuring his work from the 1970s. At about the same time, DC and Marvel published a number of previously unpublished stories by Ditko. Ditko had sold the stories to the two publishers in earlier decades, but they were kept in their respective inventories.
In the 2010s, Ditko continued to work in his apartment within Manhattan's Midtown West neighborhood. He lived alone, having never married and having no known children. In June 2018, Ditko was found dead within his apartment. The cause of death was a myocardial infarction (heart attack),itself caused by arteriosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Ditko was 90 years old at the time of death.
In 2019, Ditko's last essay was published posthumously. His last printed words concerned his thoughts about his friends and foes: "Here's to those who wish me well, and those that don't can go to hell."- Writer
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One of the most influential, yet unsung, figures in American humor, cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman created "Mad Magazine" in 1952, and for the next few years served as its editor and primary writer. After his departure from "Mad, " he created two more humor magazines, "Trump" and "Help!" Although neither was as successful as "Mad", "Help!" did help launch the careers of a number of future luminaries, including Woody Allen, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Robert Crumb and Gloria Steinem. Kurtzman's sole foray into screenwriting, the animated Mad Monster Party? (1967), demonstrates much of the famous "Mad" comedy (including a reference to one of the magazine's trademark nonsense words, "veeblefetzer") and has developed a strong cult following.- Dave Sim was born on 17 May 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is a writer, known for The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark (2021), The Masters of Comic Book Art (1987) and Comic Book Culture (2013).
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Takahashi was born on October 10, 1957 in Niigata, Japan. She displayed no special talent or interest for manga (Japanese comics) while attending Niigata Chuo High School, but while attending Japan Women's University, she enrolled in Gekiga Sonjuku, a manga school founded by Kazuo Koike (artist and writer of the mangas Lone Wolf and Cub, Crying Freeman and Lady Snowblood). His influence in her work is considerable. He stressed the importance of interesting characters in one's manga series. Takahashi took his lessons to heart: her characters often break the stereotypes inhabiting manga at the time. Takahashi takes care to portray her women to be as tough and as intelligent as her men. Almost none of them can be called an out-and-out villain. They often have different motivations and goals which puts them at odds with each other, and from this arises the dramatic tension of her stories, and quite often, the comedy as well.
In 1976 she started publishing short manga. At this point, she needed to make an important decision, continue as a manga artist or make rounds interviewing for a regular job as a Japanese salary person. If she failed in manga, she would have difficulty getting work because companies would often prefer young, fresh graduates. Despite her parents' advice to take the more cautious path, she decided to press on.
Her first manga series was Urusei Yatsura in 1978, published in Weekly Shonen Sunday. It concerns an alien invasion of earth that can only be stopped if the horniest boy in the world manages to catch an alien girl. It eventually became a cultural phenomenon, lasting nine years and spawning a long-running television series, Urusei yatsura (1981). Urusei yatsura (1981)was partly directed by Mamoru Oshii (_"Kôkaku kidôtai" (1995)_, aka Ghost in the Shell). Oshii first rose in prominence thanks to his work in Urusei Yatsura.
Her second manga hit was Maison Ikkoku (1980 to 1987 in Big Comic Spirits). Here, her experiences as a young adult making the rounds of job interviews, plus living in a small apartment while working for a living, became inspiration for her manga. Maison Ikkoku doesn't have any aliens, demons or martial-arts experts, instead it is a simple love triangle between a college student, Godai, his beautiful apartment manager, the young and recently widowed Mrs. Kyoko Otanashi and the rich, handsome tennis coach Shun Mitaka.
Mitaka could have been a typical love rival, rich, handsome but self-centered. Instead, Takahashi actually makes him sympathetic; his love for Kyoko is as sincere as Godai, and he is also a nice guy. In fact it becomes one of the themes of Maison Ikkoku: if all things are equal, if both suitors have good characters and both sincerely loves the woman, then should Kyoko pick the richer suitor? The manga series charts Godai's maturation from callow youth ruled by hormones to a successful, responsible adult.
The complex webs of relationships in Urusei and Maison are her secret recipe for generating endless configurations of conflict and humor. They keep readers waiting eagerly for the next installment at the same time gently remind them that that's how life is like with regards to romance, a tangled free-for-all that, despite its seemingly frightful messiness, Takahashi magically keeps clear and coherent for her readers.
Maison Ikkoku also became the successful anime, Maison Ikkoku (1986). In 1987, Not only did she end her two successful manga, Urusei and Maison, she also did short manga (Mermaid Saga and One-Pound Gospel), and started her third long-run manga series, Ranma 1/2.
In 1987, the manga field was full of martial arts stories, so Takahashi was interested in trying her version of a martial arts manga, however, with a few innovations of her own. Ranma is a martial artist betrothed to a tomboy martial artist, Miss Akane Tendo, and when they marry they will inherit the dojo and the tradition of "Anything Goes" Martial Arts. The big twist is, when Ranma gets wet, he turns into a busty, red-headed girl. Takahashi pokes fun at (and gives homage to) martial arts, boy-girl relationships and other bizarre permutations that can arise from a web formed by a boy/girl, a tomboy girl as well as a menagerie of quirky supporting characters.
Like Urusei and Maison, Ranma became an anime series,Ranma ½ (1989), which lasted from 1989 to 1992. She ended the manga in 1996, and then started her fourth major manga series, Inuyasha.
Inuyasha is set in medieval Japan. A modern schoolgirl, Kagome, is magically transported to the past, and she must help the half-demon Inuyasha collect shards of the powerful Shikon jewel. In this series, the tone is darker and less comedic than her other works. Characters and bystanders often die here and the major characters themselves are frequently in danger. Takahashi also introduces her first purely evil villain, the demon Naraku. Naraku is a kind of Iago to Inuyasha's Othello, letting others do the dirty work for him. Inuyasha became an anime in 2000 (Inuyasha (2000)), lasting until 2004. It has already spawned several films, with the last one released in December, 2004.
In terms of material rewards, Takahashi consistently makes the list of top ten Japanese tax payers from the manga community, an indication of the royalties she receives for her work, both old and new. Her fan base has spilled out of Japan, where she is virtually ubiquitous. She now has devoted followers from Europe, the United States and many fellow Asian nations. Her old work, from Urusei Yatsura up to her short manga up to the anime versions, have been reprinted and translated, finding their way to newer generations of readers and viewers.
However, Takahashi continually keeps busy, meeting her deadlines, creating new manga. She admits she has little time to spend her money, devoting most of her time in her studio drawing and plotting the next installments of her manga, for the sake of her legions of fans worldwide.- Writer
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Maurice De Bevere (pen name: Morris) was a Belgian comics writer and artist. He was best known for creating the long-running Western comedy series "Lucky Luke" (1946-), and serving as its main artist from 1946 to his death in 2001. Lucky Luke is one of the best-selling comics series in Europe, and has been translated into 23 languages.
In 1923, Morris was born in the city of Kortrijk, located in West Flanders. It is an on old city, starting out as the Gallo-Roman settlement of Cortoriacum. It has served as a center for the flax and wool industry since the Middle Ages. Morris was educated at a Jesuit school in Aalst, East Flanders. He was bored there, and liked to draw doodles while in class.
After gaining a college degree, Morris was hired by the animation studio "Compagnie Belge d'Actualités" (CBA). Several other stars of Belgian comics started out as staff for this studio. The studio shut down following World War II. Morris then found work as an illustrator for the newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws" (1888-), and the magazine "Moustique" (1924-). He specialized in drawing caricatures of then-famous movie stars.
In 1946, Morris created the "Lucky Luke" series for the comics magazine "Spirou" (1938-). It is a long-running Franco-Belgian comics magazine, that publishes stories in anthology format. The eponymous character of Morris' new series was a solitary cowboy and gunslinger who traveled across the 19th-century Wild West, persistently helping those in need. The series typically combines adventure themes with humorous situations, and a satirical view of Western tropes.
Early in his work for "Spirou", Morris became closely associated with the magazine's leading artists of this period. They were Jijé (Joseph Gillain, 1914-1980), André Franquin (1924-1997), and Will (Willy Maltaite, 1927-2000). Together, they became known as "La bande des quatre" ("Gang of Four").
In 1948, Morris temporarily moved to the United States, along with Jijé and Franquin. He was interested in finding out what remained of the Wild West, and he also wanted to meet and interact with American comics artist. Morris remained in the United States until 1954. He befriended the American artists Jack Davis (1924 - 2016), and Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993). He helped his new pals launch the humor magazine "Mad" (1952-2018) for the publisher EC Comics.
During his stay in the United States, Morris became acquainted with the French expatriate comics writer René Goscinny (1926-1977). Following their return to Europe, they decided to collaborate in the "Lucky Luke" series. Goscinny served as the series' main writer from 1955 to his death in 1977. He developed a supporting cast for the main character, which helped the series in gaining popularity.
Until 1968, nearly all Lucky Luke adventures and comic albums were printed by the publishing house Dupuis, the parent company of "Spirou". The company had a series of financial difficulties in the late 1960s, and Morris decided to switch publishers. In 1967, the "Lucky Luke" series started being printed in the comics magazine "Pilote" (1959-1989), the flagship publication of the publisher Dargaud.
In 1984, Morris allowed the adaptation of the "Lucky Luke" series into an English-language animated series by the studio Hanna-Barbera. Though it was not the first adaptation of the series in animation, it helped introduce the series to an American audience. It was released in syndication in the United States.
Until the 1980s, Morris focused all his efforts in the "Lucky Luke" series. In 1987, he launched the spin-off comic book series "Rantanplan" (1987-2011), focusing on a dimwitted, accident-prone, and gluttonous guard dog that had served as a supporting character for Lucky Luke since 1960. The character is a spoof of Rin Tin Tin. The spin-off series had the guard dog traveling the world, getting involved in misadventures, and always misunderstanding the world surrounding him.
In 2001, Morris suffered an accidental fall while trying to repair the roof of his residence. He was hospitalized, but suffered a pulmonary embolism while he was bedridden. He died in July 2001, at the age of 77. The "Lucky Luke" series has since continued under other writers and artists. Several of Morris' key characters have remained popular over the decades, and have starred in an ever-increasing number of adaptations.- Writer
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Guido Crepax was born on 15 July 1933 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and actor, known for Valentina (1989), I Am What I Am (1967) and Baba Yaga (1973). He was married to Luisa Mandelli. He died on 30 July 2003 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.- Art Department
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Jack Davis was born on 2 December 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was a writer, known for Creepy (2012), Mad Monster Party? (1967) and The King Kong Show (1966). He was married to Dena. He died on 27 July 2016 in Athens, Georgia, USA.- Writer
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Dave Gibbons was born on 14 April 1949 in England, UK. He is a writer, known for Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Watchmen (2009) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).- Writer
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Brian Bolland was born on 26 March 1951 in Butterwick, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is a writer, known for Batman: The Killing Joke (2016), Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death (2003) and The Killing Joke (2016). He has been married to Rachel S. Birkett since 1981. They have one child.- Art Department
Carlos Giménez was born on 16 March 1941 in Madrid, Spain. He is known for Talk to Her (2002), The Devil's Backbone (2001) and Pan's Labyrinth (2006).- Writer
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Miguel Gallardo was born in 1955 in Lleida, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for María y yo (2010), El viaje de María (2012) and Arts i oficis (2015). He died on 21 February 2022 in Spain.- Writer
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Carlos Vermut was born on 6 March 1980 in Madrid, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for Quién te cantará (2018), Magical Girl (2014) and Manticore (2022).- Writer
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Satoshi Kon was born in 1963. He studied at the Musashino College of the Arts. He began his career as a Manga artist. He then moved to animation and worked as a background artist on many films (including Roujin Z (1991) by 'Katsuhiro Otomo'). Then, in 1995, he wrote an episode of the anthology film Memories (1995) (this Episode was "Magnetic Rose"). In 1997, he directed his first feature film: the excellent Perfect Blue (1997). In 2001, he finished work on his second feature film, Millennium Actress (2001) (aka Millennium Actress).- Art Department
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Joe Kubert was born on 18 September 1926 in Jezierzany, Tarnopolskie, Poland [now Ozeryany, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a writer, known for They Spoke Out: American Voices Against the Holocaust (2010), G.I. Joe: Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles: Old Soldiers Never Die (1994) and The Legends Behind the Comic Books (2007). He was married to Muriel Fogelson. He died on 12 August 2012 in Morristown, New Jersey, USA.- Bill Watterson was born on 5 July 1958 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is a writer, known for Stripped (2014). He has been married to Melissa Richmond since 8 October 1983.
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Joann Sfar was born on 28 August 1971 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He is a writer and director, known for Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010), The Rabbi's Cat (2011) and Thomas Fersen: Hyacinthe (2005).- Writer
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As the creator of 'Scrooge McDuck', Carl Barks did more than any other comic book artist to widen the popularity of Donald Duck, bringing in the process a vast array of memorable supporting characters into the Disney universe, among them Uncle Scrooge himself, Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose (and his Little Helper), the Beagle Boys, and the Junior Woodchucks.
Unlike many other artists working (all anonymously) for the Disney company, Barks did not mindlessly churn out condescending, forgettable stories of a childish nature during his 24-year stint on the Disney Ducks. He consistently produced delightful top-quality material, both in his scripts and in his art as well as in his dialogues, which echoed with deep human resonance. "I polished and polished on the scripts and drawings until I had done the best I could in the time available", he said. In both types of stories -- the 10-page comedies and the longer adventure stories -- he produced between 1942 and 1966, he managed to convey the intricacies and subtleties of the full scope of human emotions (from envy and cynicism and alarm and desperation to joy and scorn and triumph and smugness) while capturing the essence of exotic locations from the four corners of the world (from scorching deserts and primal forests to humid jungles and freezing snow-clad mountains through the urban setting of Duckburg).
His mastery at this is witnessed to by, among others, Newsweek's homage to his artistry and by Time's conclusion that "Scrooge and his creator Carl Barks belong in the great mainstream of American Folklore." Beyond that is the plain fact that he was known to his readers simply as "the good artist" (a descriptor necessary during a time when the Disney company didn't identify any of its cartoonists). His publishers tried in the early '50s to replace him on the 10-page comedies in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories so that he could concentrate on the longer adventure epics in Donald Duck and Uncle $crooge (these were the three titles that contained the bulk of Barks' output through the years); they were promptly flooded with a barrage of pleading and irate letters from readers demanding that "the good artist" be brought back.
Among his many fans were George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg, who were inspired by the adventure comic books. One South American adventure in particular ("The Prize of Pizarro", Uncle $crooge nr 26, June-August 1959) inspired sequences in all three Indiana Jones films (the booby traps both in the lost temple in the opening pre-credits sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and in the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), as well as the flood through the mines of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)). In an homage printed in Uncle Scrooge: His Life & Times (edited by Edward Summer and published by Gary Kurtz), Lucas writes that when he discovered the McDuck character as a kid, he liked him "so much that I immediately went out and bought all the Uncle $crooge comics I could find on the newsstand. My greatest source of enjoyment in Carl Barks' comics is in the imagination of his stories .... The stories are also very cinematic .... these comics are a priceless part of our literary heritage." Indeed, the titles of his adventures (many of which were inspired by the National Geographic) duly resonate with exoticism and adventure: "The Mummy's Ring", "Terror of the River", "Mystery of the Swamp", "Ghost of the Grotto", "Lost in the Andes", "Sheriff of Bullet Valley", "Trail of the Unicorn", "The Golden Helmet", "The Seven Cities of Cibola", etc...
His stories were constantly reproduced in Disney comics across the globe, after his retirement in 1966 (the same year that Walt Disney, who was born nine months after Barks, died). And soon his 6,371 comics pages (according to one count) from some 450 comic books were being reprinted (by then computer-colored) in impressive coffee-table volumes and hand-sewn hardback tomes, not just in the United States, but throughout the western world (Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, etc...).
Certainly the most widely read comic book artist of all time, Barks is also in all probability, what with Disney being the world's largest publisher of children's magazines and books (every year over two billion people around the globe read a Disney book or magazine, the company claims), the most widely-read author of any type of reading material of the 20th century.
Born to a homesteading family in Oregon on March 27, 1901, Carl Barks left school at 15 and spent the next two decades "in grim and demanding jobs" (to quote Michael Barrier's "Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book". These included rancher, logger, railroad repairman and printer. During the Depression, he went on to become an illustrator for a humor magazine, eventually becoming its most productive member. He joined the Disney studio in 1935, where he became a story man on the animated cartoons of a character created a year earlier (a duck by the name of Donald) and worked with such people as Harry Reeves, Chuck Couch, Jack Hannah, Homer Brightman and Nick George. Health problems eventually forced Barks to leave the Burbank studio during World War II for the dry air of the California desert, where he made the transition to comic books.
And so, it was after the age of 40, in an era when most people had little more than a third of their lives in front of them, that Carl Barks made the fateful jump of his life, the one that would leave his name an immortal one in the annals of what the French call "le neuvième art" (the ninth art form). And yet, it would not be until after his retirement that his name would, slowly but surely, become known to the mainstream public. It was during the 1960s that persistent fans (among them his official biographer, Michael Barrier) finally managed to identify "the good artist" (also dubbed the Duckman and the comic book king), become his correspondents, and proceed to make his name known to the outside world.
Despite having retired (and as his name was slowly becoming famous), "Unca Carl" did not remain inactive. He turned to painting, specifically signed oil paintings of his Disney Ducks, paintings that today easily fetch thousands of dollars and whose prices have occasionally topped $100,000. Indeed, it is easy to forget that Barks' retirement years lasted far longer than his comic book career and he spent many more years before the canvas than he did over the drawing board. In fact, Barks lived to the ripe old age of 99, and it is somewhat amazing to realize how vast an amount of time this actually means. His life spans such an extensive amount of time that his date of birth is further removed from that of his death than it is to the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the untamed wilderness west of the Mississippi (including Oregon, the region where the Barks family would eventually settle).
He was sprightly and active until the very last. People half his age reported that he could remember events they had long forgotten. His pace was such that during his 1994 trip to Europe (his first outside North America) to celebrate Donald's 60th birthday, young Disney handlers and PR staff (imagine yuppies in their 30s) at Paris' Euro Disneyland had to quicken their pace to keep up with the then-93-year-old man. His philosophy could be summarized in these words: "I worked hard at trying to make something as good as I could possibly make it... I always tried to write a story I wouldn't mind buying myself."- Alexander Gillespie Raymond was born on October 2, 1909 in New Rochelle, New York, to Beatrice Wallazz (Crossley) and Alexander Gillespie Raymond, a civil engineer and road builder, who encouraged his drawing from an early age. His sister, Beatrice, was the paternal grandmother of actors Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon. He was of Irish, Scottish, and German descent.
Raymond studied art and illustration at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. In the 1930s, he began a series of illustrating jobs "ghosting" such comic strips as "Tillie the Toiler" and "Blondie". In 1933, Raymond and writer Don Moore were asked to develop a comic strip to compete with the popular character "Buck Rogers". Their creation, "Flash Gordon", was an immediate success, spawning a number of Saturday morning serials, television series and feature films.
Raymond also created a strip with mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, "Secret Agent X-9", and worked on both strips simultaneously. During this period, Raymond's style improved dramatically, and his work was very influential on such future artists as Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson and Wayne Boring. Raymond left both strips in 1944, when he joined the United States Marine Corps. He served in the Pacific theatre during World War II, and left the Marines in 1946, with the rank of Major. After the war, Raymond developed one more comic strip, "Rip Kirby", about a detective/scientist. On September 6, 1956, Alex Raymond died at age 46 in an automobile accident in Westport, Conneticut. - Art Department
- Milton Caniff was the world-renowned comics artist known as the "Rembrandt of the Comics". His influence can be seen not only in the works of such comics artists as Jack Kirby and Will Eisner, but also in the works of Federico Fellini and Orson Welles. Caniff ented the comics world as an office boy for a local Ohio newspaper. After working at several papers, he moved to New York in 1932, where he obtained a job with the Associated Press. His first comic, "The Gay Thirties", was a single panel comic. In 1933, when he heard that the newspaper syndicate was looking for a new weekly, he spent the weekend creating "Dickie Dare", about an imaginative little boy who liked to dream about the adventure stories he'd read. The strip was moderately successful, and caught the eye of the editor of the Chicago "Tribune", Captain Joe Patterson. Patterson had the idea for an adventure strip featuring a young boy and his adult guardian/sideick. The strip, "Terry and the Pirates", was a huge hit, spawning a radio show, movie serials, dozens of tie-ins, and a huge fan base.
During the war, Caniff found that his strip was popular among servicemen, partially for the stories, but mostly for his ability to create and draw sexy female characters. Caniff, unable to join the armed forces due to a childhood injury, created the strip "Male Call" for the Camp Newspaper Service. "Male Call" was somewhat risque for its time (though harmless looking today), featuring a scantily clad heroine named Miss Lace. Caniff supplied the strip free of charge to the armed services, which ran from 1942 to 1946. In 1946, unhappy over the fact that he could not obtain ownership of the "Terry" strip, Caniff turned the work over to artist George Wunder (that same year, Caniff received the very first Rueben award from the National Cartoonists' Society for his work on the strip). Caniff went over to Field Enterprises Syndicate with an idea for a new strip. This strip, instead of having a young boy as the hero, would have an adult, but would still have the rollicking adventures (and sexy women) of "Terry". The new strip, "Steve Canyon", was an even bigger success than "Terry", and ran for the next 41 years. While it's true that the storylines in "Canyon" may not have moved with the times (especially during the Vietnam era), the strip was able to survive as long as it did because of the strength and power of Caniff's drawings. When Caniff died in 1981, so did "Steve Canyon." The final June 5th strip contained a farewell from Bill Maudlin's Willie and Joe characters, as well as signed farewells from dozens of Caniff's fellow artists. - Writer
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George McManus was born on 23 January 1884 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Jiggs and Maggie Out West (1950), Jiggs and Maggie in Court (1948) and Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters (1949). He was married to Florence Bergere. He died on 22 October 1954 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Writer
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Warren Ellis was born on 16 February 1968 in Essex, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Iron Man 3 (2013), RED (2010) and RED 2 (2013).- Writer
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E.C. Segar was born on 8 December 1894 in Chester, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for Popeye (1980), Untitled Popeye Live-action movie and Popeye and Friends: Vol. 1 (1937). He was married to Myrtle Annie Johnson. He died on 13 October 1938 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Carlos Ezquerra was born on 12 November 1947 in Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. He was a writer, known for Judge Dredd (1995), Dredd (2012) and Judge Dredd: Mega City One. He died on 1 October 2018.
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Gilbert Shelton was born on 31 May 1940 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Set Your Chickens Free (1974), The Freak Brothers (2020) and Brand X (1970).- Mills started his career as a sub-editor for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, where he met Wagner. In 1971 both left to go freelance, and were soon writing scripts for IPC's girls' and humor comics. After D.C. Thomson launched Warlord, a successful war-themed weekly, Mills was asked in 1975 to develop a rival title for IPC. Based in the girls' comics department to avoid the attention of the staff of the boys' department, Mills, along with Wagner and Gerry Finley-Day, worked in secret to create Battle Picture Weekly. Battle's stories were more violent and its characters more working class than IPC's traditional fare, and it was an immediate hit. Having made the comic ready for launch, Mills resigned as editor. He would later write the celebrated First World War series Charley's War, drawn by Joe Colquhoun, for the title.
After launching Battle, Mills began developing a new boys' title, Action, launched in 1976. Action's mix of violence and anti-authoritarianism proved controversial and the title lasted less than two years before being withdrawn in the face of media protests. It was briefly revived in neutered form before being merged into Battle.
His next creation was the science fiction-themed weekly 2000 AD, launched in 1977. As with Battle and Action he developed most of the early series before handing them over to other writers. He took over the development of Judge Dredd when creator John Wagner temporarily walked out, and wrote many of the early stories, establishing the character and his world, before Wagner returned.
In 1978 IPC launched Starlord, a short-lived companion title for 2000 AD. Mills contributed Ro-Busters, a series about a robot disaster squad, which moved to 2000 AD when Starlord was canceled. Ro-Busters was the beginning of a mini-universe of interrelated stories Mills was to create for 2000 AD, including ABC Warriors and Nemesis the Warlock. Artist Kevin O'Neill was involved in the creation of all three. Nemesis in particular, featuring a morally ambiguous alien hero fighting a despotic human empire, allowed Mills to work out his feelings towards religion and imperialism. Another strand of his 2000 AD work was Sláine, a barbarian fantasy based on Celtic mythology and new-paganism, which he co-created with his then wife Angela Kincaid (with whom he also created the children's series of books, The Butterfly Children).
Mills also had a hand in IPC's line of Horror comics aimed at girls such as Chiller.
He has had little success in American comics, with the exception of Marshal Law, a savage superhero satire published by Marvel Comics' Epic imprint in the late 1980s, drawn by O'Neill.
In 1986 he edited the short-lived comic Dice Man, which featured characters from 2000 AD. He wrote nearly every story.
In 1988 he was involved in the launch of Crisis, a politically aware 2000 AD spin-off aimed at older readers. For it he wrote Third World War, drawn initially by Carlos Ezquerra, a polemical critique of global capitalism and the ways it exploits the developing world. The title lasted until 1991 and launched the careers of talents such as Garth Ennis, John Smith and Sean Phillips.
In 1991 Mills launched Toxic!, an independent color newsstand weekly comic with a violent, anarchic tone, perhaps as a reaction against the politically worthy Crisis, and a creator-owned ideal. Many of the stories were created by Mills and co-writer Tony Skinner, including Accident Man, an assassin who makes his hits look like accidents. Toxic! lasted less than a year, but gave a start to talents such as Duke Mighten and Martin Emond.
In 1995, he broke in the French market, one of his life's goals, with Sha, created with French artist Olivier Ledroit.
He continues to write Sláine, Bill Savage, Black Siddha and ABC Warriors for 2000 AD, and also the Franco-Belgian comic Requiem Vampire Knight, with art by Olivier Ledroit and its spin-off Claudia Chevalier Vampire, with art by Franck Tacito.
Two new series, Greysuit, a super-powered government agent drawn by John Higgins, and Defoe, a 17th-century zombie hunter drawn by Leigh Gallagher, began in 2000 AD issue 1540.
Mills has formed Repeat Offenders with artist Clint Langley and Jeremy Davis "to develop graphic novel concepts with big-screen potential" and the first project is a graphic novel called American Reaper, serialized in the Judge Dredd Megazine (#316-ongoing as of October 2011). It has been optioned by Trudie Styler's Xingu Films and Mills has written the screenplay.
He has also written two Doctor Who audio plays, "Dead London" (2008) and "The Scapegoat" (2009) for Big Finish Productions, featuring the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller. The first audio play was released as the first part of the second season of the Eighth Doctor Adventures and the second as part of the third season. In 2010 Mills adapted a story that had been started by him and Wagner for Doctor Who in the 1980s and was produced by Big Finish as "The Song of Megaptera". - Art Department
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Simon Bisley was born on 4 March 1962. He is a writer, known for Galaxy Quest (1999), Heavy Metal: Geomatrix (2001) and Heavy Metal 2000 (2000).- Writer
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David Lloyd was born in 1950 in Enfield Town, London, England, UK. He is a writer, known for V for Vendetta (2005), Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics (2010) and Superhero Nation.- Writer
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Lorenzo Mattotti was born in 1954 in Brescia, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily (2019), Fear(s) of the Dark (2007) and 76th Venice Film Festival: Opening Sequence (2019).- Art Department
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François Schuiten was born on 13 April 1956 in Brussels, Belgium. He is a writer and production designer, known for Mr. Nobody (2009), The Golden Compass (2007) and Mars and April (2012). He has been married to Monique Toussaint since 1980.- Art Department
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Bryan Talbot was born on 24 February 1952 in Wigan, Lancashire, England, UK. He is known for Ragnarok (1983), Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD (2014) and There's Something About Alice (2022).- Writer
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Chester Gould was interested in comics from an early age. He wrote and drew several strips while attending Oklahoma A&M University and at Northwestern University (where he graduated in 1921). After graduating from the Chicago Art Institute in 1923, Gould went to work for a Chicago area newspaper. Gould found work illustrating several minor comic strips, and also bombarded the major newspaper syndicates with ideas for a new strip.
It was sometime in 1931 that Gould got a idea, based on his own work as a newspaperman. Gould saw that the headlines were filled with stories about gangsters and their escapades. Gould was disgusted by the apparentm triumph of good over evil, and decided that his new character would fight against these hoods. He sent this strip, called "Plainclothes Tracy" to the Chicago Tribune. The editor at the Tribune loved the idea, but suggested that the strip needed a shorter name. And so, "Dick Tracy" premiered on October 4th, 1931.
From the beginning, Gould's strip stood out. Previous comic strips focused on either household comedies (like "Bringing Up Father") or boyhood adventures. Dick Tracy was one of the first strips to show the effects of violence on people; readers were shocked when a strip clearly showed Tracy shooting a villian in the face. The strip was a huge success, not only spawning a number of spin-offs, but entering the public consciousness as well. Tracy's chisled features became so familiar that it was easy for cartoonist Al Capp to parody him in "L'il Abner."
Like many of the great comics of the 30s and 40s, "Dick Tracy" slowly became a victim of the times. The art was still vibrant and creative, but Gould's two-dimensional, black/white characterization looked stodgy by the 1950s. In the 1960s, Gould made an ill-advised devision to update Tracy by outfitting him with space-age gadgets and a rocket ship(!).
Gould retired from the strip on December 25, 1977, turning it over to his long time assistant. "Dick Tracy" continues to run in newspapers around the world, long after its creator's death in 1985.- Art Director
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Paola Gaviria was born on 20 June 1977 in Quito, Ecuador. Paola is an art director and writer, known for Virus tropical (2017) and Uyuyui (2012).- Writer
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Quino was born on 17 July 1932 in San José, Mendoza Province, Argentina. He was a writer and director, known for Mafalda (1973), Bez wody (1998) and Me doy cuenta... (2015). He was married to Alicia Colombo. He died on 30 September 2020 in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza Province, Argentina.- Writer
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Charles Monroe Schulz (nicknamed "Sparky") was an American comic strip writer and artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was primarily known for creating the long-running comic strip "Peanuts" (1950-2000), and serving as its sole artist for the strip's entire run. His comic strip was known for its "clean, minimalist drawings", its sarcastic humor, and the emotional honesty of its dialogue. By the time of Schulz's death in 2000, the comic strip had been published in 75 different countries, and had been translated into 21 languages. The comic strip has been adapted into 5 theatrical animated films, over 40 animated television specials, 6 television series, and 2 theatrical musicals. In addition, Schulz is credited with popularizing the format of the "four-panel gag strip". This format was eventually used by several comic strips of the post-World War II period.
In 1922, Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota,. The city is occupying both banks of the Mississippi River. Schulz was the only child of Carl Schulz and Dena Halverson. His ancestry was German and Norwegian. His favorite comic strip during his childhood was "Barney Google" (1919-) by Billy DeBeck (1890-1942). Schulz was nick-named "Sparky" by his family, named after the race horse Spark Plug (also nicknamed "Sparky") in his favorite comic strip. He kept the nickname throughout his life.
Schulz started drawing as a hobby during his childhood. His favorite subject for drawings was the family dog, Spike. In 1937, Schulz submitted a drawing about Spike's unusual eating habits to the newspaper panel "Ripley's Believe It or Not!". This drawing was the first work by Schulz to be published in his lifetime.
Schulz received his primary education at the Richards Gordon Elementary School, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He skipped two half-grades during his elementary school years. He subsequently was always the youngest student in his class while attending Central High School. The school was the oldest high school in the state of Minnesota, established in 1866. Schulz was reportedly a shy and timid adolescent boy.
In February 1943, Dena Halverson (Schultz's mother ) died due to cancer. Schulz was shocked, as he was particularly close to his mother. She had tried to keep her illness a secret, as she did not want her son to worry about her. Shortly after her death, Schulz was drafted for service in World War II. He served as a staff sergeant with the 20th Armored Division in Europe. , He was a squad leader on a .50 caliber machine gun team, but his team only experienced combat at the ending months of the war. At one point, Schulz realized that he had forgot to load his machine gun while noticing that a German soldier was approaching him. Fortunately for Schulz, the German soldier had no intention to fire at him, and voluntarily surrendered to the American unit.
Schulz returned to civilian life in Minnesota in late 1945. He was soon hired as a letterer by the comic magazine "Timeless Topix"'. In July 1946, Schulz was hired by the "Art Instruction Schools", a Minneapolis-based home study correspondence course. His job was to review and grade the work of the students. He continued doing so for several years.
Schulz created his first comic strip for "St. Paul Pioneer Press". It was the short-lived "Li'l Folks" (1947-1950). He introduced several ideas that he would later reuse in "Peanuts". The comic strip used the recurring name "Charlie Brown" for three different characters, featured a Snoopy-like dog called Rover, and introduced a well-dressed young boy who idolized Ludwig van Beethoven (like the "Peanuts" character Schroeder.) Schulz eventually quit working for this newspaper. His editors had repeatedly denied his requests for a pay rise, and had relegated the comic strip into the women's section of the newspaper (rather than publishing it alongside other comic strips). An attempted deal to syndicate the strip through the Newspaper Enterprise Association fell through.
In 1950, Schulz negotiated a deal for a new comic strip with the United Feature Syndicate. The Syndicate was interested in his ideas, but they rejected his proposed title of "Li'l Folks" for legal reasons. There was already a comic strip under the copyrighted title "Little Folks", and its writer Tack Knight had claimed exclusive rights. An executive came up with the idea to name the comic strip "Peanuts". The comic stream was named after the "peanut gallery", the audience of the television series "Howdy Doody" (1947-1960). Schulz agreed to the new name, though he grew to dislike it. He would prefer to name the strip after the name of one of its characters. But the name was kept.
The syndicated comic strip "Peanuts" was introduced on October 2, 1950, initially published by only 7 newspapers.: the "Chicago Tribune", the "Denver Post", the "Evening Chronicle", the "Globe-Times", the "Minneapolis Tribune," the "Seattle Times", and the "Washington Post". The first strip in the series introduced only three characters: the protagonist Charlie Brown and two female acquaintances, Shermy and Patty. The pet dog Snoopy was introduced on October 4, 1950., Most of the strips' regular characters were introduced in its first 25 years: Violet (in February 1951), Schroeder (in May 1951), Lucy (in March 1952), Linus (in September 1952), Pig-Pen (in July 1954), Sally (in August 1959), Frieda (in March 1961), Peppermint Patty (in August 1966), Franklin (in July 1968) Woodstock (introduced in March 1966; officially named in June 1970), Marcie (in July 1971), and Rerun (in March 1973).
Schulz started working on a Sunday version of "Peanuts" in January 1952. He created the religious-themed comic strip "Young Pillars" (1956-1965) for the magazine "Youth Magazine", a publication of the Church of God. Unusually for Scchulz's work, this strip featured adolescents instead of children.
Schulz and Jim Sasseville later co-created the sports-and-game-oriented comic strip "It's Only a Game" (1957-1959) in an art style similar to "Peanuts". The new strip was modestly successful, but Schulz found that in conflicted with his increasingly demanding schedule. He terminated the strip voluntarily.
In 1957, Schulz was hired as an illustrator for a volume of the book "Kids Say the Darndest Things" by Art Linkletter (1912-2010). He illustrated a second volume of the work in 1962. In 1964, Schulz illustrated a collection of letters, "Dear President Johnson" by Bill Adler. These were Schulz's only efforts as a book illustrator.
For most of the 1950s, Schulz and his first wife Joyce Halverson lived primarily in Minnesota and Colorado. He primarily worked from home, or from a rented office room. In 1958, Schulz and his family moved Sebastopol, California. There Schulz built his first artist's studio. That studio burned down in 1966. Schutz later relocated to Santa Rosa, California, where he build a second artist's studio in 1969. He continued working there for the rest of his life.
By the autumn of 1970, Schulz had started contemplating divorce. He had an extramarital affair with Tracey Claudius, a woman who was only 25-years-old and was 23 years younger than him. He eventually received his divorce in 1972, but by then his affair with Claudius had ended In 1973, Schutz married his second wife Jean Forsyth Clyde. She had a daughter from a previous wedding, whom Schulz had already met. Their marriage lasted for 27 years and ended with his death.
In 1981, Schulz underwent heart bypass surgery. His hospitalization was considered newsworthy, and President Ronald Reagan personally phoned him to wish for his recovery. During the 1980s, Schulz found his hands shaking while drawing. He was eventually diagnosed as suffering from "essential tremor", a neurological disorder involving involuntary rhythmic contractions and relaxations of muscle groups. He received medication for his condition, but he insisted on continuing to draw "Peanuts" without assistants. This resulted in changes in his drawing style, with increasingly shakier lines in the comic strip.
In May 1988, Schulz was in the news over his personal life, something unusual in his career. Two masked men had entered his home through an unlocked door and attempted to kidnap his wife Jean. They fled empty-handed when one of Schulz's daughters arrived for a visit. The police suspected that the criminals were interested in ransom money, but no arrests were made.
In November 1999, Schulz experienced several small strokes and a blocked aorta. While undergoing a medical examination, his doctors realized that he was suffering from a previously undiagnosed condition: colon cancer. He started treatment with chemotherapy, but this caused his vision to blur. He was unable to keep drawing, so he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999. United Features retained ownership of the comic strip "Peanuts", but Schulz did not want to be replace on the production of the strip. Based on his insistence, the strip was scheduled to end on February 13, 2000 (the publication date for the last available comic strip).
On February 12, 2000, Schulz died in his sleep at his home in Santa Rosa, California. He was 77-years-old, and his death was caused by colorectal cancer. His comic strip ended on February 13, as scheduled. On May 27, 2000, Schulz was honored with tributes in over 100 different comic strips. Cartoonists devoted the day to homages of Schulz's style or appearances by his famous characters.
Schulz is long gone, but his characters from "Peanuts" have remained popular. Several animated adaptations of the comic strip were created in the first decades of the 21st century, and reprints of his work were still available in various forms. Schulz has been cited as an influence by several younger cartoonists, such as Jim Davis and Matt Groening.- Animation Department
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Alex Toth was born on 25 June 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. Alex was a writer, known for Space Ghost (1966), Space Angel (1962) and Cartoon Superheroes Abridged (2015). Alex was married to Guyla Avery and Christina Schaber. Alex died on 27 May 2006 in Burbank, California, USA.- Writer
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Jean-Claude Forest was born on 11 September 1930 in Le Perreux, Paris, France. He was a writer and director, known for Barbarella (1968), Barbarella and Marie Mathématique (1965). He was married to Petra Fores. He died on 30 December 1998 in Paris, France.- Richard F. Outcault was born on 14 January 1863 in Lancaster, Ohio, USA. He was a writer, known for Buster and His Dog: The Instructions (1904), Buster and His Dog: Buster, Quiet! (1904) and Buster and His Dog: Be a Good Boy (1904). He was married to Mary Jane Martin. He died on 25 September 1928 in Flushing, New York, USA.
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Govindan Aravindan was born on 21 January 1935 in Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was a director and writer, known for Esthappan (1980), Vasthuhara (1991) and Oridathu (1987). He died on 16 March 1991 in Trivandrum, Kerala, India.- Writer
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Keiko Takemiya was born on 13 February 1950 in Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan. She is a writer, known for Terra e... (1980), Toward the Terra (2007) and Crusher Joe: The Movie (1983).- Hal Foster was born on 18 August 1892 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was a writer, known for Prince Valiant (1954), The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972) and Prince Valiant (1997). He was married to Helen Wells. He died on 25 July 1982 in Spring Hill, Florida, USA.
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Shigeru Mizuki was born on 8 March 1922 in Sakaiminato, Japan. He was a writer, known for The Great Yokai War (2005), Gegege no Kitaro (2018) and Gegege no Kitarô (1968). He was married to Nunoe Mura. He died on 30 November 2015 in Tokyo, Japan.- Actor
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Art Spiegelman was born on 15 February 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden. He is an actor and writer, known for In the Shadow of No Towers (2011), The Simpsons (1989) and No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics (2021). He has been married to Françoise Mouly since 1977. They have two children.- Writer
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Al Feldstein was born in 1925 in Brooklyn, New York. He was interested in comics and comic art from an early age, and attended art school at night while working as assistant for a comic publisher by day. After a stint in the Army Air Corp during WW II, Feldstein returned to work as a freelancer. In 1947, he landed a job with EC Comics, where he quickly rose to editorship. He edited, wrote, drew, and created such titles as Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Crime Suspenstories, Shock Suspenstories and Panic.
Feldstein was famous for his bizarre aliens and gory horror images, but he was also responsible for adapting the works of Ray Bradbury into comic form, and publishing some of the early works of Harlan Ellison. In 1955, EC got out of the comic business to focus on publishing its humor magazine, "MAD". After "MAD" creator Harvey Kurtzman left EC, Al Feldstein became editor, a job he held until his retirement in 1984. During his editorship, he was responsible for the creation of MAD's trademark spokesperson, Alfred E. Neuman, as well as increasing circulation to almost 3,000,000. Now living in Montana, Mr. Feldstein still draws, but focuses more on wildlife and nature subjects.- Writer
- Animation Department
- Johnny Craig was a comic illustrator and writer whose work appeared in many comics, but is most closely associated with the classic EC horror comics. Craig had no formal training, but managed to get a job working as an assistant for M.C. Gaines, publisher of All-American Comics, and later Eduational Comics (EC). Over the course of several years, he gradually learned the craft of drawing comics. Never a very fast drawer, he was nevertheless respected by his peers for his craftsmanship and care. When William Gaines took over EC Comics after the death of his father, he deciced to focus on the more popular horror and science fiction comics.
Craig became the editor of "The Vault of Horror", writing and drawing many stories for that line, as well as designing the "host", the Vault Keeper. Craig and EC became the center of controversy in the 50s after the publication of Dr. Wertham's "Seduction of the Innocents" and the subsequent Congressional hearings investing the link between juvenile deliquency and comics. Ironically, while Craig's work was generally staid compared to other EC artists, it was his cover to "Crime SuspenStories #22" that was diplayed in the Senate as an example of the depravity of horror comics.
After the collapse of EC's horror comics line, Craig temporarily left comics and worked in the advertising industry. He found this unsatisfying, though, as it left him with little time for drawing. In the 1960s, he returned to comic illustrating, first unsuccessfully in the super-hero line, but later finding his niche in the 1970s revivals of the horror comics. After retiring from comics in the 80s, he suplimented his income by drawing recreations of his famous 1950s EC covers and characters for comic art collectors. - Writer
- Writer
- Actor
- Writer
Harvey Pekar was born on 8 October 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for American Splendor (2003), Hero Tomorrow (2007) and Harvey Pekar's Teo Macero (2015). He was married to Joyce Brabner. He died on 12 July 2010 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA.- Actor
- Art Department
Jordi Bernet was born on 14 June 1944 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He is an actor, known for Atolladero (1995), Batman: Black and White (2008) and Històries de Bruguera (2012).- Purita Campos was born on 18 August 1937 in Barcelona, Spain. She was married to Francisco Ortega. She died on 19 November 2019 in Spain.
- Yoshiharu Tsuge was born in 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a writer, known for Nowhere Man (1991), Gensen-Kan Inn (1993) and Neji-shiki (1998).
- Guillem Cifré was born in 1952 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He was a director, known for Històries de Bruguera (2012), Ànima (2009) and L'hora del lector (2007). He died on 16 May 2014 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
- Director
- Visual Effects
- Writer
- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Fernando de Felipe was born in 1965 in Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for Oedipus (1997), Palabras encadenadas (2003) and Darkness (2002).- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Hailing from New Jersey but raised in Pennsylvania, PAD started out fan-writing a SF/Star Trek fanzine and scripting parody plays for conventions. Originally tried to work in Journalism but finally got a job at Marvel Comics as Assistant Direct Sales Manager. He wrote some "fill-in" issues (Spider-Man) and eventually got to the point where he was the regular writer for several prominent Marvel titles. He lives on Long Island, writing comic books, novels, TV and movie scripts.- Production Designer
- Set Decorator
Gary Panter was born in 1950. He is a production designer and set decorator, known for Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986), Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse (1988) and The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway (2011). He has been married to Helene Silverman since 1989. They have one child. He was previously married to Nicole Panter.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Joe Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At age 9 he and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he met and befriended his future partner Jerome "Jerry" Siegel. Siegel and Shuster were both avid science fiction fans, publishing a fanzine in the mid-1920s. It was during this period that they read Philip Wylie's book, "Gladiator", about a mysterious character with superpowers and invulnerability. They created a strip for their fanzine (Shuster drawing, Siegel writing) featuring a super-powered villain, but later made him into a hero. In 1936, they tried, unsuccessfully, to turn it into a daily comic strip. About the same time, both young men got a job working for DC-National (now DC Comics), working on such titles as Doctor Occult, Slam Bradley, and Radio Squad.
In 1939, DC editor Sheldon Meyer decided to give the two young men a chance, and published their character Superman a new comic title, "Action Comics". Superman was an almost immediate hit, spawning his own eponymous title within a year, then going on to be featured in virtually every type of media.
Shuster and Siegel continued working on Superman for many years, but became increasingly resentful of the profits that DC-National made off their character (because of the practice at the time, the creators had signed away all rights to the character to the publisher). In 1946, Shuster and Siegel sued DC for a share of the rights to Superman (their lawyer was Albert Zugsmith). The case dragged on until 1948, when the two men settled for royalties only on the Superboy character. They were also required to sign away any future claims to the Superman character.
Shuster was bitter about his treatment, and decided to leave the comics field. In 1975, after the Superman movie raised new interest in the character, the two men once again sued DC for recognition and royalties. DC, with much prodding from publisher/editor Carmine Infantino, re-instated Siegel and Shuster's name on the masthead as creators, and awarded the two men an annual stipend of $35,000. Shuster died in 1992, nearly blind and still bitter about the treatment he'd received.