My Favorite Comic Book Artists
My Favorite Comics Creators, My Favorite Graphic Novelists, My Favorite Manga Artists.
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- Frédéric Aristidès was born on 5 March 1931 in Paris, France. He was a writer, known for Philemon, Tac au tac (1969) and Pourquoi l'étrange Monsieur Zolock s'intéressait-il tant à la bande dessinée? (1983). He died on 2 April 2013 in Paris, Ile-de-France, France.
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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).- Art Department
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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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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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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
- Director
- Producer
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.- Writer
- Actor
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.- Writer
- Art Department
- Director
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.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
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".- Art Department
- Writer
- Animation Department
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
- Art Department
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.- 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.
- Art Department
- Writer
- Special Effects
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).- Art Director
- Writer
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
- Director
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
- Animation Department
- 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).
- 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.- Guido Buzzelli was born on 27 July 1927 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor, known for Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970). He died on 25 January 1992.
- Writer
- Director
Charles Burns was born in 1955 in the USA. He is a writer and director, known for Fear(s) of the Dark (2007), X'ed Out and Burn Again.- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Writer
Michael DeForge is known for Adventure Time (2010), Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake (2023) and Adventure Time: Distant Lands (2020).- Yves Chaland was born on 3 April 1957 in Lyon, Rhône, France. He died on 18 July 1990 in Paris, Ile-de-France, France.
- Francesc Capdevila was born on 17 September 1956 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He is a writer, known for CARBÓN (Una historia de MAX y Cesc Mulet) (2022), Estoc de pop (1984) and Bosch: The Garden of Dreams (2016).
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Writer
Alex Nino was born on 1 May 1940 in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. Alex is a writer, known for Treasure Planet (2002), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Mulan (1998).- Writer
Jan was born on 13 March 1939 in Leon, Spain. Jan is a writer, known for Superlopez (2018).- Director
- Visual Effects
- Writer
Dave McKean was born on 29 December 1963 in Taplow, Slough, Berkshire, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Mirrormask (2005), Luna (2014) and N[eon] (2002). He is married to Clare. They have two children.- Animation Department
- Writer
- Art Department
Bill Sienkiewicz was born on 3 May 1958 in Blakeley, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer, known for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Legion (2017) and Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (1994).- Animation Department
- Writer
- Art Department
Kyle Baker is known for Cosmic Slop (1994), My Generation G... G... Gap (2004) and Phineas and Ferb (2007).- Art Department
Alberto Breccia was born on 15 April 1919 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is known for The Journey (1992) and Breccia x cuatro (1988). He died on 10 November 1993 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Writer
Bernard Krigstein was born on 22 March 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Bernard was a writer. Bernard died on 8 January 1990 in New York, USA.- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
Mort Drucker was born on 22 March 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The Mad Magazine TV Special (1974), When We Went MAD! and Another Froggy Evening (1995). He was married to Barbara Hellerman. He died on 9 April 2020 in Woodbury, Long Island, New York, USA.- Animation Department
- Writer
- Art Department
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).- Art Department
Marta Altieri is known for Inmotep (2022).- Composer
- Writer
- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Olivier Schrauwen is known for The Mole Whisperer (2008) and Ruhe (2012).- José Antonio Muñoz was born on 10 July 1942 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Writer
- Director
- Animation Department
Lucas Nine was born in Buenos Aires where he studied Fine Arts and Cinema. He's illustrator, designer, graphic novel author and director of animated films. His artwork was exhibited in several shows in Argentina, Brazil, France, Japan, Italy, Greece and Spain and published in magazines, newspapers or books from these countries. He took part in the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition (Italy and Japan). His artwork was awarded in several occasions in different countries. His short feature cartoon "Les Triolets" was shown in the II Festival de Cine Independiente de Buenos Aires (2000), Annecy's Animation Festival (France, 2002, 2003 and 2010), Castelli Animati Festival (Italy, 2002), Festival de Cine de Mar del Plata (Argentina, 2007), Animadrid (Spain, 2009), Filme im Schloss (Germany, 2011) and exhibited by the Argentine and Swiss TV in 2002 and 2004. He was screenwriter and director of one of the segments of the feature film "Ánima Buenos Aires" (2012). This film has received the following awards: Grand Prix Platinum in the Future Film Festival of Bologna (Italy); Grand Prix in the Utrecht International Film Festival (Holland); Premio Coral in the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana (Cuba); Best Feature Award in the Festival Internacional de Córdoba (Argentina); Best Animation Feature Award in Anilogue- Budapest International Animation Festival (Hungary); Best Feature Award in the Montreal International Animation Film Festival (Canada). His books as author include "Dingo Romero" (Spain, 2004; France, 2008), "El Circo Criollo" (Argentina, 2009) "Thé de Noix" (France, 2011; Argentina, 2015), "Les contes de suicidé" (France, 2016), "Borges, Inspector de Aves" (Argentina, 2017; France, 2018). His work was reviewed in the Geijutsu Shincho magazine (Japan) and the Novum Gebrauchsgraphik (Germany). In 2018 he made his first solo exhibition at the Barbier et Mathon gallery in Paris.- Production Designer
Brecht Evens is known for Marona's Fantastic Tale (2019) and Gymnastique : La culture sans claquage (2019).- Art Department
Santiago Sequeiros is known for ¡Soy un pelele! (2008).- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Shintaro Kago is known for Hopscotch (2022) and Shintarou Kago Anime Sakuhin Shuu (2008).- Art Department
Carel Moiseiwitsch is known for Better Than Chocolate (1999).- Art Department
Junko Mizuno is known for The People I've Slept With (2012), Popping Up (2015) and Temple of Art (2018).- Art Department
Mort Meskin was born on 30 May 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is known for Adventures Into Digital Comics (2006). He died on 29 March 1995 in Yonkers, New York, USA.- Writer
Jijé was born on 13 January 1914 in Gedinne, Belgium. He was a writer. He was married to Annie Rodric. He died on 19 June 1980 in Versailles, France.- Additional Crew
- Writer
- Special Effects
Juan Carlos Eguillor was born on 15 August 1947 in Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Euskadi, Spain. He was a writer, known for Al fin solos, pero... (1977), Nunca es tarde (1977) and El amor del capitán Brando (1974). He died on 21 March 2011 in Madrid, Spain.- Pasqual Ferry is known for Inservibles (2011).
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Brian Chippendale is known for Ex Drummer (2007), Died Young, Stayed Pretty (2008) and Goodnight Brooklyn - The Story of Death by Audio (2016).- Damion Scott is known for Marvel LIVE! How to Draw (2020).
- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
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).- Camera and Electrical Department
Natalia Velarde Morin is known for El Billete (2016).- Writer
- Director
- Art Department
Régis Loisel was born on 4 December 1951 in Saint-Maixent-l'École, Deux-Sèvres, France. He is a writer and director, known for Spatss! (2018), Peter (2012) and Gift (2000).- Animation Department
- Writer
Ivo Milazzo was born on 20 June 1947 in Tortona, Piedmont, Italy. Ivo is a writer, known for Tex & Company (1980).- Art Department
Basil Wolverton was born on 9 July 1909 in Oregon, USA. He is known for Adventures Into Digital Comics (2006). He died on 31 December 1978 in Vancouver, Washington, USA.- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Writer
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.- Animation Department
José Luis García-Lopez is known for Super Friends (1973) and Charlton Comics: The Movie (2017).- Art Department
- Writer
Sampei Shirato was born on 15 February 1932 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a writer, known for Ninpuu Kamui Gaiden: Tsukihigai no Maki (1971), Fujimaru of the Wind (1964) and Kamui Gaiden (2009). He died on 8 October 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.