| Arie Kaplan | |
|---|---|
 Kaplan at the New School University Center in New York City. | |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer |
| Spouse(s) | Nadine Graham (m. 2004) |
Arie Kaplan is an American writer and comedian. He is the author of the book Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!, and a writer for Mad magazine. He lives in New York City.
Although he is also a comedian and a cartoonist, Arie Kaplan is best known as a writer. Kaplan has written for Teen Beat , Tiger Beat , Entertainment Weekly , Time Out New York , the Utne Reader , and other publications. He has also won acclaim for exploring the role Jews have played in the history of both comedy writing and the comic book industry. Several years ago, Kaplan wrote a three-part series called "Kings of Comics" [1] about Jews in comics for Reform Judaism Magazine. In that series, he interviewed such comics luminaries as Al Jaffee, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Art Spiegelman, Jerry Robinson, Paul Kupperberg, Trina Robbins, Drew Friedman, Judd Winick, Chris Claremont, Jon Bogdanove, and Joe Kubert. In his role as an entertainment journalist, Kaplan has also interviewed recording artists, comedians, filmmakers, and cartoonists, including R. Kelly, 'N Sync, Carl Reiner, Susie Essman, Larry Gelbart, Sam Gross, Tom Leopold, Nora Ephron, and Lewis Black.
Apart from being a journalist, he is also an in-demand public speaker, lecturing all over the world about various pop culture-related subjects. These include, but are not limited to, the history of comic books, comedy history, film history, the history of television, and the history of science fiction. He has lectured and performed stand-up comedy at resorts, synagogues, comedy clubs, and academic institutions worldwide, including the Nevele Grand Resort in the Catskills, Stand-Up New York in Manhattan, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Koffler Centre of the Arts in Toronto, the Kislak Vacation Center in the Poconos, the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, Poland, and the Jewish Cultural Festival in Trondheim, Norway.
In 2008 Kaplan wrote a Speed Racer comic book mini-series called Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer for IDW Publishing. [2] He has also written two Ben 10 comic book scripts for the DC Comics title Cartoon Network Action Pack. He is the writer/creator of the children's comic strip "Dave Danger, Action Kid" which ran in Reform Judaism Magazine from 2005-2007. In 2010, he wrote "Disney Club Penguin: Shadow Guy & Gamma Gal: Heroes Unite" for Grosset & Dunlap. He is currently working on a new graphic novel "The New Kid From Planet Glorf" for Capstone.
Kaplan can also be credited with writing for a various number of comic book series. These include the DC comics title "DC Universe Holiday Special", the DC series "Cartoon Network Action Pack", Bongo Comics anthology "Bart Simpson", Archie Comics title "Archie & Friends" and Papercutz horror series "Tales From the Crypt".
A writer for Mad magazine since 2000, Kaplan has described it as a dream to work for pioneering satire publication. Some of his best-known MAD pieces are the "Gulf Wars Episode 2: Clone of the Attacks" [3] poster, "What if Chris Rock Performed At A Bar Mitzvah?" and "MAD's New 'Sesame Street' Characters That Better Reflect Today's World." [4]
In Masters, Kaplan profiles the lives and careers of a diverse range of icons of the comic book genre, including Stan Lee ( Spider-Man ); Neil Gaiman ( The Sandman ); Marjane Satrapi ( Persepolis , Art Spiegelman ( Maus ); Dwayne McDuffie ( Static Shock ); and Will Eisner ( The Spirit ). [5] At an event at MoCCA celebrating the release of the book Kaplan was asked what the comic artists he interviewed—such as Eisner, Spiegelman, and Gaiman—have in common. He said that they were "elevating the art" and showing comics to be "art with a capital A." [6] On the panel to discuss Kaplan's work was Jerry Robinson, legendary creator of The Joker, Robert Sikoryak, who does comic adaptations of literature, and Danny Fingeroth, former Spider-Man editor at Marvel Comics and author of "Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society."
Kaplan's book, From Krakow to Krypton: The history of Jews in Comics, came out in Sept 2008 from JPS, with a foreword by American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar [5] and quickly became a National Jewish Book Award finalist that same year. In 2009 it won the Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, the Sophie Brody Honor Book and was a finalist in the National "Best Books 2009" Award competition. His newest release, "American Pop: Hit Makers, Superstars, and Dance Revolutionaries" was published by Lerner Publishing Group's Twenty-First Century Books imprint in November 2012.
In addition to the above work, Kaplan has also had his hands in the creation of various video games such as Episode 2: Home to Roost of "Law & Order: Legacies" by Telltale Games. This episode is now available for PC and Mac, including the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. He wrote the storyline and dialogue for all five episodes of "House M.D." for Legacy Interactive, which can now be purchased for PC and Nintendo DSiWare platforms. Together with Legacy Interactive, Kaplan is currently working on the storyline and dialogue for the upcoming game "Disaster Hero", an educational children's game.
On May 30, 2004, Kaplan married playwright Nadine Graham. [8] "I'm very goal-oriented. I pursue something until I've worn it down to a nub. That's what I did with Nadine."
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens, Stardust, Anansi Boys, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He co-created the TV series adaptions of Good Omens and The Sandman.
Mark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series Garfield and Friends and on the comic book Groo the Wanderer. He is also known for his columns and blog News from ME, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, such as his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of Comics.
A graphic novel is a long-form work of sequential art. The term graphic novel is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and industry professionals. It is, at least in the United States, typically distinct from the term comic book, which is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks.
Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman, professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel Maus. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines Arcade and Raw has been influential, and from 1992 he spent a decade as contributing artist for The New Yorker. He is married to designer and editor Françoise Mouly and is the father of writer Nadja Spiegelman. In September 2022, the National Book Foundation announced that he would receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Colleen Doran is an American writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and writer Stan Lee entitled Amazing Fantastic Incredible Stan Lee, which became a New York Times bestseller. She adapted and did the art for the short story "Troll Bridge" by Neil Gaiman, which also became a New York Times bestseller. Her books have received Eisner, Harvey, Bram Stoker, Locus, and International Horror Guild Awards.
Maus, often published as Maus: A Survivor's Tale, is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work employs postmodern techniques, and represents Jews as mice and other Germans and Poles as cats and pigs respectively. Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992 it became the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Matt Wagner is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book Mad from 1952 until 1956, and writing the Little Annie Fanny strips in Playboy from 1962 until 1988. His work is noted for its satire and parody of popular culture, social critique, and attention to detail. Kurtzman's working method has been likened to that of an auteur, and he expected those who illustrated his stories to follow his layouts strictly.
Mark Buckingham is a British comic book artist. He is best known for his work on Marvelman and Fables.
Michael Dalton Allred is an American comic book artist and writer. He is most well known for his independent comics creation Madman and for co-creating and drawing the comic book series iZombie. His work often draws upon pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.
Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator.
Darwyn Cooke was a Canadian comics artist, writer, cartoonist, and animator who worked on the comic books Catwoman, DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit and Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter. His work has been honoured with numerous Eisner, Harvey, and Joe Shuster Awards.
Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve Niles, which was adapted into a motion picture of the same name. He has also created book covers, movie posters, trading cards, and concept work for film.
Trina Robbins was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic It Ain't Me, Babe, which was the first comic book entirely created by women. She co-founded the Wimmen's Comix collective, wrote for Wonder Woman, and produced adaptations of Dope and The Silver Metal Lover. She was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013 and received Eisner Awards in 2017 and 2021.
Simon Weinstein, known by his Hebrew name Simcha Weinstein, is an English author and a rabbi. In 2006, his first book, Up Up and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero, was published. In 2008, his second book, Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century, was published.
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Raw Books & Graphics is an American publishing company specializing in comics and graphic novels. Operating since 1978, it is owned and operated by Françoise Mouly. The company first came to prominence publishing Raw magazine, co-edited by Mouly and her husband, cartoonist Art Spiegelman. In the 1980s the company published graphic novels, and with the formation of Raw Junior in 1999, branched into children's comics with Little Lit and Toon Books.
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