| Ben Hatke | |
|---|---|
 Ben Hatke at the 2016 Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival | |
| Born | June 4, 1977 Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. |
Notable works | Zita the Spacegirl Mighty Jack |
| Awards | Cybils Award, 2011 Eisner Award, 2016 |
| Spouse(s) | Anna |
| Children | 6 |
| benhatke | |
Ben Hatke (born June 4, 1977) is an American cartoonist and children's book illustrator. He is most well known for his series of middle grade graphic novels Zita the Spacegirl. His work is notable for its focus on strong female characters. [1]
Hatke was born in Lafayette, Indiana, [2] and grew up with sisters. [1] His family were members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and Hatke spent a lot of time outdoors as a child. [2]
One of his early comics influences was Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest . [3] Other influences included Bill Watterson, Maurice Sendak, Leonardo da Vinci, Brian Froud, Trina Schart Hyman, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Todd McFarlane. [2]
Hatke earned his B.A. from Christendom College in 2000. [4] While he was in college, he spent a semester in Italy studying Italian Renaissance painting. [2] [4]
Hatke contributed the story "The Plank" to the anthology Flight vol. 2, published by Image Comics in 2005. His story "The Edge" appeared in Flight #3, published (at that point by Random House) in 2006.
His character Mighty Jack is a contemporary spin on the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. [3]
According to The Hollywood Reporter , Zita the Spacegirl, "centers on a girl named Zita who embarks on a journey to becoming an intergalactic hero after her friend is abducted by an alien doomsday cult. Along the way, she rides a giant mouse, deals with humanoid chickens as well as robots, and makes friends with a blob-like creature." [5]
According to Hatke, the character was actually created by his wife Anna while she was still in high school. When Hatke and Anna met in college, he began adapting the character into its present incarnation. [1] [3]
He continued developing the character in webcomics and then a short story titled "Zita the Spacegirl: If Wishes Were Socks," in the 2008 Random House anthology Flight Explorer. [3]
Zita the Spacegirl debuted in 2011 with First Second Books. The second and third volumes appeared in 2012 and 2014.
In 2016, it was announced that Fox Animation had picked up movie right for the Zita trilogy; the films will be produced by Chernin Entertainment. [6] [5]
Hatke lives in Front Royal, Virginia, [4] with his wife Anna [7] and their five daughters. [8] [9] He is an avid player of role-playing games, as well as a practitioner of archery. [1] He is also a fire-eater and amateur tumbler. [2]
Hatke's daughter Ida died in an accident in 2019, at the age of four. [10]
Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. He is an anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short The Mouse of Tomorrow. The name was changed to Mighty Mouse in his eighth film, 1944's The Wreck of the Hesperus, and the character went on to star in 80 theatrical shorts, concluding in 1961 with Cat Alarm.
Astro Boy, known in Japan as Mighty Atom, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's Shōnen from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Akita Shoten. Dark Horse Comics published an English translation in 2002. The story follows Astro Boy, an android young boy with human emotions who is created by Umataro Tenma after the recent death of his son Tobio. Eventually, Astro is sold to a robot circus run by Hamegg, but is saved from his servitude by Professor Ochanomizu. Astro becomes a surrogate son to Ochanomizu who creates a robotic family for Astro and helps him to live a normal life like an average human boy, while accompanying him on his adventures.
X-Men: The Animated Series, also known as X-Men, is an animated superhero television series aired in the United States for five seasons from October 31, 1992, to September 20, 1997, on Fox's Fox Kids programming block. It was Marvel Comics' second attempt at an animated X-Men television series after the pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men was not picked up. Set in the same fictional universe as Spider-Man (1994–1998), Earth-92131, it was followed by a revival, X-Men '97, which began airing on March 20, 2024, on Disney+ to critical acclaim.
Osamu Tezuka was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga", "the Godfather of Manga" and "the god of Manga". Additionally, he is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during Tezuka's formative years. Though this phrase praises the quality of his early manga works for children and animations, it also blurs the significant influence of his later, more literary, gekiga works.
Betty MacDonald was an American author who specialized in humorous autobiographical tales, and is best known for her book The Egg and I. She also wrote the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series of children's books. She is associated with the Pacific Northwest, especially Washington.
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.
Herman and Katnip is a series of theatrical cartoons featuring Herman the Mouse and Katnip the Cat, produced by Famous Studios in the 1940s and 1950s. Arnold Stang and Allen Swift were the regular voices of Herman, while Sid Raymond was the regular actor for Katnip, although one or both of the characters would occasionally be voiced by Jackson Beck and Jack Mercer, respectively.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is a series of children's books written by Betty MacDonald. The first book is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, published in 1947; three sequels by MacDonald are Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm, and Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (2007) was completed by her daughter Anne MacDonald Canham based on "notes for other stories among her mother's possessions".
The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in Fly-Man No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, The Mighty Crusaders. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, the series lasted seven issues before being cancelled. The team was revived under Archie's Red Circle Comics line in 1983. In 1992 DC Comics licensed the characters and relaunched the team as The Crusaders, aiming the comic at younger readers as part of its !mpact line. This series lasted eight issues, cover-dated May to December 1992.
Ann Matthews Martin is an American children's fiction writer, known best for The Baby-Sitters Club series.
Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s.
Robert Frank Camp is an American animator, writer, cartoonist, comic book artist, storyboard artist, director, and producer. He is best known for his work for developing and serving as a showrunner for The Ren & Stimpy Show. He has been nominated for two Emmys, a CableACE Award, and an Annie Award for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show.
King Kong, commonly referred to as The King Kong Show, is an animated television series produced by Videocraft International and Toei Animation. ABC ran the series in the United States on Saturday mornings between September 10, 1966, and August 31, 1969. It is the first anime-based series produced in Japan for an American company.
The New Fantastic Four is an animated series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation in 1978. It is the second animated series based on Marvel's comic book series Fantastic Four, following a 1967 series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions.
The Fox is the name of two superheroes that appear in periodicals published by MLJ Comics and later Dark Circle Comics.
The Tick is an American animated television series adaptation of the New England Comics satirical superhero the Tick. The series aired for three seasons from 1994 to 1996 on the Fox network's Fox Kids block, which introduced the character to a mainstream audience. The Tick has been syndicated by various networks, further increasing the show's cult following, and has been released on both VHS and DVD. A live-action series aired in 2001, with Amazon launching a second live-action series in 2016. The Tick was also shown on Teletoon in Canada and on Fox Kids/Jetix in the United States, Europe, and Middle East. The show was aired in the United Kingdom on BBC2 at various time slots between 1995 and 1996. Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide.
Events in 1979 in animation.
Events in 1954 in animation.
Missy Piggle-Wiggle is a series of children's books published between 2016 and 2018, a spinoff from the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series first published in 1947. Missy Piggle-Wiggle is the great-niece of the original Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and she too cures children's bad habits through the use of magic.
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