Ben Saunders | |
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Born | Cardiff, Wales | 16 November 1968
Occupation | Program Director of the Comics and Cartoons Studies Minor, Professor of English at the University of Oregon |
Education | PhD in English Literature, Masters in Philosophy in English Renaissance Literature, Bachelor of Arts |
Alma mater | Duke University, University of Cambridge, University of East Anglia |
Notable awards | Inkpot Award (2023) [1] |
Ben Saunders is a British-born academic and in 2011, founder of the first ever in the world Undergraduate Minor in Comics Studies [2] at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. He holds a PhD in English Literature from Duke University, a Masters in Philosophy in English Renaissance Literature from University of Cambridge and a Bachelor of the Arts degree with First Class Honors from the University of East Anglia.
Along with teaching English and courses in Comics Studies at the University of Oregon, Saunders is the author of books discussing John Donne, music, the artist Jack Kirby, and the appeal of comic book heroes.
He has traveled globally lecture as an authority on the history of comic books, and is the curator of multiple museum exhibitions on comic art and popular culture. His most recent exhibition, Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes currently at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington, showcases the history and impact of Marvel Comics on the world of entertainment. Saunders also served as a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards for nominees published in 2011 [3] and has appeared in the 2017 History Channel documentary, Superheroes Decoded . [4]
Jack Kirby was an American comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics.
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 in the Silver Age of Comic Books. He has been featured in comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays.
Charles Clarence Beck was an American cartoonist and comic book artist, best known for his work on Captain Marvel at Fawcett Comics and DC Comics.
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books, the Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970, and was succeeded by the Bronze Age.
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known characters were introduced, including Superman, Batman, Robin, Captain Marvel, Captain America, and Wonder Woman.
Joseph Henry Simon was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator.
Lawrence D. Lieber is an American comic book writer and artist best known as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superheroes Iron Man, Thor, and Ant-Man. He is also known for his long stint both writing and drawing the Marvel Western Rawhide Kid and for illustrating the newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man from 1986 to 2018. From 1974 to 1975, he was editor of Atlas/Seaboard Comics. Lieber is the younger brother of the late Marvel Comics writer, editor, and publisher Stan Lee.
Marc Hempel is an American cartoonist/comics artist best known for his work on The Sandman with Neil Gaiman.
Alexander A. Schomburg, born Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa, was a Puerto Rican commercial artist and comic-book artist and painter whose career lasted over 70 years.
Morton Meskin was an American comic book artist best known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.
Donato Francisco Rico II was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, wood engraver and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters the Black Widow with plotter Stan Lee and artist Don Heck; Jann of the Jungle with artist Arthur Peddy; Leopard Girl with artist Al Hartley; and Lorna the Jungle Girl with an artist generally considered to be Werner Roth. His pen names include Dan Rico, Donella St. Michaels, Donna Richards, Joseph Milton, and N. Korok.
Scott Joseph Shaw, often spelled Scott Shaw! and Scott Shaw? in Rick and Steve, is an American cartoonist, animator, and historian of comics. Among Shaw's comic-book work is Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, and Simpsons Comics. He was also the first artist for Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.
Shin Sang-Ho is an internationally known Korean ceramicist. His works can be found in museums around the world especially the Shin Sang-ho Art Museum. He is the former Dean, College of Fine Arts at Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea.
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The original building was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence as part of his "main university quadrangle," now known as the Memorial Quadrangle. Its first Director, Asian art collector, and female museum specialist Gertrude Bass Warner, also influenced the building's design, particularly its innovative climate control measures. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Peter M. Coogan is an American comics scholar. He is the Communication Lab Coordinator and co-founder and co-chair of the Comics Arts Conference, which runs during the San Diego Comic-Con International and WonderCon.
Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which would later become Marvel Comics. He was Marvel's primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries.
Mark Arnold is an American writer and commentator who grew up in Saratoga, California. He has contributed to several publications in the United States, including The Comics Journal, Hogan's Alley, Back Issue!, and Comics Buyer's Guide. Arnold also worked with Jerry Beck and Leslie Cabarga on their Harvey Comics Classics series for Dark Horse Comics.
Gertrude Bass Warner was an American twentieth-century art collector, with particular interests in Asian art, religious artifacts, daily-life textiles, ceramics, paintings, and photographs. She lived, traveled, and collected art in East Asia from 1904 to 1938. In 1922 she became the curator for life and first director of the University of Oregon Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, helping to design the historic building with famed architect Ellis F. Lawrence. She had the museum built to house the collection of more than 3,700 works of art, the Murray Warner Collection of Oriental Art, named after her late husband, Murray Warner. She donated the collection to the university in 1933. She traveled throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Russia purchasing works of art and artifacts, taking photographs, and writing extensive field notes. She visited thousands of cultural sites and studied Shinto, Buddhism, and Chinese and Japanese etiquette, and the human experience, and became an innovator in the promotion of Asian art and culture appreciation, Asian studies, and multiculturalism. She is considered a female pioneer of museum studies.
The Comic-Con Museum, located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is a museum centered on comics and popular arts. It is a part of San Diego Comic-Con International.