Greg Theakston

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Greg Theakston
11.14.08GregTheakstonByLuigiNovi.jpg
Greg Theakston at the Big Apple Con in November 2008
BornGreg Allen Theakston
(1953-11-21)November 21, 1953
DiedApril 22, 2019(2019-04-22) (aged 65)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Painter
Colorist
Inker
Penciller
Historian
Publisher
Pseudonym(s)Earl P. Wooten
Awards Shel Dorf Torch Bearer's Award, 2010

Greg Allen Theakston (November 21, 1953 [1]  – April 22, 2019 [2] ) was an American comics artist and illustrator who worked for numerous publishers. He is known for his independent publications as a comics historian under his Pure Imagination imprint, [3] as well as for developing the Theakstonizing process used in comics restoration. [4] He used the pseudonym Earl P. Wooten. [5]

Contents

Early career

Greg Theakston became involved in the Detroit area fandom community, contributing to Detroit's Fantasy Fans and Comic-collector's Group on their fanzine The Fan Informer (1968–71), as well as his own publication, The Aardvark Annual (1968),[ citation needed ] and Titan. For much of the 1970s [4] Theakston helped organize the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, credited as one of the first conventions in the United States dedicated to comic books, [6] eventually owning it after working on a number of shows. [7]

After graduating from Redford High School in 1971, Theakston worked with artist Jim Steranko at his Supergraphics publishing company in Reading, Pennsylvania. He moved with partner Carl Lundgren to upstate New York in 1972, where he began illustrating for men's magazines, [4] including Gent, Dude and Nugget.[ citation needed ] He also inked samples of Jim Starlin's early pencils, which helped Starlin gain his first work for Marvel Comics in 1972. [4] [8]

Illustration and comics

Theakston built his portfolio and expanded to paperbacks and magazines, including Berkley Books, Dell, Ace, DAW, Zebra, Tor, St. Martin's Press, Warner, Ballantine Books, Belmont-Tower, If and Galaxy Science Fiction . [9] He was an original member of the Crusty Bunkers, and worked closely with Neal Adams at Continuity Associates between 1972 and 1979, producing animatics, storyboards, comic art and various commercial advertising assignments. [10] [11]

Among other various assignments were jobs for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Warren Comics, New York Daily News , Archie Comics, as well as periodicals magazines including National Lampoon , The New York Times , Kitchen Sink, Playboy , TV Guide and Rolling Stone . He was a Mad illustrator for ten years and has worked regularly with numerous comics publishers on projects such as Omega Men , Super Powers , DC Comics Presents , DC's Who's Who and Planet of the Apes . [12] [13]

Posters and publishing

Theakston's movie poster work include Invaders From Mars . He has seven lithographs in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art.[ citation needed ]

Theakston founded and operated Pure Imagination, [14] a comic book and magazine publisher since 1975. His biographical work includes an estimated 200,000 words on Jack Kirby, his long-time friend and work associate, 250,000 words on Bettie Page, numerous pieces on great comic book artists, and pop culture figures for Pure Imagination and other publishers including Mad, Penthouse and Playboy .

Comics restoration

His name has been given to a process called "Theakstonizing", a term coined by DC editor-in-chief, Dick Giordano,[ citation needed ] which bleaches color from old comics pages, used in the restoration for reprinting. [4] He reconstructed over 12,000 pages of classic comic art, including work on Superman, Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, The Flash, Porky Pig, The Spirit, The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Archie, Dick Tracy , Torchy, Pogo and numerous collections of popular comics artists, including Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Basil Wolverton, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Jack Cole, Lou Fine, Wallace Wood, and many others.[ citation needed ]

Awards

Theakston received the Shel Dorf Torch Bearer's Award in 2010 "[f]or Preserving the Flame of the Spirit of Comics and Carrying the Torch Forward in the Comic Industry." [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Kirby</span> American comic book artist (1917–1994)

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Ditko</span> American comics artist (1927–2018)

Stephen John Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known for being the co-creator of Marvel superhero Spider-Man and creator of Doctor Strange. He also made notable contributions to the character of Iron Man, revolutionizing the character's red and yellow design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fourth World (comics)</span> Comic storyline

"Fourth World" was a metaseries of connected comic book titles written and drawn by Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics from 1970 to 1973. Although they were not marketed under this title until the August–September 1971 issues of New Gods and Forever People, the terms Fourth World and Jack Kirby's Fourth World have gained usage in the years since. Kirby created the Fourth World concept in the 1970s. The series is a science-fiction based mythology that revolves around ancient space deities known as the New Gods. The New Gods are similar to the gods of Earth lore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Age of Comic Books</span> Mid-1950s to 70s era of comic books

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Starlin</span> American comics artist and writer

James P. Starlin is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Nebula, and Shang-Chi, as well as writing the acclaimed miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet and its many sequels including The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade, all detailing Thanos' pursuit of the Infinity Gems to court Mistress Death by annihilating half of all life in the cosmos, before coming into conflict with the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, the Elders of the Universe, joined by the Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Gamora, Nebula, and Drax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timely Comics</span> American comic book publisher

Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Gods</span> Fictional race appearing in the New Gods comic book series

The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in New Gods #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OMAC (Buddy Blank)</span> Fictional comic book character

OMAC is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vision (Timely Comics)</span> Marvel comic book character that first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #13

Vision (Aarkus) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by the writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared during the Golden Age of comic books in Marvel Mystery Comics #13, published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chic Stone</span> American comic book artist (1923-2000)

Charles Eber "Chic" Stone was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including his landmark run of Fantastic Four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Fine</span> American comic book artist

Louis Kenneth Fine was an American comic book artist known for his work during the 1940s Golden Age of comic books, where his draftsmanship became an influential model to a generation of fellow comics artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Shaw (artist)</span> American cartoonist and animator

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.

In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-published or published by a corporate publisher.

Pure Imagination is a comic book, magazine, and comics-related book publisher run by Greg Theakston since 1975.

<i>Young Romance</i> 1947 comic book series

Young Romance is a romantic comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for the Crestwood Publications imprint Prize Comics in 1947. Generally considered the first romance comic, the series ran for 124 consecutive issues under Prize imprint, and a further 84 published by DC Comics after Crestwood stopped producing comics.

Ken Bruzenak is an American comic book letterer, primarily known for his work on Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! Bruzenak's lettering and logowork was integral to the comic's futuristic, trademark-littered ambience. During the course of his career, Bruzenak has been closely associated with both Chaykin and Jim Steranko.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shel Dorf</span> San Diego Comic-Con co-founder, comic strip letterer, artist, and writer.

Sheldon "Shel" Dorf was an American comic book enthusiast and the founder of San Diego Comic-Con International. Dorf was also a freelance artist and graphic designer, who lettered the Steve Canyon comic strip for the last 12 to 14 years of the strip's run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit Triple Fan Fair</span> Defunct multigenre convention; one of the first U.S. comic book conventions

The Detroit Triple Fan Fair (DTFF) was a multigenre convention generally held annually in Detroit from 1965 to 1977. It is credited for being one of the first comic book conventions in the United States. The Triple Fan Fair also gave balanced coverage to historic film showings and science fiction literature, in a manner that provided a template for many future convention organizers — most of which have yet to attain the same level of equal service to this sort of linked fan base.

Michael Gold is an American comics writer, editor and publisher, known for his work as the former media coordinator for the defense for the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, Group Editor and Director of Editorial Development at DC Comics, co-founder of First Comics, and the co-founder and director of communication National Runaway Switchboard as well as a disk jockey in Chicago in the 1970s.

Francis Edward Herron was an American comic book writer and editor active in the 1940s–1960s, mainly for DC Comics. He is credited with co-creating Captain Marvel Jr. and the Red Skull, as well as such characters as Cave Carson, Nighthawk, and Mr. Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid. Herron spent the bulk of his time in the comics industry writing for such characters as Green Arrow, Superman, and the Western character Tomahawk.

References

  1. "Greg Theakston". Comics Buyer's Guide (1636). F+W Media: 135. December 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  2. Johnston, Rich (April 23, 2019). "Comics Archivist and Publisher Greg Theakston Has Died, Aged 65". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  3. Heer, Bob (24 February 2011). "Upcoming Kirby – Theakston biography". The Jack Kirby Comic Weblog. The Jack Kirby Museum. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Morrow, John (2004). Collected Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 4. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 97–103. ISBN   978-1-893905-32-0 . Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  5. Garza, Matt (April 24, 2019). "Greg Theakston, Comics Historian, Publisher and Archivist, Dead at 65". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  6. Henrickson, Eric (7 Jul 2010). "New comic convention, Detroit Fanfare, coming this fall". Geek Watch. The Detroit News. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  7. Detroit Triple Fan Fair, registered as a Domestic Nonprofit Corporation on October 16, 1973, by Greg Allan Theakston (Agent) of Detroit, MI; dissolved on Oct. 1, 1978. Accessed Feb. 15, 2016.
  8. "Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection". Michigan State University Libraries . Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  9. "Greg Theakston SF book covers at ISFDB". ISFDB. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  10. Stroud, Bryan D. (October 2010). "Theakston Interview: Part 1". The Silver Age Sage. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  11. Stroud, Bryan D. (November 2010). "Theakston Interview: Part 2". The Silver Age Sage. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  12. "Greg Allen Theakston - 'Earl P. Wooton'". Comic Book Database. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  13. "Story Search Results". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  14. Keane, Maribeth; Quinn, Brad (18 February 2010). "Golden Age Comics: The Pages Where Captain America Could Punch Out Hitler". Pop culture interview. Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  15. "Past Winners". The Shel Dorf Awards. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2012.