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Greg Theakston | |
---|---|
Born | Greg Allen Theakston November 21, 1953 |
Died | April 22, 2019 65) | (aged
Nationality | American |
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]
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]
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]
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 .
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 ]
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]
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.
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.
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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.
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.
OMAC is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
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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.
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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.
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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.