| John Severin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | John Powers Severin December 26, 1921 |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Penciler, Inker |
| Notable works | EC war comics, Marvel Westerns |
| Awards | Alley Award, 1967, 1968 Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame, 2003 |
John Severin (born December 26, 1921,[1] Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American comic book artist noted for his distinctive artwork with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat, and for Marvel Comics, primarily on its war and Western comics. Severin was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2003.
Contents |
Biography
Early life and career
Severin began drawing professionally at the age of ten, when he contributed cartoons to The Hobo News. Severin attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City, together with future Mad artists Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Al Jaffee, and Al Feldstein.[2] After high school, he worked as an apprentice machinist and then enlisted in the Army during World War II. In the post-WWII years, he entered the comic book field working for several publishers, including stories for Crestwood's American Eagle.
EC Comics
At EC Comics, Severin initially worked in tandem with Will Elder, penciling stories that Elder inked, and both were among the original five artists who launched Harvey Kurtzman's Mad, along with Kurtzman, Wally Wood, and Jack Davis. In addition to his position as the lead artist for Two-Fisted Tales, he was its editor for its final issues in 1954. For years, he was a major contributor to Cracked magazine as cartoonist on the Cracked television parodies and other features. With Warren Publishing, he drew for Blazing Combat and Creepy. He is famous for the amount of accuracy and the attention to detail in his drawings, particularly those with military subjects.
Marvel Comics
Severin did extensive work for Marvel Comics, including on the series The Incredible Hulk, The 'Nam, Conan the Barbarian, Captain Savage, What The?! and Semper Fi. As inker, he teamed with penciler Dick Ayers on an acclaimed run of the World War II series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, beginning with #44 (July 1967), and winning the Alley Award for Best War Title of 1967 and 1968. In the 1970s, he collaborated with his sister, comic-book artist Marie Severin, on Marvel's King Kull.
Active into the 21st century, he illustrated the controversial 2003 Marvel limited series The Rawhide Kid, a lighthearted parallel universe Western that reimagined the outlaw hero as a kitschy though still formidably gunslinging gay man. Also in the 2000s, he has contributed work to Desperadoes, Suicide Squad, American Century, Caper, The Punisher, Bat Lash, and Dark Horse Comics' Conan and B.P.R.D..
Family
Other family members in publishing and entertainment fields include his sister Marie Severin, also a comic book artist; his son John Severin, Jr., the head of Bubblehead Publishing; and his daughter, Ruth Larenas, a producer for that company.[3][4]
Awards and honors
Severin's artwork has been exhibited three times at the Words & Pictures Museum in Northampton, Massachusetts — in the grand-opening group show (October 9, 1992 - January 5, 1993), the group exhibit "War No More" (May 18-August 8, 1993) and the group show "Classic Comics - A Selection of Stories from EC Comics" (December 7-February 11, 1996).[5]
He was nominated for a Shazam Award in 1973, for Best Inker (Humor Division) and was among the winners of the Cartoon Art Museum's 2001 Sparky Award.
With writer Gary Friedrich and penciler Dick Ayers, Severin's inking contributed to Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos winning the Alley Award for Best War Title of 1967 and 1968.
Quotes
Atlas/Marvel artist and colorist Stan Goldberg:
| “ | I was in the Bullpen with a lot of well-known artists who worked up there at that time. We had our Bullpen up there until about 1958 or 1959. [sic; the Bullpen staff was let go in 1957] The guys... who actually worked nine-to-five and put in a regular day, and not the freelance guys who'd come in a drop off their work ... were almost a hall-of-fame group of people. There was John Severin. Bill Everett. Carl Burgos. There was the all-time great Joe Maneely... We all worked together, all the colorists and correction guys, the letterers and artists... We had a great time.[6] | ” |
Notes
- ^ News from Me: "POV Online" (column of December 22, 2007): "Happy Birthday, John Severin! (NEXT WEDNESDAY!)", by Mark Evanier
- ^ http://lambiek.net/artists/s/severin_john.htm
- ^ Silver Bullet Comics (January 7, 2005): "A Voyage Of A Million Miles", by Mike Storniolo
- ^ Bubblehead Publishing: Lost in Space: Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul
- ^ Words & Pictures Museum: Exhibits
- ^ Adelaide Comics and Books: Stan Goldberg interview
References
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
