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| Howard Chaykin | |
|---|---|
 Chaykin at Special Edition NYC in Manhattan | |
| Born | Howard Victor Chaykin (1950-10-07)October 7, 1950 (age 75) Newark,New Jersey, U.S. |
| Area | Writer,Penciller,Inker |
| Pseudonym | Eric Pave |
Notable works | Dominic Fortune Cody Starbuck American Flagg! |
| Awards | Inkpot Award, 1977 7Eagle Awards, 1984 Eagle Award, 2006 |
Howard Victor Chaykin[1] (/ˈtʃeɪkɪn/; born October 7, 1950)[2] is an Americancomic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor,Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustratorsRobert Fawcett andAl Parker. His career, which started out as a gofer for Gil Kane at the age of 19, spanned working for various comic book artists and writers, ultimately arriving at developing and drawing his own characters alone and in collaborations during the course of 50 years. He worked for nearly all the biggest publishers, including DC Comics, Marvel Comics, First Comics and Epic Comics. Beyond the realm of printed matter his art can be found in graphic books and television animated shows.
Howard Chaykin was born inNewark, New Jersey, to Rosalind Pave and Norman Drucker, who soon separated.[3] Chaykin was initially raised by his grandparents inStaten Island, New York City, until his mother married Leon Chaykin in 1953 and the family moved toEast Flatbush and later to 370 Saratoga Avenue,Brownsville, Brooklyn. At 14,[1] Chaykin moved with his now divorced mother to theKew Gardens section ofQueens.[3] He said in 2000 he was raised onwelfare after his parents separated and that his absent biological father eventually was declared dead, although Chaykin, as an adult, located him alive. Chaykin's "nutty and cruel" adoptive father, whom Chaykin until the 1990s believed was his biological father,[3] encouraged Chaykin's interest in drawing and bought him sketchbooks.[1]
Chaykin was introduced to comics by his cousin, who gave him a refrigerator box filled with them.[4] He graduated fromJamaica High School at 16, in 1967, and in mid-1968 worked at Zenith Press. He attendedColumbia College in Chicago that fall, but left school and returned to New York the following year.[3] Chaykin said that after high school, "I hitchhiked around the country" before becoming, at 19, a "gofer" for the New York City–based comic book artistGil Kane,[5] whom he would name as his greatest influence.[4]
Chaykin's earliest work with comic books was under the tutelage of Gil Kane, whom he would later call his mentor.[6][7]
I'd heard on the grapevine that Gil's assistant had dropped dead of a heart attack at 23. I gave Gil a call, and he said, 'Yeah, I can use you.' So I went to work for him. ... He was doing [the earlygraphic novel]Blackmark, and I did a really bad job pasting up the dialog and putting in [Zip-a-Tone].... It was a great apprenticeship. I learned a lot from watching Gil work.[5]
In 1970, he began publishing his art in comics and science-fictionfanzines, sometimes under thepseudonymEric Pave.[3] Leaving Kane, he began working as an assistant to comics artistWally Wood[8] in the studio he shared withSyd Shores andJack Abel inValley Stream,Long Island. He worked there for a "couple of months",[5] and in 1971 published his first professional comics work, for the adult-themeWestern featureShattuck in the military newspaper theOverseas Weekly,[3] one of Wood's clients. He also "ghosted some stuff" forGray Morrow: "Ipenciled aMan-Thing story he did [forMarvel Comics'Fear #10 (cover-dated Oct. 1972)], and I penciled a thing for [the magazine]National Lampoon called "Michael Rockefeller and the Jungles of New Guinea."[5][9] He then apprenticed underNeal Adams, working with the artist at Adams' home inThe Bronx.[5] This led to his first work atDC Comics, one of the two largest comics companies:
Neal showed me to [editors]Murray Boltinoff andJulius Schwartz. Murray gave me a one-page filler. I also got some work fromDorothy Woolfolk, who edited thelove comics. It was all just dreadful stuff, but you stumble along, and you learn. A problem for me was that by the time I became a professional, I lost any interest whatsoever insuperhero comics. I'm not ahorror [comics] guy, and I didn't know what the hell to do! (laughter) What I wanted to draw is guys with guns, guys with swords, and women with big tits, and that was the extent of my interest in comics at the time.[10]
The "one-page filler", titled "Strange Neighbor", was inventoried and eventually published in the Boltinoff-editedSecrets of Sinister House #17 (May 1974).[3][11] His other earliest known DC work was penciling andinking the three-page story "Not Old Enough!" inYoung Romance #185 (Aug. 1972), and penciling the eight-page supernatural story "Eye of the Beholder" inForbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #7 (Oct. 1972) and the one-page "Enter the Portals of Weird War" inWeird War Tales #9 (Dec. 1972).[11]
At one point Chaykin lived in the same Queens apartment building as artistsAllen Milgrom,Walter Simonson, andBernie Wrightson. Simonson recalls, "We'd get together at 3 a.m. They'd come up and we'd have popcorn and sit around and talk about whatever a 26, 27, and 20-year-old guys talk about. Our art, TV, you name it. I pretty much knew at the time, 'These are the good ole days.'"[12]
Chaykin's first major work was forDC Comics drawing the 23-page "The Price of Pain Ease"—writerDenny O'Neil's adaptation of authorFritz Leiber's charactersFafhrd and the Gray Mouser—inSword of Sorcery #1 (March 1973).[11][13] Although the title was well received, it lasted only five issues before cancellation. Chaykin plotted and drew three issues of the characterIronwolf in the science fiction anthology titleWeird Worlds[14] for DC, which he credits as demonstrating the origins of his adult-oriented stories later in his career.[15] In 1974, Chaykin did the pencils and inks for a 12-page Batman story written byArchie Goodwin and published inDetective Comics #441. In 2018, he looked back on this Batman story as one of the worst things he had ever drawn, adding, "Anything of value in that story was Archie's."[16] Moving toMarvel Comics, he began work as co-artist with Neal Adams on the firstKillraven story, seen inAmazing Adventures #18 (May 1973).[17]
After this, Chaykin was given various adventure strips to draw for Marvel, including his own creation,Dominic Fortune (inspired by hisScorpion character, originally drawn forAtlas Comics), now in the pages ofMarvel Preview.[18] In 1978, he wrote and drew hisCody Starbuck character for the anthology titleStar Reach, one of the first independent titles of the 1970s. These strips saw him explore more adult themes as best he could within the restrictions imposed on him by editors and theComics Code Authority. The same year, he produced for Schanes & Schanes a six-plate portfolio showcasing his character.
In 1976, Chaykin landed the job of drawing theMarvel Comicsadaptation of thefirstStar Wars film, written byRoy Thomas.[11][19][20] Chaykin left the series after 10 issues to work in more adult and experimental comics and to do paperback book covers.
In late 1978,[21] Chaykin,Walt Simonson,Val Mayerik, andJim Starlin formedUpstart Associates, a shared studio space on West 29th Street in New York City. The membership of the studio changed over time.[22]
Chaykin penciled DC Comics' first miniseries,World of Krypton (July–September 1979).[23][24]
In the next few years he produced material forHeavy Metal, drew agraphic novel adaptation ofAlfred Bester'sThe Stars My Destination, and produced illustrations for works byRoger Zelazny. Chaykin collaborated on two original graphic novels—The Swords of Heaven, the Flowers of Hell with writerMichael Moorcock, andEmpire withSamuel R. Delany—and found time to move into film design with work on the movie version ofHeavy Metal.
In 1980 he designed the album cover ofThe Legend of Jesse James, a concept album about legendary outlawJesse James.[25]
Chaykin had a six-issue run on Marvel'sMicronauts series, drawing issues from #13 (January 1980) to #18 (June 1980).[26] He went back to Cody Starbuck with a story inHeavy Metal between May and September 1981, in the same painted art style he'd used for the Moorcock graphic novel.
In June 1980, a story that he collaborated on with Samuel R. Delany, called "Seven Moons' Light Casts Complex Shadows" was published in Marvel'sEpic Illustrated #2.[27]
In 1983, Chaykin launchedAmerican Flagg! forFirst Comics. With Chaykin as both writer and artist, the series was successful for First and proved highly influential, mixing all of Chaykin's previous ideas and interests—jazz,pulp adventure, science fiction and sex. Chaykin made wide use ofCraftint Duoshade illustration boards, which in the period before computers allowed him to add a shaded texture to the finished art.[28]American Flagg! made a huge splash at the 1984Eagle Awards, the United Kingdom's pre-eminent comics awards. Chaykin andAmerican Flagg! were nominated for ten awards,[29] eventually winning seven.[30]
After the first 26 issues ofAmerican Flagg!, Chaykin started work on new projects. Chaykin's involvement in his original run of the series was that of writer for 29 issues, interior artist for issues #1–12 and 14–26, and cover artist for issues #1–33. He returned to full art and writing for theAmerican Flagg! Special one-shot in 1986. In 1987, a four-issue run was released, then the title was cancelled and relaunched asHoward Chaykin's American Flagg!, which ran 12 issues.
The first new project was a revamp ofThe Shadow in a four-issue miniseries forDC Comics in 1986.[31] Rather than setting the series in its traditional 1930s milieu, Chaykin updated it to a contemporary setting and included his own style of extreme violence. In a 2012 interview, Chaykin stated, "The reason I pulled him out of the period was because I thought it would be commercial suicide to do a period character at that point."[32]
TheAmerican Flagg! Special one-shot introduced Chaykin'sTime², a two-volume graphic-novel series with a heavy dose of jazz,film noir and a fantasy version of New York City:Time²: The Epiphany (ISBN 0-915419-07-6) andTime²: The Satisfaction of Black Mariah (ISBN 0-915419-23-8)). In 1987, Chaykin described plans for a third volume, saying, "It's probably going to be grossly different from the first two, because I'm taking things in another direction ... I want to do a story that is both very funny ... and at the same time very, very ugly. Really nasty and unpleasant. Because frankly, it's the place to do that sort of thing."[33] Although Chaykin hoped it would be available in 1988,[33] the third volume will be included in the Time² Omnibus, released in February, 2024 throughImage Comics.
Chaykin has describedTime² as the single work about which he is most proud.[4] "To tell you the truth, my first interest would be to do anotherTime² because that was a very personal product for me," he said in 2008. "It's a fantasia of my family's story."[34]
Before returning toAmerican Flagg!, Chaykin revamped another DC Comics character withBlackhawk, a three-issue miniseries about a team of heroic aviators, set in the 1930s.
In 1987, DC proposed a system of labeling comics for violent or sexual content, Chaykin withAlan Moore andFrank Miller boycotted DC and refused to work for the company.[35]
In 1988, Chaykin created perhaps his most controversial[36] title:Black Kiss, a 12-issue series published byVortex Comics that contained his most explicit depictions of sex and violence, with a story of sex-obsessedvampires inHollywood. ThoughBlack Kiss shipped sealed in an "adults only" clear plastic bag, its content drew much criticism.[37] This did not stop it from selling well enough for Chaykin to describe it as "probably, on a per-page basis, the most profitable book I've ever done."[38]
Chaykin returned to DC to write the three-issueminiseriesTwilight, drawn byJosé Luis García-López and revamping some of DC's science-fiction heroes of the 1950s and 1960s, such asTommy Tomorrow andSpace Cabby. Later, Chaykin collaborated twice with artistMike Mignola: In 1990–1991, they produced theFafhrd and the Gray Mouser miniseries forEpic Comics with co-writerJohn Francis Moore and inkerAl Williamson. This was followed with theIronwolf: Fires of the Revolution graphic novel in 1992.[39] Chaykin then wrote and illustratedMidnight Men for Marvel's Epic imprint in 1993. He co-created/designedFirearm forMalibu Comics that same year, and then with several colleagues formed the creator-ownedBravura imprint for Malibu Comics. Chaykin created the four-issue miniseriesPower and Glory in 1994, a superhero-themedpublic relations satire.
In 1996, DC'sHelix imprint publishedCyberella, acyberpunkdystopia written by Chaykin and drawn by Don Cameron.
Chaykin began to drift out of comics by the mid-1990s. With the exception of severalElseworlds stories he wrote for DC Comics, includingBatman: Dark Allegiances which he wrote and drew in 1996, his comic output became minimal as he became more involved in film and television work. He was executive script consultant for the 1990–1991The Flash television series onCBS,[40] and later worked on action-adventure programs such asViper,Earth: Final Conflict andMutant X.
Near the end of the decade, Chaykin returned to comics and co-wrote withDavid Tischman the three-issue miniseriesPulp Fantastic for theVertigo imprint of DC, with art byRick Burchett.
Chaykin began co-writingAmerican Century with David Tischman for Vertigo.[41] This story, set in post-war America, would be a pulp-adventure strip inspired by the likes ofTerry and the Pirates as well as theEC Comics war stories created byHarvey Kurtzman. That year, Chaykin became part of the creative team onMutant X, a television series inspired by theMarvel Comics series of mutant titles.
His next work wasMighty Love, a 96-page original graphic novel published in 2004 and described as "You've Got Mail with super-powers".[42] This was acclaimed as a return to the type of work he did onAmerican Flagg! and contained his first art in a title since the early 1990s.
That year, Chaykin and Tischman revampedChallengers of the Unknown in a six-issue mini-series for DC, as well as writing a mini-series aboutgangster vampires calledBite Club for Vertigo.[43] The pair wroteBarnum!: In Secret Service to the USA, a graphic novel in which real-life showmanP. T. Barnum comes to the aid of the U.S. government.[44]
In 2005, Chaykin produced the six-partCity of Tomorrow, a DC/Wildstorm production involving a futuristic city populated by gangsterrobots. Chaykin described the mini-series as "The Untouchables meetsWest World atEpcot."[45] That same year, he wrote the four-issue mini-seriesLegend updating the characterHugo Danner for Wildstorm.
He illustrated24 College Ave., a story serialized online in 54 chapters forESPN.com's Page 2 section. ESPN.com columnist Jim Caple wrote the text, each episode of which was accompanied by a single-panel Chaykin drawing.[46]
In 2006, he began working on his first superhero title for DC Comics, pencillingHawkgirl, withWalter Simonson writing, starting with issue #50.[47] With issue 56, he stopped drawing the series, mainly to get time to work on Marvel'sBlade withMarc Guggenheim, although he continued to drawHawkgirl covers for eight more issues.
Also in 2006, DC Comics published a two-pageBlack Canaryorigin story drawn by Chaykin for the series52. Later that year, DC releasedGuy Gardner: Collateral Damage. The two-issue series, written and drawn by Chaykin, revolves around theGreen Lantern Corps' role in an interstellar war.
AfterBlade was cancelled with issue 12, he pencilled issue 50 ofPunisher,Wolverine (vol. 3) #56–61,Punisher War Journal (vol. 2) (#16–24) and an issue ofImmortal Iron Fist. Chaykin illustrated the 2008Marvel MAX comicWar Is Hell: The First Flight of thePhantom Eagle, scripted byGarth Ennis. He wroteSupreme Power vol. 3 #1–12 (Sep. 2008 – July 2009) for Marvel. In 2009, he wrote and penciledDominic Fortune.
In 2010 he wroteDie Hard: Year One, a comic aboutJohn McClane from theDie Hard series forBoom! Studios.[48] Marvel in June 2010 published aRawhide Kid miniseries drawn by Chaykin and written by Ron Zimmerman.[11]
Chaykin wrote and drew theAvengers 1959 five-issue miniseries, a spinoff of astoryline introduced inNew Avengers. The first issue was released in October 2011.[49]
Chaykin helmed a reboot of the science-fiction characterBuck Rogers beginning in August 2013, again in the capacity of both artist and writer.[50]
In 2018, Chaykin beganHey Kids! Comics!, a cynical parody of the history of the rise of the comics industry and the many creators exploited in the process (particularly those exploited byMarvel Comics). ThisImage Comics series was completed in September 2023 after three volumes and 17 total issues.[51]
In April 2022, Chaykin was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed toOperation USA's benefit anthology book,Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded byIDW Publishing Special Projects EditorScott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[52][53] Chaykin's contribution was a story featuringAmerican Flagg!.[54]
In 1972, Chaykin married Daina Graziunas.[3] The marriage ended in 1977, and the following year he married Leslie Zahler.[55] That marriage ended in 1986, and in 1989, in Los Angeles, Chaykin married Jeni Munn, a union that lasted through 1992.[56] In November 2002, in Ventura, Chaykin married Laurel Beth Rice.
As of 2013, Chaykin serves on the Disbursement Committee of the comic-book industry charityThe Hero Initiative.[57]
His work as an artist (interior pencil art, except where noted) includes:
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Fantasy became a DC Comics reality when writer/editor Denny O'Neil and artist Howard Chaykin brought forth a new comic based on Fritz Leiber's adventurous and virtuous warriors of myth, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
Roy Thomas conceived the initial idea of an alternate-future Earth sequel to H. G. Wells' classic science fiction novelThe War of the Worlds...Neal Adams plotted the first story with a script by Gerry Conway and art by Adams and Howard Chaykin.
Black Kiss purposefully broke several boundaries of comic book propriety, and it was a huge sales success. It was also one of the most harshly criticized comics of its time.
We come to another of Chaykin's works—one mired in such controversy it saw the comic censored and even banned in some countries—Black Kiss.
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