| Liz Safian-Berube | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth Ann Safian[1] (1943-01-07)January 7, 1943 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | January 15, 2021(2021-01-15) (aged 78) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist,Penciller,Inker, Editor,Colourist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Elizabeth Liz Safian |
Notable works | Karen; DC romance comics |
Elizabeth Safian Berube (January 7, 1943 – January 15, 2021) was anAmericancomic book artist, best known as aromance comics artist forDC Comics in the 1970s. Simply signing her work "Elizabeth," her modern, stylized art was used to illustrate fashion features,horoscope pages,tables of contents, and other various ornamental pieces. She was also a prolificcolorist, first forArchie Comics and later for DC. Throughout her career she worked onchildren’s books,greeting cards, and other commissioned work.[1]
Berube was born inBrooklyn, New York, where she was influenced byPogo andEC Comics, as well as the movieFantasia.[1] Fine arts influences includedAlphonse Mucha, and theArt Deco andArt Nouveau movements.[2]
She attendedMartin Van Buren High School inQueens (graduating at age 16 in 1959),[2] where she started a comic strip for the school newspaper, which has been continued by different students to this day.[2] She studied cartooning at theSchool of Visual Arts[1] from 1959 to 1961.
After leaving SVA, Berube became a colorist and assistant editor forArchie Comics, continuing at that publisher in various freelance capacities until 1975.[1] In the early 1960s, she met DC editorJack Adler, who later brought her into the publisher.[2]
In the late 1960s, hernewspaper strip,Karen, (credited to her maiden name "Elizabeth Ann Safian")[2] was carried byNewsday Syndicate[1] in 40 newspapers at its peak.[3] Berube had calledKaren "my alter ego."[citation needed]
In 1969 she began working on DC’s romance comics line,[1] bringing more modern, stylized art to the genre, which was still being drawn in the realistic style that had become parodied (particularly byRoy Lichtenstein) inPop Art. One of the few women in the field,[4][2] Berube worked on such titles asDate with Debbi,Falling in Love,Girls' Love Stories,Girls' Romances,Heart Throbs,Secret Hearts,Young Love, andYoung Romance. At some point during this period, Berube was offered the position of editor of the whole line, but as a single mother in her mid-twenties, she preferred the flexibility of working from home that pencilling and coloring allowed, and declined.[2] The DC romance line folded a few years later; Berube was the last female contributor.[5]
From the mid-1970s through the 1980s Berube worked as a colorist, mostly for DC. She was known for mixing her own hues and marking the combinations for the printing separators.[2] She also did coloring forNeal Adams’Continuity Studios in the mid-to-late 1980s.[1] Berube credits Jack Adler and Corey Adams (Neal Adams' wife) for teaching her the techniques of comics coloring.[3]
Her son David was born in 1965; she raised him as a single mother.[6] In 1981, Berube moved from New York City toMaine. She returned to New York in the mid-1980s.[3] In 1999, Berube moved toBandon, Oregon, and by 2001 had relocated toJerome, Arizona. She later lived inScottsdale, Arizona.[citation needed]
Berube died on January 15, 2021.[7]
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