 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Carl Gafford" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Carl Gafford | |
|---|---|
| Born | Karl Douglas Gafford[1] (1953-11-23)November 23, 1953 |
| Died | July 13, 2020(2020-07-13) (aged 66) |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Editor,Colourist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Gaff Douglas Gafford Jones |
Notable works | The Amazing World of DC Comics The Legion of Super-Heroes |
Carl Gafford (November 23, 1953[2]–July 13, 2020) was acolorist (and occasional editor) who worked for several decades in thecomics industry. He worked for a number of publishers during his career, includingMarvel Comics,DC Comics, andTopps Comics. Gafford was notable for his use of the "color hold" technique in his coloring work[3] (where the black areas of the art are replaced with another color).[4]
Carl Gafford was a member of comicsfandom as a teen, writing and drawing his ownditto machinefanzineMinotaur from 1968 to 1972, as well as contributing art and writing to other fanzines and the amateur press allianceCAPA-alpha ("K-a") beginning in December 1970. Inc. 1968, he created Blue Plaque Publications, the firstminicomic co-op, a cooperative ofminicomic creators that traded and promoted small press comics and fanzines, that exists to this day.[3]
Gafford had an itinerant path through higher education, attendingWestern Connecticut State University for two years, theUniversity of Massachusetts Boston for one year, andSan Francisco State University for one year. He earned his B.A. in history from theCollege of Staten Island.[1]
Gafford began his professional career atDC Comics as an assistantproofreader in the production department in March 1973, and was promoted to full proofreader at the end of the year with the retirement of Gerta Gattel. Gafford started coloring feature pages in the production department, eventually doing regular freelance coloring beginning withJustice League of America #115. He was promoted to assistant production manager in August 1974 and began work on DC's in-house fanzine,The Amazing World of DC Comics, doing editing, writing, production work andcolor separations.
Gafford moved toSan Francisco in September 1976, then toLos Angeles in 1977 to color and write for theHanna-Barbera comics produced for Marvel Comics. Titles includedYogi Bear,The Flintstones,Scooby-Doo,Laff-A-Lympics and others. During this time, Gafford also worked in Hanna-Barbera's layout department on such TV shows asGodzilla andSuper Friends before returning toNew York City in August 1978. Gafford went to work in Marvel Comics' production department, first as a freelancer then as the staff typesetter.
Gafford left Marvel in January 1981 and began freelancing for both DC and Marvel, one of the fewcolorists to work at both companies at the same time.[citation needed] He returned to staff at DC in the summer of 1981 as the proofreader, then by year's end had becomeLen Wein's assistant editor onJustice League,The Flash,Teen Titans, and theBatman books.[5] At this time, Gafford became editor ofAdventure Comics Digest, and with writerBob Rozakis revived theChallengers of the Unknown, with art first byGeorge Tuska and later byAlex Toth. Gafford also wrote most of the short-livedCreeper backup series inThe Flash,[6] featuring British artistDave Gibbons' first work for DC — though most of the scripts were scrapped after a change of editors.[7] He colored the second-to-last issue[8] and was the artist on the final back-up.[9]
During this time, Gafford began coloringThe Legion of Super-Heroes with #288, and continued on that run for seven years without missing an issue, totaling 125 regular issues, giants, miniseries and two different Legion books a month for a year.
Gafford returned to freelance coloring for DC and Marvel in summer 1982.
In June 1990, Gafford began working forDisney Comics, producing a series of comics based onMickey Mouse,Goofy, new TV cartoon shows likeChip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers andDuck Tales, and the continuation ofUncle Scrooge andWalt Disney's Comics and Stories fromGladstone Publishing. He freelanced forDark Horse Comics andInnovation while at Disney, and did some editing of the final Disney Comics publication, anAladdin miniseries, while helping to transition the end of the Disney Comics line, returning the license to Gladstone Publishing.
In March 1993, Gafford moved back to New York to helpJim Shooter launch his newDefiant Comics line.
In June 1993, Gafford was hired by formerMarvel editorJim Salicrup for the new line ofTopps Comics, produced by the sports trading card publisherTopps. Gafford was laid off from Topps at the end of January 1997 along with other staffers, including editor-in-chief Salicrup. The few who remained were let go before year's end, and some of the inventory eventually saw print atDark Horse Comics.[citation needed]
Starting in 1994, Gafford returned to writing and drawing, this time for theanthropomorphic (furry) market, and produced material that saw print atAntarctic Press,Radio Comics, andShanda Fantasy Arts. He also wrote and drew original comics stories reminiscent of 1950s and '60s superhero genres which saw print inBig Bang Comics: two stories were redrawn by other artists, but the final one ("Ladybug," a combination ofFly Girl andSupergirl) featured Gafford's own art, the last to appear in print.
Gafford and his first wife Sharon had a son, William, born in May 1985.[citation needed] The couple separated in 1986 and divorced in 1991.[1] He was also married and divorced to Garrett Gafford.[1]
Gafford died July 13, 2020, from complications related todiabetes.[3]