Mark Evanier | |
|---|---|
 Evanier in 2023 | |
| Born | Mark Stephen Evanier (1952-03-02)March 2, 1952 (age 73) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author,screenwriter,biographer,comics historian |
| Genre | Comic books, television sitcoms, cartoons, biographical books |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Notable works | Blackhawk Crossfire The DNAgents Garfield and Friends Kirby: King of Comics The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show Richie Rich Scooby-Doo The Garfield Show |
| Website | |
| www | |
Mark Stephen Evanier (/ˈɛvənɪər/; born March 2, 1952)[1] is an Americancomic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV seriesGarfield and Friends and on the comic bookGroo the Wanderer.[2] He is also known for his columns and blog News from ME, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, such as his award-winningJack Kirby biography,Kirby: King of Comics.[3]
Evanier identifies asJewish. His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic.[4][5] He chose to be a writer after witnessing the misery his father felt from working for theInternal Revenue Service and contrasting that with the portrayal of a writer's life onThe Dick Van Dyke Show. He graduated fromUniversity High School in 1969. Evanier attendedUCLA but left before graduating.[6]
Evanier was president of a Los Angeles comic book club from 1966 to 1969.[7] In 1967, he suggested the titles of the officers of theMerry Marvel Marching Society.[8] He made his first professional sale in 1969;[9] that same year, through a mutual association with a Marvel Comics mail-order firm, he was taken on as a production assistant toJack Kirby.[7] Several years later Evanier began writing foreign comic books for theWalt Disney Studio Program, then from 1972 to 1976 wrote scripts forGold Key Comics, including "The Greatest of E's", where he revealed that the E inWile E. Coyote stands for "Ethelbert", and comics for theEdgar Rice Burroughs estate.[10]
In 1974, he teamed with writer Dennis Palumbo and wrote for a number of television series, includingThe Nancy Walker Show,The McLean Stevenson Show, andWelcome Back, Kotter, on which he was a story editor.[citation needed]
After leavingKotter in 1977 and amicably ending his partnership with Palumbo, Evanier wrote for and eventually ran theHanna-Barbera comic book division.[11] He also wrote a number of variety shows and specials, and he began writing for animated cartoon shows, includingScooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo,The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show,Thundarr the Barbarian,The ABC Weekend Special,Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper,Richie Rich,The Wuzzles, andDungeons & Dragons. He is most noted in animation for his work onGarfield and Friends, a seven-season series for which Evanier wrote or co-wrote nearly every episode and acted as voice recording director.[12] Since 2008, Evanier has been the co-writer and voice director ofThe Garfield Show, which won aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program forJune Foray.
Evanier credits himself with convincing Jack Kirby to stop usingVince Colletta as an inker, and he considers himself one of Colletta's "main vilifiers".[13]
He wrote a script and provided "'technical advice' about comic books" forBob,Bob Newhart's unsuccessful third sitcom forCBS.[14]
He has produced a number of comic books, includingBlackhawk,Crossfire andHollywood Superstars (withDan Spiegle),[10]Groo the Wanderer (withSergio Aragonés),[15] andThe DNAgents (withWill Meugniot). For the Spiegle comics, Evanier contributed lengthy essays on the entertainment industry. In 1985, he launched theDC Challenge limited series with artistGene Colan.[16][17] He wrote theNew Gods series of 1989–1991. Evanier collaborated withJoe Staton on theSuperman & Bugs Bunny mini-series in 2000.[18]
For many years, Evanier wrote a regular column, "Point of View", forComics Buyer's Guide.[citation needed]
Evanier's illustrated Jack Kirby biography,Kirby: King of Comics, was published in February 2008 by Abrams Books.[19] It won the 2009Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book.[3] Evanier collaborated with Aragonés andThomas Yeates on theGroo vs.Conan crossover forDark Horse Comics in 2014.[20]
In 1970, Evanier attended the Golden State Comic Con in San Diego, the first annual gathering of what came to be known asSan Diego Comic-Con. Evanier is one of a small group of people (estimated at six or fewer) who have attended every year. In 1973, he first hosted a panel at the yearly event and the volume soon escalated to the point where he was hosting as many as fourteen over a four-day convention. They usually include Quick Draw!, which pits fast cartoonists against one another to respond with drawings to challenges Evanier throws at them; the Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, Cover Story (artists discussing the skills involved in creating covers for comic books), and several panels about the art of providing voices for animated cartoons. For years, he hosted the annual Golden Age Panel featuring artists and writers who'd worked in comic books in the 1940s but it ended after 2010 due to a lack of available panelists and was replaced by That 70's Panel, celebrating comic book creators from that era. Evanier also serves as Administrator of theBill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. Several of the panels he hosts at Comic-Con also appear at the annualWonderCon in Anaheim, California.[citation needed]
In April 2022, Evanier 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.[21][22]
On May 26, 2006, Evanier underwentgastric bypass surgery atCedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Having peaked at around 344pounds (156kg) by then, he subsequently lost nearly 99 pounds (45 kg) by June 2007.[23]
Series head writer denoted inbold.
'Evanier' is not French; it was probably made up by some Immigration Officer at Ellis Island one day who said, 'Hey, here come some more Jews! Let's give them real stupid last names!
Mark Evanier...wrote [to Marvel Comics] suggesting that the M.M.M.S have officers: anyone who bought a Marvel comic was entitled to the rank of RFO (Real Frantic One) and a published letter elevated him or her to QNS (Quite 'Nuff Sayer) status.
I don't think I've ever gotten through a major comic convention without someone coming up to me and bestowing thanks for my role in getting Jack Kirby to dump Colletta as his inker around 1971. It could easily be my greatest contribution to the world of comics.
The show was created, produced and largely written by Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner and Phoef Sutton. I merely wrote one episode and, in an unofficial capacity, provided some "technical advice" about comic books and the comic book business.
A mad experiment,DC Challenge was a fun adventure, starring many DC icons. Its debut issue was penned by Mark Evanier and drawn by Gene Colan.
In the series, Aragonés draws Groo, and Tom Yeates draws Conan.
My highest-ever weight was around 365...The lowest I've hit on my scale has been 245, just one maddening pound shy of an even hundred since the operation.
The Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw) will present its sixth annual Animation Writing Award to Mark Evanier at its annual reception, Thursday, October 23, 2003.
