Klaus Janson Explained

Birth Date:23 January 1952
Birth Place:Coburg, West Germany
Nationality:Naturalized American
Pencil:y
Ink:y
Color:y
Notable Works:The Dark Knight Returns
Daredevil
Awards:Kirby Award (x2)
Eisner Award, 2004
Harvey Award (x3)
Inkwell Award The Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award (2010)
Inkwell Award for Favorite Inker (2013)

Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952)[1] [2] is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and colorist.

Early life

Klaus Janson was born in Coburg, West Germany.[3] He emigrated to the United States in 1957, settling with his family in Connecticut,[3] where he lived in Bridgeport from 1957 to 1972.[4] When he was young, his Spider-Man collection was thrown away by his mother. Janson then became interested in the premiering character Daredevil, who wasn't popular among Janson's friends.[5]

Career

After a short stint as assistant to Dick Giordano in the early 1970s,[6] Janson's first credited comics artwork was published by Marvel Comics in Jungle Action #6 (Sept. 1973). Janson came to prominence as the inker over Sal Buscema's pencils on The Defenders. Since then he has freelanced on most of the major titles at Marvel and DC. In 1975 he began a long run as inker on Daredevil, running from #124 (Aug. 1975) to #196 (July 1983). With #171 the series went from bi-monthly to monthly; unable to handle the increased workload, then-writer/penciler Frank Miller began increasingly relying on Janson for the artwork, sending him looser and looser pencils beginning with #173.[7] By issue #185, Miller had virtually relinquished his role as Daredevil's artist, and was providing only rough layouts for Janson to pencil, ink, and color.[7] After Miller's departure, Janson drew the series by himself for four issues.

Janson began working for DC Comics in the early 1980s and inked Gene Colan's pencils on Detective Comics and Jemm, Son of Saturn. Janson was one of the artists on Superman #400 (Oct. 1984)[8] and was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series.[9] His collaboration with Miller on Daredevil would soon be eclipsed by a second collaboration between them, on Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in 1986.[10] Janson has frequently pencilled and inked for various Batman titles, including the first Detective Comics Annual with writer Dennis O'Neil,[11] "Gothic" with Grant Morrison,[12] and "Knightfall" with Doug Moench.[13] In 1994, Janson drew the Batman-Spawn: War Devil intercompany crossover which was written by Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant.[14] Janson wrote a short story in the anthology miniseries #3 (August 1996). Janson drew part of the "Cataclysm" crossover as well.[15]

Janson and writer Mike Baron introduced the character Microchip as an ally of the Punisher in The Punisher #4 (November 1987).[16] In 1993, Janson drew a three-part story featuring Electro for Spider-Man #38–40.[17] Janson inked the early issues of The Sensational Spider-Man which had been written and penciled by Dan Jurgens.[18] Janson's work as an inker and occasional penciler at Marvel Comics includes collaborations with John Romita Jr. on Wolverine, The Amazing Spider-Man and Black Panther. His other work includes Batman: Death and the Maidens,[19] World War Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, Logan's Run, and . In 2010, he inked Romita Jr.'s pencils on The Avengers. and in 2014 the two artists collaborated on Superman.[20] Janson was one of the artists on which was co-written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello.[21]

Janson has taught sequential storytelling at the School of Visual Arts in New York City since the 1990s[22] and has written both The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics and The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics. Janson also holds annual seminars at Marvel for the editorial staff and their up-and-coming artists, and taught short courses on comics storytelling for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art.[6]

In 2015, Janson was the Guest of Honor at the 2015 Inkwell Awards Awards Ceremony at HeroesCon.[23]

Awards

Bibliography

Image

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

DC Comics

A Contract On Gawd #1 (1994)

Marvel Comics

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Miller . John Jackson . John Jackson Miller . Comics Industry Birthdays . . June 10, 2005 . Iola, Wisconsin . https://web.archive.org/web/20110218031356/http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays . February 18, 2011 . dead .
  2. Book: Schmidt, Andy . The Insider's Guide To Creating Comics And Graphic Novels. Impact Books. February 13, 2009. registration. 139. The Insider's Guide To Creating Comics Klaus Janson.. 978-1600610226.
  3. Web site: Klaus Janson. February 18, 2011. Lambiek Comiclopedia. https://web.archive.org/web/20120923032126/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/j/janson_klaus.htm. September 23, 2012. live. August 14, 2009.
  4. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070927212433/http://www.chs.org/comics/creators.htm . September 27, 2007 . Connecticut Talent . . Hartford, Connecticut . dead .
  5. introduction to "Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus"
  6. Web site: Storytelling for Comics Artists. 2010. Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art. https://web.archive.org/web/20100325021835/http://moccany.org/content/education. March 25, 2010. dead. After a short stint as assistant to Dick Giordano in the early 1970s, Klaus Janson went freelance, working for several comics publishers as writer, penciler, inker and colorist..
  7. Cordier. Philippe. April 2007. Seeing Red: Dissecting Daredevil's Defining Years. Back Issue!. 21. 33–60. TwoMorrows Publishing. Raleigh, North Carolina.
  8. Addiego. Frankie. Superman #400. Back Issue!. 69. 68–70. TwoMorrows Publishing. December 2013. Raleigh, North Carolina.
  9. Greenberger. Robert. Robert Greenberger. It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at the DC Challenge!. Back Issue!. 98. 37–38. TwoMorrows Publishing. August 2017. Raleigh, North Carolina.
  10. Book: Manning. Matthew K.. Dolan. Hannah. 1980s. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. 2010. London, United Kingdom. 978-0-7566-6742-9. 219. It is arguably the best Batman story of all time. Written and drawn by Frank Miller (with inspired inking by Klaus Janson and beautiful watercolors by Lynn Varley), Batman: The Dark Knight revolutionized the entire genre of the super hero..
  11. Book: Manning. Matthew K.. Dougall. Alastair. 1980s. Batman: A Visual History. Dorling Kindersley. 2014. London, United Kingdom. 174. 978-1465424563. Dennis O'Neil stepped out of his editorial role once again to chronicle a Batman adventure for Detective Comics first annual. Illustrated by Klaus Janson, Batman and Talia al Ghul hunted for the Penguin..
  12. Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 186: "Grant Morrison stepped up to the plate to pen [''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight's''] next five-issue storyline, illustrated by Klaus Janson."
  13. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 259: "'Knightfall' was a nineteen-part crossover event that passed through the pages of...the Showcase '93 Two-Face feature scripted by Doug Moench and drawn by Klaus Janson."
  14. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 267: "Fans were also treated to a companion special entitled Batman-Spawn...by writers Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant, and artist Klaus Janson."
  15. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 283: "The seventeen-part 'Cataclysm' storyline showed a Gotham City devastated by an earthquake."
  16. Book: DeFalco. Tom. Tom DeFalco. Gilbert. Laura. 1980s. Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. Dorling Kindersley. 2008. London, United Kingdom. 232. 978-0756641238. Linus 'Microchip' Lieberman first appeared in this issue by writer Mike Baron and artist Klaus Janson..
  17. Book: Cowsill. Alan. Gilbert. Laura. 1990s. Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. Dorling Kindersley. 2012. London, United Kingdom. 205. 978-0756692360. Long-time Spidey villain Electro was the focus of a three-part tale written by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Klaus Janson..
  18. Cowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 224: "The new Spidey title felt fresh and exciting...Issue #0, written and penciled by Dan Jurgens, with Klaus Janson inking, provided a quick recap for latecomers."
  19. Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 269: "Writer Greg Rucka and artist Klaus Janson created this series that delved into the family tree of [Ra's al Ghul]."
  20. Web site: Geoff Johns Returns To Superman In Collaboration With John Romita Jr. . Andy . Khouri . February 4, 2014 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20140206030224/http://comicsalliance.com/superman-geoff-johns-john-romita-jr-dc-comics/ . February 6, 2014 . dead .
  21. Web site: Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson Join The Master Race (The Comic) . Andrew . Wheeler . July 9, 2015 . ComicsAlliance . https://web.archive.org/web/20150814061150/http://comicsalliance.com/andy-kubert-klaus-janson-dark-knight-master-race/ . August 14, 2015 . dead .
  22. Web site: Our Faculty: Klaus Janson . n.d. . . https://web.archive.org/web/20140106041447/http://www.sva.edu/faculty/klaus-janson . January 6, 2014 . live . November 29, 2012 .
  23. Web site: Guest of Honor Klaus Janson to speak at the 2015 Inkwell Awards Ceremony during Heroes Con. Bob. Almond . Bob Almond. June 10, 2015. Inkwell Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20160308183448/http://www.inkwellawards.com/?p=4428. March 8, 2016. live.
  24. Web site: Jean-Paul. Jenneguin (manga critic). Toriyama Exhibition Essays: AKIRA TORIYAMA AND FRANCE. Kanzenshuu: The Perfect Dragon Ball Collection. February 6, 2023. In November 1989, I was a guest lecturer at the First Anglo-Saxon Comics Festival in Villeneuve-d'Ascq,... a suburb of Lille, a city in the north of France. Two fans of American comics had thought the town would be the ideal location for a comics festival focusing on American and British comics, as Villeneuve is very close to Britain..
  25. Web site: 2010 Harvey Award winners. Heidi. MacDonald. August 30, 2010. Comics Beat. https://web.archive.org/web/20151001191949/http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010-harvey-award-winners/. October 1, 2015. live. mdy-all.
  26. Web site: 2010 Winners. Bob. Almond. January 23, 2011. Inkwell Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20160319063226/http://www.inkwellawards.com/?page_id=34. March 19, 2016. live. mdy-all.
  27. Web site: Comic-Con International's Newest Inkpot Award Winners! . 2013 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20150508040502/http://comic-con.org/toucan/comic-con-internationals-newest-inkpot-award-winners . May 8, 2015 . live . mdy-all .
  28. Web site: Saga Wins Big At 2013 Harvey Awards, Plus Complete List Of Winners. Mark. Seifert. September 7, 2013. Bleeding Cool. https://web.archive.org/web/20130909074248/http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/09/07/saga-wins-big-at-2013-harvey-awards-plus-complete-list-of-winners/. September 9, 2013. live. mdy-all. Archive requires scrolldown
  29. Web site: 2013 Winners. Bob. Almond. June 12, 2013. Inkwell Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20160318155154/http://www.inkwellawards.com/?page_id=3365. March 18, 2016. live. mdy-all.
  30. Web site: Saga & Peanuts Top 2016 Harvey Awards Winners, One Publisher Major Shut Out. September 6, 2016. Newsarama. https://web.archive.org/web/20160907142616/http://www.newsarama.com/30898-2016-harvey-awards-winners.html. September 7, 2016. live. mdy-all.

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