I just got a notice from TwoMorrows that they'll be releasing a new biography of Marie Severin on Wednesday, July 18 called Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics. TwoMorrows does really quality work overall, so I don't doubt this will be a great read. (Full disclosure: I have a column in Jack Kirby Collector and have contributed to some of their other magazines as well.) They've also got biographies of Nick Cardy and Matt Baker on top of their Modern Masters series. Marc Nobleman has a Bill Finger biography coming out shortly and Irwin Hansen has an autobiography out that I've been interested in getting my hands on. The Jackie Ormes biography was brilliantly insightful and the Julie Schwartz autobiography was pretty cool too. There's the 2007 biography of Bill Mantlo whose proceeds were used to help Mantlo's ongoing care.All of this is in addition to the comic biographies and autobiographies of the "usual suspects" Stan Lee, Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Charles Schulz, etc.
How awesome is that? Jerry Robinson! Curt Swan! Dick Giordano! Gus Arriola! Lily Renée! Twenty years ago, I would NEVER have guessed there'd be biographies about these people! Twenty years ago, I didn't even know some of these people even existed!
You know, I haven't read all of these books, so I can only speak to the quality of a a few of them. But the fact that there's enough interest out there that somebody is willing to even try to put together a biography of these comparatively obscure comic creators is absolutely fantastic! (Tell the truth: were you able to recognize each and every name I've cited in the post?) And that STILL doesn't even get into the memoir-as-comic genre that would include the likes of Marjane Satrapi and Craig Thompson. And that STILL only covers material that's been printed into book form!
I just think the volume of material out there on comic creators is really fantastic, and I urge everyone to read up on their favorite creators, as they all have fascinating stories.
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