David Mazzucchelli

David Mazzucchelli
Born	1960
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist
Notable works	Asterios Polyp Daredevil Batman: Year One Rubber Blanket City of Glass: The Graphic Novel
Awards	Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon; New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship; Japan/U.S. Friendship Commission Creative Artists Fellowship; [1] Los Angeles Times Book Prize

David Mazzucchelli (born 1960) is an American comic book artist and writer. His latest work is the award-winning graphic novel, Asterios Polyp.

Career

Mazzucchelli's cover to Batman #407, the fourth chapter of 1987's Batman: Year One.

Mazzucchelli received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and started working in comics in the early 1980s, first at Marvel Comics where, after a few fill-in jobs, he became the regular artist on Daredevil. He developed his skills working with writer Denny O'Neil and culminated his work on this title with the popular and critically acclaimed Daredevil: Born Again story arc, written by Frank Miller (now collected in book form). Mazzucchelli began as a traditional superhero artist but over the span of his time on Daredevil, his work became more nuanced and expressionistic.

Miller and Mazzucchelli collaborated again on the graphic novel, Batman: Year One, serialized in issues 404 through 407 of DC Comics' monthly Batman title, and published in a single volume soon after that. Batman: Year One is considered one of the best Batman stories ever produced, and has served as a model for many subsequent creators.

After Batman: Year One Mazzucchelli abandoned the superhero genre to focus on more personal projects.^[2] He published three issues of his own independent anthology, Rubber Blanket, co-edited by his wife, the painter Richmond Lewis, in which he began finding his voice as a writer in addition to exploring new avenues of visual expression. His evocative and haunting stories in Rubber Blanket, notably "Near Miss," "Dead Dog," "Discovering America," and "Big Man," set the stage for his work to come. With writer/artist Paul Karasik, he co-wrote and illustrated an adaptation of Paul Auster's City of Glass, published first by Avon Books in 1994, then by Picador in 2004 as City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. (Auster's later book The Brooklyn Follies features a character with the name Nancy Mazzucchelli, an homage to David.) He continued to write and draw short comics for various publishers up to the year 2000.

In 2009, Pantheon Books published Mazzucchelli's most ambitious work yet, the critically lauded graphic novel, Asterios Polyp.^[3] A tour de force of comics technique, Asterios Polyp tells the complex and moving story—laced with humor— of the title character's journey of self-discovery. In his review in The New York Times, Douglas Wolk wrote, "'Asterios Polyp' is a dazzling, expertly constructed entertainment, even as it’s maddening and even suffocating at times. It demands that its audience wrestle with it, argue with it, reread and re-examine it." The New York Times included it in its 100 Notable Books of 2009, and The Los Angeles Times awarded it the first Book Prize in the category of Graphic Novel the following year.

Mazzucchelli has also done illustrations for various publications, including interior pieces and covers for The New Yorker.

Mazzucchelli taught a course in comics at the Rhode Island School of Design for several years, and currently teaches an undergraduate course for seniors majoring in cartooning at the School of Visual Arts.^[4]

Bibliography

Interior comic work includes:

• The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu #121: "Passing Strangers!" (with Steven Grant, Marvel, 1983)
• Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #14: "Demons" (with David Michelinie, Marvel, 1984)
• World's Finest Comics #302: "No Rest for Heroes!" (with David Anthony Kraft, DC Comics, 1984)
• Daredevil (Marvel, 1984–1986):
  • "Every Good and Perfect Gift..." (with Dennis O'Neil, in #206, 1984)
  • "The Deadliest Night of My Life!" (with Harlan Ellison and Arthur Byron Cover, in #208, 1984)
  • "Blast from the Past" (with Arthur Byron Cover, in #209, 1984)
  • "The War on Micah Synn" (with Dennis O'Neil, in #210-214, 1984–1985)
  • "Prophecy" (with Dennis O'Neil, in #215, 1985)
  • "The Second Secret" (with Dennis O'Neil, in #216-217, 1985)
  • "Fog" (with Dennis O'Neil, in #220-221, 1985)
  • "Fear in a Handful of Dust..." (with Dennis O'Neil, in #222, 1985)
  • "The Price" (with Dennis O'Neil and Jim Shooter, in #223, 1985)
  • "...And Then You Die!" (with Dennis O'Neil, in #225, 1985)
  • "Warriors" (with Dennis O'Neil and Frank Miller, in #226, 1986)
  • "Born Again" (with Frank Miller, in #227-233, 1986)
• Star Wars #84: "Seoul Searching" (with Roy Richardson, Marvel, 1984)
• Marvel Team-Up Annual #7: "No Place to Run" (with Bob De Natale, Marvel, 1984)
• Batman #404-407: "Year One" (with Frank Miller, DC Comics, 1987)
• X-Factor #16: "Playing with Fire!" (with Louise Simonson, Marvel, 1987)
• Marvel Fanfare #40: "Chiaroscuro" (with Ann Nocenti, Marvel, 1988)
• Rubber Blanket #1-3 (script and art, self-published, 1991–1993)
• Nozone (1991–1995):
  • "Cold Truth" (script and art, in #3, 1991)
  • "Sorry" (script and art, in #5, 1993)
  • "Untitled" (script and art, in #6, 1995)
• Drawn & Quarterly (Drawn and Quarterly, 1992–1994):
  • "It's a Beautiful Day..." (script and art, in v1 #9, 1992)
  • "A Brief History of Civilization" (script and art, in v1 #9, 1992)
  • "Rates of Exchange" (script and art, in v2 #2, 1994)
• Snake Eyes #3: "Phobia" (script and art, Fantagraphics Books, 1993)
• Paul Auster's City of Glass (with Paul Karasik, graphic novel, Avon Books, 1994)
• Zero Zero (Fantagraphics Books, 1995–2000):
  • "Stop the Hair Nude" (script and art, in #2, 1995)
  • "Stubs" (script and art, in #11, 1996)
  • "Still Life" (script and art, in #27, 2000)
• Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tale Funnies: "The Fisherman and the Sea Princess" (script and art, anthology graphic novel, HarperCollins, 2000)
• Superman and Batman: World's Funnest: "Last Imp Standing!" (with Evan Dorkin, among other artists, one-shot, DC Comics, 2000)
• The Comics Journal Special #1: "The Boy Who Loved Comics" (script and art, Fantagraphics Books, 2001)
• Asterios Polyp (script and art, graphic novel, Pantheon Books, 2009)

Covers only

• ROM Spaceknight #61 (Marvel, 1984)
• Marvel Age #36 (Marvel, 1986)
• Amazing Heroes #102 (Fantagraphics Books, 1986)
• The Amazing Spider-Man #287 (Marvel, 1987)
• Snake Eyes #1 (Fantagraphics Books, 1990)
• Cheval Noir #40 (Dark Horse, 1993)
• The Comics Journal #188, 194 (Fantagraphics Books, 1996–1997)

Other work

• Detective Comics #598, 600: "Tribute: People of Note Pay Homage to the Batman" (pin-ups, DC Comics, 1989)
• Negative Burn (Caliber, 1994):
  • "Spotlight: Rubber Blanket" (in #10, 1994)
  • "Sketchbook" (in #17, 1994)
• Comic Book Artist #6: "Paying Homage: Tribute to the Great Will Eisner" (Top Shelf, 2005)

Newspapers & magazines

• "Castles in the Sand" (cover of The New Yorker, Jul 26, 1993)
• "The Fine Art of Hanging Ryman" (in The New Yorker, Oct 4, 1993)
• "May Day" (cover of The New Yorker, May 2, 1994)
• "Post Mort on Columbus Circle" (in The New Yorker, May 16, 1994)
• "Monday in the Park with Marlon" (in The New Yorker, Sep 19, 1994)
• "Fall" (cover of The New Yorker, Oct 24, 1994)
• "New String" (in The Village Voice, 1994)

Interviews

• Marvel Age #36 (Marvel, 1986)
• Amazing Heroes #102 (Fantagraphics Books, 1986)
• Comic Culture v2 #4 (Richard Relkin, 1995)
• The Comics Journal #152, 194, 300^[5] (Fantagraphics Books, 1992–2009)
• Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling (TwoMorrows, 2002)
• Indy Magazine (2004)

Awards

• The American Comic Book Awards, 1985
• Kirby Award—Best Single Issue (Daredevil #227), 1986
• Kirby Award—Best Writer/Artist (single or team), 1986
• Haxtur Award—Best Drawing, 1987
• New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship, 1994
• Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, 1993
• Japan/US friendship Commission Creative Artists Fellowship, 2000
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize Graphic Novel award, 2009^[6]
• Reuben Award (National Cartoonists Society)—Best Graphic Novel 2009 (Asterios Polyp), 2010
• Eisner Awards—Best New Graphic Novel (Asterios Polyp); Best Single Issue or Story; Best Lettering, 2010
• Harvey Awards—Best Original Graphic Novel (Asterios Polyp); Best Writer/Artist; Best Letterer, 2010
• Grand Jury Prize, Angoulême International Comics Festival, 2011 (for Asterios Polyp)

References

1. ^ Biography from "Comics On the Verge" exhibition
2. ^ Young, Frank. "Comics Used to be about Telling Stories: David Mazzucchelli Discusses his Transition from Mainstream to Independence", The Comics Journal #152 (August 1992), pp. 114–199.
3. ^ Reid, Calvin. "Fall 2008: New Comics from Pantheon", Publishers Weekly (Nov. 13, 2007). Accessed Jan. 26, 2009.
4. ^ SVA Events for November 19, 2008
5. ^ Shaw, Dash (December 16, 2009). "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal. http://classic.tcj.com/tcj-300/tcj-300-conversations-david-mazzucchelli-dash-shaw/. 
6. ^ Garrison, Jessica (April 24, 2010). "Rafael Yglesias’ ‘A Happy Marriage’ wins Times Book Prize for fiction". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0424-bookprize-20100424,0,1170338.story. Retrieved April 24, 2010. 

External links

• David Mazzucchelli at the Comic Book DB
• Biography from the 2004 exhibit "Comics On the Verge"
• Mazzucchelli in Little Lit
• Mazzucchelli bio at Read Yourself Raw
• Mazzucchelli bio at Lambiek.net
• Mazzucchelli at the International Who is Who in Cartooning
• Mazzucchelli interview, indy magazine (spring 2004)
• David Mazzuchelli: El Naturalismo Expresionista

Preceded by William Johnson

Daredevil artist 1984–1986

Succeeded by Steve Ditko

Persondata
Name	Mazzucchelli, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1960
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death