Herb Trimpe

Herbert "Herb" Trimpe (b. May 26, 1939 [ [http://www.cbgxtra.com/default.aspx?tabid=42&view=topic&forumid=34&postid=154 CBGXtra Forums: Comics Industry Birthdays] . Accessed April 6, 2008] , Peekskill, New York [http://www.porchdogs.com/2004/illustrators.htm "Porch Dogs": "The Illustrators—Herb Trimpe"] ] ) is an American comic book artist and occasional writer, best known for his work on "The Incredible Hulk" and as the first artist to draw for publication the hit character Wolverine. [ [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/8346/trimpe.interview.2.html Green Skin's Grab-Bag: "An Interview with Herb Trimpe" (conducted November 9, 1997), p. 2] : "That was Marvel art director John Romita's design. I drew him first in "Hulk" #181 [sic; actually in last panel of #180] . But it was Romita's vision based on [writer] Len Wein's idea."]

Biography

Early life and career

Herb Trimpe was raised in Peekskill, New York, [http://www.geocities.com/jonhulkholt/trimpe.interview.1.html Green Skin's Grab-Bag interview, p. 1] ] where he graduated from Lakeland High School. Trimpe commuted to New York City for three years to attend School of Visual Arts. There, Trimpe recalled in 2002, instructor and longtime comics artist Tom Gill needed a student "to ink his backgrounds and stuff. So that's how I started, at [Dell Comics|Dell [Comics] ] , doing mostly Westerns and also licensed books, like the adaptation of the movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth"." [http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=1413 Hatcher, Greg, "San Diego, Day 1: Reminiscing with Herb Trimpe"] , "Comic Book Resources", August 3, 2002]

Trimpe then enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he served for four years, including a year in Vietnam. Upon his discharge in October 1966, he learned that fellow SVA classmate John Verpoorten was working at Marvel Comics' production department, and cquote|...said they were hiring freelance people, and I should come up to the office and show my work to Sol Brodsky, who was [Stan Lee|Stan [Lee] 's] right-hand man at the time. ... I was just preparing to put some material together and go to DC and Charlton when I got a call from Sol Brodsky, who was production chief. He said they needed somebody on staff in the production department to run the new photostat machine they had just bought, and to do some production work. I would primarily run the 'stat' machine and wouldn't be seated at a desk, but I would be able to pick up some freelance pencilling and inking. This kind of opened the door. The staff job didn't pay much by today's standards; I think it started at $135 dollars a week which wasn't as low as it sounds. Remember, it was 1966 and that was a fairly good entry-level salary.

He joined Marvel's production staff in 1967 and remained associated with the company as a contract artist through 1996. While operating the Photostat camera in the Marvel offices, Trimpe did freelance inking for Marvel, and made his professional penciling debut with two Kid Colt Western stories, in "Kid Colt, Outlaw" #134–135 (May & July 1967). Shortly thereafter, Trimpe and writer Gary Friedrich created Marvel's World War I aviator hero the Phantom Eagle in "Marvel Super-Heroes" #16 (September 1968).

Hulk and the Silver Age of Comics

In the 1960s, during the period known as the Silver Age of Comics, Trimpe was assigned to pencil what became his signature character, the Hulk. Beginning with pencil-finishes over Marie Severin layouts in "The Incredible Hulk" #106 (August 1968), he went on to draw the character for a virtually unbroken run of over seven years, through issue #142 (August 1971), then again from #145–193 (November 1971–November 1975). Additionally, Trimpe penciled the covers of five Hulk annuals (1969, 1971–72, 1976–77, titled "King-Size Special! The Incredible Hulk" except for #4, "The Incredible Hulk Special"), and both penciled and inked the 39-page feature story of "The Incredible Hulk Annual" #12 (Aug. 1983).

Trimpe also had a year's run on "The Defenders" (#69–81, March 1979–March 1980), a superhero-team comic featuring the Hulk. He also drew the cover, featuring the Hulk, of the 1971 issue of "Rolling Stone" containing a major profile of Marvel Comics. [Green, Robin, "Face Front! Clap Your Hands, You're on the Winning Team!", "Rolling Stone" #91 (September 16, 1971), via [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/8346/rs91.facefront.1.html Green Skin's Grab-Bag: Archive] ]

The artist in 2002 recalled a less-than-smooth start to his "Hulk" tenure: "I did, like, three or four pages, and Stan [Lee] saw them and made Frank Giacoia do the layouts [for Trimpe's fourth issue, #109, November 1968] . It wasn't my storytelling, there was a good flow there, but it was too [much like] [EC Comics|EC [Comics] ] for Stan. I loved EC, the dark atmosphere and clean lines of it. ... But it wasn't right for Marvel."

Other Marvel work

As a Marvel mainstay, Trimpe would draw nearly every starring character, including Captain America ("Captain America" #184, #291), the Fantastic Four ("Fantastic Four Annual" #25–26, 1982–1983; "Fantastic Four Unlimited" #1–12, March 1993–December 1995), Iron Man ("Iron Man" #39, #82–85, and #93–94 in the 1970s, plus occasional others), Ka-Zar ("Astonishing Tales" #7–8, August & October 1971), Nick Fury ("Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." #13–15, July–November 1969 and #16–19, October 1990–January 1991), Thor ("Thor Annual" #15–16, 1990–1991), Captain Britain ("Captain Britain" #1–10), Ant-Man ("Marvel Feature" #4–6), Killraven ("Amazing Adventures" #20–24, #33), Machine Man, Rawhide Kid, Spider-Man and many more as the regular artist of "Marvel Team-Up" #106–118 (June 1981–June 1982) and "Marvel Team-Up Annual" #3–4 (1980–1981).

In the late 1970s and 1980s, Trimpe's Marvel work included the licensed movie franchises "Godzilla" and "Indiana Jones", and the licensed toy franchises Shogun Warriors, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. Trimpe drew all but issues #4–5 of the 24-issue "Godzilla" (August 1977–July 1979); drew six issues of "The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones" (also writing the last two); "G.I. Joe" #1 (July 1982) and other issues; nearly the entire run of the 28-issue spin-off "G.I. Joe Special Missions" (1986–1989); three of the four-issue miniseries "G.I. Joe: The Order of Battle" (1986–1987); all of the 20-issue "Shogun Warriors"; and three issues of "The Transformers".

Trimpe, in a 1997 interview, described his Marvel arrangement: "I was a quota artist, which was non-contractual but [I] received a salary. I got a regular two-week check, and anything I did over quota I could voucher for as freelance income. I also had the extras, the company benefits. It was like a regular job, but I worked at home. It was a good deal." [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Chamber/8346/trimpe.interview.2.html Green Skin's Grab Bag interview, p. 2] ]

Later career

When Marvel went bankrupt in the mid-1990s, Trimpe returned to college to finish his bachelor's degree, and then attended a master's degree program at SUNY New Paltz. Afterward, he taught art at Eldred Central School, a rural middle/high school, for two years. As of 2007, he lives in the Hudson Valley of New York and occasionally takes on comic-book projects. Most recently (August 2008) he pencilled "BPRD: The War on Frogs" for Dark Horse Comics.

Family

Trimpe was divorced from his first wife sometime between 1969 and 1971. The couple had one daughter. [Green, "Rolling Stone": "He's been through a lot of changes in the last two years, including a divorce. His old lady now is Linda Fite, who used to work at Marvel."] In late 1972, Trimpe married Marvel Comics editorial assistant and writer Linda Fite. [Their wedding was announced in Bullpen Bulletins: "Four or Five Phenomenal Flashes, Fitfully Fashioned to Fight Lethargy (Or: Those Wedding Bells Are Waking Up That Old Gang of Mine)", in Marvel Comics cover-dated March 1973 and on sale two to three months earlier, with production two to three months before that.] The couple have three children.

Mike Trimpe, who inked a Herb Trimpe Ant-Man story in "Marvel Feature" #6 (November 1972), now deceased, was Trimpe's brother. [ [http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/fff_results_post_106_oh_brother/ Hembeck, Fred entry in "The Comics Reporter" (January 27, 2008): "FFF Results Post #106—Oh, Brother"] ] Alexander Spurlock "Alex" Trimpe, [Name per birth announcement in Bullpen Bulletins: "Just Thomas and Lee—and the Soapbox Makes Three" in Marvel Comics cover-dated January 1974, including "Ka-Zar" #1] who co-pencilled with Herb Trimpe, "Robocop" #11 (January 1991), "The Mighty Thor Annual" #16 (1991), and "Fantastic Four Unlimited" #3 (Sept. 1993), is Trimpe's son, and a member of the band The Chief Smiles. That band also includes his daughters Amelia and Sarah Trimpe. [ [http://www.herbtrimpe.com/thechiefsmiles.html HerbTrimpe.com: The Chief Smiles] ] .

Awards

* Nomination, Shazam Award for Best Inker (Humor Division), 1973.
* Comic-Con International Humanitarian of the Year Award, 2002, for his work as a chaplain at the World Trade Center site after 9/11.
* Inkpot Award, 2002

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.herbtrimpe.com/ Herb Trimpe] (official site)
* [http://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/trimpe_herb.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia: Herb Trimpe]
* [http://www.hulklibrary.com/hulk/info/news-herbtrimpefired.asp Trimpe, Herb, "Old Superheroes Never Die, They Join the Real World", "The New York Times" education supplement, January 7, 2000, via HulkLibrary.com]

External links

* [http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2008/02/11/News/A.New.Page.In.The.History.Of.Comics-3201173.shtml Reslen, Eileen, "A New Page in the History of Comics"] , "The Daily Free Press" (Boston University student newespaper), February 11, 2008