David Mazzucchelli
Encyclopedia
David Mazzucchelli is an American comic book
artist and writer. His latest work is the award-winning graphic novel, Asterios Polyp
.
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. 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
. 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
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist and writer. His latest work is the award-winning graphic novel, Asterios Polyp
Asterios Polyp
-Sources:*Shaw, Dash. "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal #300. Fantagraphics Books, December 2009. part -External links:* in New York Magazine* in The New York Times...
.
Career
Mazzucchelli received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of DesignRhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
and started working in comics in the early 1980s, first at Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
where, after a few fill-in jobs, he became the regular artist on Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
. He developed his skills working with writer Denny O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Dennis J. "Denny" O'Neil is an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of books until his retirement....
and culminated his work on this title with the popular and critically acclaimed Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again
"Born Again" is a Daredevil story arc written by Frank Miller, drawn by David Mazzucchelli and published by Marvel Comics. The story arc originally appears in Daredevil #227-#233....
story arc, written by Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
(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
Batman: Year One
"Year One", later referred to as "Batman: Year One", is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, colored by Richmond Lewis, and lettered by Todd Klein...
, serialized in issues 404 through 407 of DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' monthly Batman
Batman (comic book)
Batman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication in the spring of 1940...
title, and published in a single volume soon after that. Batman: Year One
Batman: Year One
"Year One", later referred to as "Batman: Year One", is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, colored by Richmond Lewis, and lettered by Todd Klein...
is considered one of the best Batman stories ever produced, and has served as a model for many subsequent creators.
After Batman: Year One
Batman: Year One
"Year One", later referred to as "Batman: Year One", is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, colored by Richmond Lewis, and lettered by Todd Klein...
Mazzucchelli abandoned the superhero genre to focus on more personal projects. He published three issues of his own independent anthology, Rubber Blanket
Rubber Blanket
Rubber Blanket was an alternative comics anthology magazine edited by the husband/wife team of cartoonist David Mazzucchelli and painter/colorist Richmond Lewis...
, co-edited by his wife, the painter Richmond Lewis
Richmond Lewis
Richard Lewis is an American painter who worked briefly as a comic book colorist. She is married to David Mazzucchelli. Coloring was a sideline from her main career as a painter, and occurred mainly because Mazzucchelli wanted to bring Lewis into his world of comics.- Writer/Artist :*"If It Weren't...
, 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
Rubber Blanket
Rubber Blanket was an alternative comics anthology magazine edited by the husband/wife team of cartoonist David Mazzucchelli and painter/colorist Richmond Lewis...
, notably "Near Miss," "Dead Dog," "Discovering America," and "Big Man," set the stage for his work to come. With writer/artist Paul Karasik
Paul Karasik
Paul Karasik is an American cartoonist, editor, and teacher, notable for his contributions to such works as City of Glass: The Graphic Novel, The Ride Together: A Memoir of Autism in the Family, and I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets.- Biography :In the early 1980s, after having graduated...
, he co-wrote and illustrated an adaptation of Paul Auster
Paul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
's City of Glass
The New York Trilogy
The New York Trilogy is a series of novels by Paul Auster. Originally published sequentially as City of Glass , Ghosts and The Locked Room , it has since been collected into a single volume.- Plot introduction :...
, published first by Avon Books in 1994, then by Picador in 2004 as City of Glass: The Graphic Novel
City of Glass: The Graphic Novel
City of Glass: The Graphic Novel is a one-volume comics adaptation of American author Paul Auster's novella City of Glass. The story was originally part of The New York Trilogy, and in 1994, David Mazzucchelli and Paul Karasik set out to adapt the offbeat, somewhat surreal short novel into a...
. (Auster's later book The Brooklyn Follies
The Brooklyn Follies
-Plot summary:60-year-old Nathan Glass returns to Brooklyn after his wife has left him. He is recovering from lung cancer and is looking for "a quiet place to die". In Brooklyn he meets his nephew, Tom, whom he has not seen in several years. Tom has seemingly given up on life and has resigned...
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
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
published Mazzucchelli's most ambitious work yet, the critically lauded graphic novel, Asterios Polyp
Asterios Polyp
-Sources:*Shaw, Dash. "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal #300. Fantagraphics Books, December 2009. part -External links:* in New York Magazine* in The New York Times...
. A tour de force of comics technique, Asterios Polyp
Asterios Polyp
-Sources:*Shaw, Dash. "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal #300. Fantagraphics Books, December 2009. part -External links:* in New York Magazine* in The New York Times...
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
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 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
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
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
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
Mazzucchelli taught a course in comics at the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
for several years, and currently teaches an undergraduate course for seniors majoring in cartooning at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
.
Covers only
- ROM Spaceknight #61 (MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 1984) - Marvel AgeMarvel AgeMarvel Adventures is an imprint of Marvel Comics intended for younger audiences, including small children. Unlike the standard comics published by Marvel, which often take place in story arcs spanning several issues, each Marvel Adventures comic tells a standalone story.The idea was initially...
#36 (Marvel, 1986) - Amazing HeroesAmazing HeroesAmazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal....
#102 (Fantagraphics BooksFantagraphics BooksFantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
, 1986) - The Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
#287 (Marvel, 1987) - Snake Eyes #1 (Fantagraphics Books, 1990)
- Cheval NoirCheval NoirCheval Noir was a comics anthology published by Dark Horse Comics, containing mostly English Language reprints of European comics. The title features work by some of Europe's best known comics artists, with contributions from some American and Japanese artists too...
#40 (Dark HorseDark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, 1993) - The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
#188, 194 (Fantagraphics Books, 1996–1997)
Other work
- Detective ComicsDetective ComicsDetective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
#598, 600: "Tribute: People of Note Pay Homage to the Batman" (pin-ups, DC Comics, 1989) - Negative BurnNegative BurnNegative Burn is a black-and-white anthology comic book published beginning in 1993 by Caliber Press, and subsequently by Image Comics and Desperado Publishing...
(CaliberCaliber ComicsCaliber Comics or Caliber Press was an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, in the next decade Caliber published over 1300 comics and ranked as one of the America's leading independent publishers...
, 1994):- "Spotlight: Rubber Blanket" (in #10, 1994)
- "Sketchbook" (in #17, 1994)
- Comic Book ArtistComic Book ArtistComic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
#6: "Paying Homage: Tribute to the Great Will Eisner" (Top ShelfTop Shelf ProductionsTop Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. The company is based in Marietta, Georgia, Portland, Oregon, and New York City, New York....
, 2005)
Newspapers & magazines
- "Castles in the Sand" (cover of The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, 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 VoiceThe Village VoiceThe Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, 1994)
Interviews
- Marvel AgeMarvel AgeMarvel Adventures is an imprint of Marvel Comics intended for younger audiences, including small children. Unlike the standard comics published by Marvel, which often take place in story arcs spanning several issues, each Marvel Adventures comic tells a standalone story.The idea was initially...
#36 (MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 1986) - Amazing HeroesAmazing HeroesAmazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal....
#102 (Fantagraphics BooksFantagraphics BooksFantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
, 1986) - Comic Culture v2 #4 (Richard Relkin, 1995)
- The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
#152, 194, 300 (Fantagraphics Books, 1992–2009) - Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art StorytellingPanel DiscussionsPanel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling is a book by Durwin Talon. It was originally published in 2002 and was reprinted in July 2007.-Overview:...
(TwoMorrowsTwoMorrows PublishingTwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina...
, 2002) - Indy Magazine (2004)
Awards
- The American Comic Book Awards, 1985
- Kirby AwardKirby AwardThe Jack Kirby Award for achievement in comic books was presented from 1985-1987 by Amazing Heroes magazine, and managed by Fantagraphics employee Dave Olbrich...
—Best Single Issue (Daredevil #227), 1986 - Kirby Award—Best Writer/Artist (single or team), 1986
- Haxtur AwardHaxtur AwardThe Haxtur Award is a Spanish award for comics published in Spain. It is awarded annually at the Salón Internacional del Cómic del Principado de Asturias ....
—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
- 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 PolypAsterios Polyp-Sources:*Shaw, Dash. "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal #300. Fantagraphics Books, December 2009. part -External links:* in New York Magazine* in The New York Times...
)
External links
- 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