Jerry Robinson
Encyclopedia
Jerry Robinson is an American comic book
artist
best known for his work on DC Comics
' Batman
line of comics during the 1940s.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
, New Jersey
, Robinson was a journalism
student at Columbia University
when he began working for writer-artist Bob Kane
in 1939. Kane, with writer Bill Finger
, had shortly before created the character Batman
for National Comics
, the future DC Comics
. Robinson rented a room from a family in The Bronx
near Kane's family's Grand Concourse
apartment, where Kane used his bedroom as an art studio. He started as a letterer
and a background inker
, shortly graduating to inking secondary figures. Within a year, he became Batman's primary inker, with George Roussos
inking backgrounds. Batman quickly became a hit character, and Kane rented space for Robinson and Roussos in Times Square
's Times Tower
.
Approximately a year and a half after Robinson and Finger were hired by Kane, National Comics lured them away, making them company staffers. Robinson recalled working in the bullpen at the company's 480 Lexington Avenue office, alongside Superman
creators Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster
, as well as Jack Kirby
, Fred Ray
, and Mort Meskin
, "who was one of my best friends, who[m] I brought up from [comics publisher] MLJ
".
. Robinson suggested the name "Robin
" after Robin Hood
books he had read during boyhood, saying (in a 2005 interview) that he was inspired by one book's N.C. Wyeth illustrations. The new character, orphaned circus
performer Dick Grayson
, came to live with Bruce Wayne (Batman) as his young ward
in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940). Robin would inspire many similar sidekicks throughout the remainder of the Golden Age of Comic Books
.
Batman's archnemesis the Joker
was introduced near that same time, in Batman #1 (Spring 1940). Credit for that character's creation is disputed. Robinson has said he created the character. Kane's position is that:
Robinson, whose original Joker playing card was on public display in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the Jewish Museum
in New York City
, New York
, from September 16, 2006 to January 28, 2007, and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Georgia
from October 24, 2004 to August 28, 2005, has countered that:
In 1943, when Kane left the Batman comic books to focus on penciling the daily Batman newspaper comic strip
, Robinson took over the full penciling, along with others such as Dick Sprang
. As was customary of the time, only Kane's name appeared on the strip.
. Robinson went on to work on numerous other characters and for several publishers, at one point even doing freelance illustrations for at least one textbook publisher. In a long, successful interlude outside of comic books, as a newspaper cartoonist, Robinson created True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs
, which for most of the 1960s ran in the New York Sunday News (later incorporated into the Daily News).
He was president of the National Cartoonists Society
from 1967 to 1969 and served a two year term as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists starting in 1973.
In 1974 he wrote "The Comics," a comprehensive study of the history of newspaper comic strips.
During the mid-1970s, Robinson was a crucial supporter of Jerry Siegel
and Joe Shuster
in their long struggle with DC Comics
to win full recognition and compensation as the creators of Superman
. With comics artist and rights advocate Neal Adams
, Robinson organized key support around Siegel and Shuster, to whom DC, in December 1975, granted lifetime stipends and a credit in all broadcast and published Superman works. In 1978, he founded Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/CartoonArts International which as of 2010 has more than 550 artists from over 75 countries.
During 1999, Robinson created an original manga series, Astra
with the help of manga artist Shojin Tanaka and Ken-ichi Oishi. This was later on released in English through Central Park Media
by their manga line CPM Manga as a comic book miniseries
and then a trade paperback.
On May 26, 2007, DC Comics announced that Robinson had been hired by the company as a "creative consultant". The press release accompanying this announcement did not describe Robinson's duties or responsibilities.
award for the Comic Book Division in 1956, their Newspaper Panel Cartoon for 1963 for Still Life, their Special Features Award in 1965 for Flubs and Fluffs, and their Milton Caniff
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Robinson was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
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
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
best known for his work on 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...
' Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
line of comics during the 1940s.
He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
Career
Born in TrentonTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Robinson was a journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
student at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
when he began working for writer-artist Bob Kane
Bob Kane
Bob Kane was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comics superhero Batman...
in 1939. Kane, with writer Bill Finger
Bill Finger
William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development...
, had shortly before created the character Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
for National Comics
National Comics
National Comics may refer to:* National Comics: An early name for the comic book publisher known later as DC Comics.* National Comics : a 1940's comic book series published by Quality Comics....
, the future 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...
. Robinson rented a room from a family in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
near Kane's family's Grand Concourse
Grand Concourse (Bronx)
The Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
apartment, where Kane used his bedroom as an art studio. He started as a letterer
Letterer
A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comic's "display lettering": the story title lettering and...
and a background inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
, shortly graduating to inking secondary figures. Within a year, he became Batman's primary inker, with George Roussos
George Roussos
George Roussos , also known under the pseudonym George Bell, was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four.-Early life and career:George Roussos was born in Washington, D.C., the son of...
inking backgrounds. Batman quickly became a hit character, and Kane rented space for Robinson and Roussos in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
's Times Tower
One Times Square
One Times Square is a 25 story, 395 foot high skyscraper at 42nd Street and Broadway in Times Square....
.
Approximately a year and a half after Robinson and Finger were hired by Kane, National Comics lured them away, making them company staffers. Robinson recalled working in the bullpen at the company's 480 Lexington Avenue office, alongside Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
creators Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
, as well as Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Fred Ray
Fred Ray
Frederic E. Ray, Jr. was an American comic book artist and commercial illustrator best known as the primary Superman cover-artist of the 1940s, whose work helped shape the defining look of the iconic superhero character, and for his more than two decades as artist of the DC Comics feature...
, and Mort Meskin
Mort Meskin
Morton "Mort" Meskin was a prolific American comic book artist best-known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of comic books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.-Early life:...
, "who was one of my best friends, who[m] I brought up from [comics publisher] MLJ
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
".
Robin and the Joker
By early 1940, Kane and Finger discussed adding a sidekickSidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
. Robinson suggested the name "Robin
Robin (name)
Robin was originally a diminutive given name of Robert, derived from the prefix Rob- , and the suffix -in . More recently, it is used as an independent name. The name Robin is uncommon in being a masculine given name, feminine given name, and a surname...
" after Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
books he had read during boyhood, saying (in a 2005 interview) that he was inspired by one book's N.C. Wyeth illustrations. The new character, orphaned circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
performer Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
, came to live with Bruce Wayne (Batman) as his young ward
Ward (law)
In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. A court may take responsibility for the legal protection of an individual, usually either a child or incapacitated person, in which case the ward is known as a ward of the court, or a ward of the state, in the United States,...
in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940). Robin would inspire many similar sidekicks throughout the remainder of the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
.
Batman's archnemesis the Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
was introduced near that same time, in Batman #1 (Spring 1940). Credit for that character's creation is disputed. Robinson has said he created the character. Kane's position is that:
Robinson, whose original Joker playing card was on public display in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum may refer to:Australia* Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne, VictoriaAustria* Jewish Museum ViennaCzech Republic* Jewish Museum of PragueDenmark* Danish Jewish Museum, CopenhagenGeorgia...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, from September 16, 2006 to January 28, 2007, and the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
from October 24, 2004 to August 28, 2005, has countered that:
In 1943, when Kane left the Batman comic books to focus on penciling the daily Batman newspaper comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, Robinson took over the full penciling, along with others such as Dick Sprang
Dick Sprang
Richard W. "Dick" Sprang was an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on the superhero Batman during the period fans and historians call Golden Age of Comic Books. Sprang was responsible for the 1948 redesign of the Batmobile and the original design of the Riddler, who...
. As was customary of the time, only Kane's name appeared on the strip.
Later career
From 1944–1946, Robinson and his old friend Meskin formed a studio which produced material for the short-lived publisher Spark PublicationsSpark Publications
Spark Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the mid-1940s, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Most of their comics was produced by a studio run by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin. Other creators who worked for Spark included Joseph Greene and Mac Raboy...
. Robinson went on to work on numerous other characters and for several publishers, at one point even doing freelance illustrations for at least one textbook publisher. In a long, successful interlude outside of comic books, as a newspaper cartoonist, Robinson created True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs
True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs
True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs was a non-fiction American comic strip by cartoonist and comic-book artist Jerry Robinson. It was syndicated through the 1960s in Sunday newspapers, most notably the New York Sunday News...
, which for most of the 1960s ran in the New York Sunday News (later incorporated into the Daily News).
He was president of the National Cartoonists Society
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
from 1967 to 1969 and served a two year term as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists starting in 1973.
During the mid-1970s, Robinson was a crucial supporter of Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
in their long struggle with 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...
to win full recognition and compensation as the creators of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
. With comics artist and rights advocate Neal Adams
Neal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
, Robinson organized key support around Siegel and Shuster, to whom DC, in December 1975, granted lifetime stipends and a credit in all broadcast and published Superman works. In 1978, he founded Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/CartoonArts International which as of 2010 has more than 550 artists from over 75 countries.
During 1999, Robinson created an original manga series, Astra
Astra (manga)
Astra is an 8-part manga mini-series collaboration between American Golden Age Batman artist Jerry Robinson and American singer/songwriter Sidra Cohn along with Japanese manga artist Shojin Tanaka and Ken-ichi Oishi...
with the help of manga artist Shojin Tanaka and Ken-ichi Oishi. This was later on released in English through Central Park Media
Central Park Media
Central Park Media was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York, that was active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga and manhwa titles in North America prior to its bankruptcy in 2009...
by their manga line CPM Manga as a comic book miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
and then a trade paperback.
On May 26, 2007, DC Comics announced that Robinson had been hired by the company as a "creative consultant". The press release accompanying this announcement did not describe Robinson's duties or responsibilities.
Awards
For his work in comics, he won several awards, including the National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
award for the Comic Book Division in 1956, their Newspaper Panel Cartoon for 1963 for Still Life, their Special Features Award in 1965 for Flubs and Fluffs, and their Milton Caniff
Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Robinson was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
External links
- Jerry Robinison Papers 1953–2009 at Syracuse University (primary source material)
- Jerry Robinson Art (official site)