David Mazzucchelli

David Mazzucchelli
Mazzucchelli at a June 28, 2012 book signing at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.
Born	September 21, 1960[1]
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Inker
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; Los Angeles Times Book Prize

David John Mazzucchelli^[2] (born September 21, 1960)^[1] is an American comic book writer/artist, known for his work on seminal superhero comic book storylines Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One, as well as for graphic novels in other genres, such as Asterios Polyp and City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. He is also an instructor who teaches comic book storytelling at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Career

Mazzucchelli received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design,^[3][4] 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.^[5] He worked with writer Denny O'Neil and culminated his work on this title with the Daredevil: Born Again story arc, written by Frank Miller.^[6]

Miller and Mazzucchelli collaborated again on the graphic novel Batman: Year One, serialized in issues 404-407 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.^[7] Mazzucchelli had previously worked on Batman in a backup story in World's Finest Comics #302 (April 1984).^[8]

After Batman: Year One Mazzucchelli moved on to focus on more personal projects.^[9] He published three issues of his own independent anthology, Rubber Blanket, co-edited by his wife, 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,^[10] 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 graphic novel, Asterios Polyp.

Mazzucchelli has also done illustrations for various publications, including interior pieces and covers for The New Yorker^[1] In 2011, an animated adaptation of Batman: Year One was released by Warner Home Video.^[11]

Mazzucchelli currently teaches a cartooning course for BFA students at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.^[3]

Awards

• 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Graphic Novel Award^[3][12]
• Japan/U.S. Friendship Commission Creative Artist Fellowship^[3]
• Morning Manga Fellowship^[3]
• New Jersey State Council on the Arts^[3]
• Erwin Swann Award, Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon^[3]
• 2012 HQ Mix Award for Foreign Artist (for Asterios Polyp)
• 2012 HQ Mix Award for Foreign Writer (for Asterios Polyp)

Bibliography

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

Interior comic work includes:

• 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):
  • "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 DeNatale, co-feature, 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, anthology, Marvel, 1988)
• Rubber Blanket #1-3 (script and art, self-published, 1991–1993)
• Nozone #3, 5-6 (script and art, anthology, 1991–1995)
• Drawn & Quarterly #9 and vol. 2 #2 (script and art, anthology, 1992/1994)
• Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book #2 (with Stephen DeStefano — inks on Evan Dorkin, Marvel, 1992)
• Snake Eyes #3: "Phobia" (script and art, anthology, Fantagraphics Books, 1993)
• Paul Auster's City of Glass (with Paul Karasik, graphic novel, Avon Books, 1994)
• Zero Zero #2, 11, 27 (script and art, anthology, Fantagraphics Books, 1995–2000)
• Jingle Belle #1: "Miserable on 34th Street" (inks on Stephen DeStefano, written by Paul Dini, Oni Press, 1999)
• 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, co-feature, Fantagraphics Books, 2001)
• Asterios Polyp (script and art, graphic novel, Pantheon Books, 2009)
• Fairy Tale Comics: "Give Me the Shudders" (script and art, anthology graphic novel, First Second, 2013)

Covers only

• Rom Spaceknight #61 (Marvel, 1984)
• Marvel Age #36 (Marvel, 1986)
• Amazing Heroes #102 (Fantagraphics Books, 1986)
• Snake Eyes #1-2 (Fantagraphics Books, 1990–1992)
• Cheval Noir #40 (Dark Horse, 1993)
• The Comics Journal #188, 194 (Fantagraphics Books, 1996–1997)

Interviews and other work

• Marvel Age #36: "Miller and Mazzucchelli on Daredevil" (interview, Marvel, 1986)
• Amazing Heroes #102: "David Mazzucchelli on Daredevil, Batman: Year One" (interview, Fantagraphics Books, 1986)
• Detective Comics #598, 600: "Tribute: People of Note Pay Homage to the Batman" (pin-ups, DC Comics, 1989)
• The Comics Journal #152, 194, 300^[13] (interviews, Fantagraphics Books, 1992–2009)
• Negative Burn (anthology, Caliber):
  • "Spotlight: Rubber Blanket" (in #10, 1994)
  • "Sketchbook" (in #17, 1994)
• Comic Culture #4: "Rubber Blanket: Voices from the Small Press" (interview, Richard Relkin, 1995)
• Panel Discussions: Design in Sequential Art Storytelling (interview, TwoMorrows, 2002)
• Comic Book Artist #6: "Paying Homage: Tribute to the Great Will Eisner" (Top Shelf, 2005)

Newspapers and magazines

• "Castles in the Sand" (cover of The New Yorker, July 26, 1993)
• "The Fine Art of Hanging Ryman" (in The New Yorker, October 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, September 19, 1994)
• "Fall" (cover of The New Yorker, October 24, 1994)
• "New String" (in The Village Voice, 1994)

References

1. "David Mazzucchelli". Lambiek Comiclopedia. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on August 11, 2013.
2. Lus Arana, Luis Miguel (February 7, 2008). "David Mazzucchelli: El Naturalismo expresionista" (in Italian). Homines.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. English language translation
3. "Our Faculty: David Mazzuchelli". School of Visual Arts. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
4. "Mazzuchelli, David". International Who is Who in Cartooning. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012.
5. David Mazzucchelli at the Grand Comics Database
6. DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 226. ISBN 978-0756641238. 'Born Again' was a seven-issue story arc that appeared in Daredevil from issue #227 to #233 (Feb. - Aug. 1986) by writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli.
7. Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Melding Miller's noir sensibilities, realistic characterization, and gritty action with Mazzucchelli's brilliant iconic imagery, "Year One" thrilled readers and critics alike...as well as being one of the influences for the 2005 film Batman Begins.
8. Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "1980s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 150. ISBN 978-1465424563. A rare early example of Mazzucchelli's Batman before his ground-breaking 'Batman: Year One' story in February 1987, this tale featured Superman and Batman doing something quite out of the ordinary for the duo: having a drink at a local bar.
9. Young, Frank (August 1992). "Comics Used to be about Telling Stories: David Mazzucchelli Discusses his Transition from Mainstream to Independence". The Comics Journal. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books (152): 114–199.
10. Kartalopoulos, Bill (Spring 2004). "Three Questions for David Mazzucchelli". Indy Magazine. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013.
11. Kit, Borys (April 20, 2011). "Batman: Year One Lines Up Voice Cast, Sets Comic-Con Premiere". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
12. Garrison, Jessica (April 24, 2010). "Rafael Yglesias' A Happy Marriage wins Times Book Prize for fiction". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
13. Shaw, Dash (December 16, 2009). "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on August 11, 2013.

External links

• David Mazzucchelli at the Comic Book DB
• David Mazzucchelli at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• David Mazzucchelli at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creatore