Klaus Janson

Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952)[1][2] is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and colorist.

Klaus Janson
Janson at the New York Comic Con
Born (1952-01-23) January 23, 1952
Coburg, West Germany
NationalityNaturalized American
Area(s)Penciller, Inker, Colourist
Notable works
The Dark Knight Returns
Daredevil
AwardsKirby Award (x2)
Eisner Award, 2004
Harvey Award (x3)
Inkwell Award The Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award (2010)
Inkwell Award for Favorite Inker (2013)

Early life

Klaus Janson was born in Coburg, West Germany,[3] He emigrated to the United States in 1957, settling with his family in Connecticut,[3] where he lived in Bridgeport from 1957 to 1972.[4] When he was young, his Spider-Man collection was thrown away by his mother. Janson then became interested in the premiering character Daredevil, who wasn't popular among Janson's friends.[5]

Career

After a short stint as assistant to Dick Giordano in the early 1970s,[6] Janson's first credited comics artwork was published by Marvel Comics in Jungle Action #6 (Sept. 1973).[7] Janson came to prominence as the inker over Sal Buscema's pencils on The Defenders. Since then he has freelanced on most of the major titles at Marvel and DC. In 1975 he began a long run as inker on Daredevil, running from #124 (Aug. 1975) to #196 (July 1983). With #171 the series went from bi-monthly to monthly; unable to handle the increased workload, then-writer/penciler Frank Miller began increasingly relying on Janson for the artwork, sending him looser and looser pencils beginning with #173.[8] By issue #185, Miller had virtually relinquished his role as Daredevil's artist, and was providing only rough layouts for Janson to pencil, ink, and color.[8] After Miller's departure, Janson drew the series by himself for four issues.

Janson began working for DC Comics in the early 1980s and inked Gene Colan's pencils on Detective Comics and Jemm, Son of Saturn.[7] Janson was one of the artists on Superman #400 (Oct. 1984)[9] and was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series.[10] His collaboration with Miller on Daredevil would soon be eclipsed by a second collaboration between them, on Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in 1986.[11] Janson has frequently pencilled and inked for various Batman titles, including the first Detective Comics Annual with writer Dennis O'Neil,[12] "Gothic" with Grant Morrison,[13] and "Knightfall" with Doug Moench.[14] In 1994, Janson drew the Batman-Spawn: War Devil intercompany crossover which was written by Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant.[15] Janson wrote a short story in the anthology miniseries Batman: Black and White #3 (August 1996).[7] Janson drew part of the "Cataclysm" crossover as well.[16]

Janson and writer Mike Baron introduced the character Microchip as an ally of the Punisher in The Punisher #4 (November 1987).[17] In 1993, Janson drew a three-part story featuring Electro for Spider-Man #38–40.[18] Janson inked the early issues of The Sensational Spider-Man which had been written and penciled by Dan Jurgens.[19] Janson's work as an inker and occasional penciler at Marvel Comics includes collaborations with John Romita Jr. on Wolverine, The Amazing Spider-Man and Black Panther. His other work includes Batman: Death and the Maidens,[20] World War Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, Logan's Run, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In 2010, he inked Romita Jr.'s pencils on The Avengers.[7] and in 2014 the two artists collaborated on Superman.[21] Janson was one of the artists on The Dark Knight III: The Master Race which was co-written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello.[22]

Janson has taught sequential storytelling at the School of Visual Arts in New York City since the 1990s[23] and has written both The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics and The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics. Janson also holds annual seminars at Marvel for the editorial staff and their up-and-coming artists, and taught short courses on comics storytelling for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art.[6]

In 2015, Janson was the Guest of Honor at the 2015 Inkwell Awards Awards Ceremony at HeroesCon.[24]

Awards

Bibliography

Image
  • Sacred Creatures #1–8 (2018)

Atlas/Seaboard Comics
  • Wulf the Barbarian #1–2 (1975)

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

References
  1. Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  2. Schmidt, Andy (February 13, 2009). The Insider's Guide To Creating Comics And Graphic Novels. Impact Books. p. 139. ISBN 978-1600610226. The Insider's Guide To Creating Comics Klaus Janson.
  3. "Klaus Janson". Lambiek Comiclopedia. February 18, 2011. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  4. "Connecticut Talent". Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut Historical Society. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  5. introduction to "Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus"
  6. "Storytelling for Comics Artists". Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art. 2010. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. After a short stint as assistant to Dick Giordano in the early 1970s, Klaus Janson went freelance, working for several comics publishers as writer, penciler, inker and colorist.
  7. Klaus Janson at the Grand Comics Database
  8. Cordier, Philippe (April 2007). "Seeing Red: Dissecting Daredevil's Defining Years". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (21): 33–60.
  9. Addiego, Frankie (December 2013). "Superman #400". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (69): 68–70.
  10. Greenberger, Robert (August 2017). "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at the DC Challenge!". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (98): 37–38.
  11. Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, eds. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. It is arguably the best Batman story of all time. Written and drawn by Frank Miller (with inspired inking by Klaus Janson and beautiful watercolors by Lynn Varley), Batman: The Dark Knight revolutionized the entire genre of the super hero.
  12. Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, eds. (2014). "1980s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 174. ISBN 978-1465424563. Dennis O'Neil stepped out of his editorial role once again to chronicle a Batman adventure for Detective Comics first annual. Illustrated by Klaus Janson, Batman and Talia al Ghul hunted for the Penguin.
  13. Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 186: "Grant Morrison stepped up to the plate to pen [Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight's] next five-issue storyline, illustrated by Klaus Janson."
  14. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 259: "'Knightfall' was a nineteen-part crossover event that passed through the pages of...the Showcase '93 Two-Face feature scripted by Doug Moench and drawn by Klaus Janson."
  15. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 267: "Fans were also treated to a companion special entitled Batman-Spawn...by writers Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant, and artist Klaus Janson."
  16. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 283: "The seventeen-part 'Cataclysm' storyline showed a Gotham City devastated by an earthquake."
  17. DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, eds. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 232. ISBN 978-0756641238. Linus 'Microchip' Lieberman first appeared in this issue by writer Mike Baron and artist Klaus Janson.
  18. Cowsill, Alan; Gilbert, Laura, eds. (2012). "1990s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 205. ISBN 978-0756692360. Long-time Spidey villain Electro was the focus of a three-part tale written by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Klaus Janson.
  19. Cowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 224: "The new Spidey title felt fresh and exciting...Issue #0, written and penciled by Dan Jurgens, with Klaus Janson inking, provided a quick recap for latecomers."
  20. Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 269: "Writer Greg Rucka and artist Klaus Janson created this series that delved into the family tree of [Ra's al Ghul]."
  21. Khouri, Andy (February 4, 2014). "Geoff Johns Returns To Superman In Collaboration With John Romita Jr". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014.
  22. Wheeler, Andrew (July 9, 2015). "Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson Join The Master Race (The Comic)". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015.
  23. "Our Faculty: Klaus Janson". School of Visual Arts. n.d. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  24. Almond, Bob (June 10, 2015). "Guest of Honor Klaus Janson to speak at the 2015 Inkwell Awards Ceremony during Heroes Con". Inkwell Awards. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016.
  25. Jenneguin (manga critic), Jean-Paul. "Toriyama Exhibition Essays: AKIRA TORIYAMA AND FRANCE". Kanzenshuu: The Perfect Dragon Ball Collection. Retrieved February 6, 2023. In November 1989, I was a guest lecturer at the First Anglo-Saxon Comics Festival in Villeneuve-d'Ascq,... a suburb of Lille, a city in the north of France. Two fans of American comics had thought the town would be the ideal location for a comics festival focusing on American and British comics, as Villeneuve is very close to Britain.
  26. MacDonald, Heidi (August 30, 2010). "2010 Harvey Award winners". Comics Beat. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015.
  27. Almond, Bob (January 23, 2011). "2010 Winners". Inkwell Awards. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016.
  28. "Comic-Con International's Newest Inkpot Award Winners!". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2013. Archived from the original on May 8, 2015.
  29. Seifert, Mark (September 7, 2013). "Saga Wins Big At 2013 Harvey Awards, Plus Complete List Of Winners". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on September 9, 2013. Archive requires scrolldown
  30. Almond, Bob (June 12, 2013). "2013 Winners". Inkwell Awards. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016.
  31. "Saga & Peanuts Top 2016 Harvey Awards Winners, One Publisher Major Shut Out". Newsarama. September 6, 2016. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016.
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