Richard Howell (comics)

{{short description|American comics artist}}

{{About|the comic book creator|other people with this name|Richard Howell (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox comics creator

| name = Richard Howell

| image = Gary Groth (1117488089).jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Richard Howell (left) with Gary Groth (middle) and Steve Schanes (right) at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|11|16}}

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| children =

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| nationality = American

| area =

| cartoonist =

| write = y

| pencil = y

| ink = y

| letter = y

| color = y

| edit = y

| alias =

| notable works = Claypool Comics
Hawkman
The Vision and the Scarlet Witch

| awards =

| website =

| subcat = American

}}

Richard Howell (born November 16,{{cite web|authorlink=John Jackson Miller|last=Miller|first= John Jackson| url=http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays |title=Comics Industry Birthdays|work= Comics Buyer's Guide|date=June 10, 2005|location= Iola, Wisconsin|accessdate= December 12, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218031356/http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays|archivedate=February 18, 2011|url-status= dead|df=mdy-all}} 1955{{cite web |url= http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=HOWELL%2c+RICHARD|title= Howell, Richard|first= Jerry|last= Bails|authorlink = Jerry Bails|year= 2006|work= Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140102012856/http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=HOWELL%2c+RICHARD|archivedate=January 2, 2014 |url-status= live|df=mdy-all|accessdate= July 19, 2013}}) is an American comics artist best known as the co-founder and editor of Claypool Comics.

Career

Richard Howell entered the comics industry in 1977 with his self-published series Portia Prinz of the Glamazons.{{cite web|url= http://www.toonopedia.com/portia.htm|title= Portia Prinz of the Glamazons|first= Don|last= Markstein|date= 2010|publisher= Don Markstein's Toonopedia|archiveurl= https://archive.today/20240527232346/https://www.webcitation.org/6kTwPS2VZ?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/portia.htm|archivedate= May 27, 2024|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|quote= When Portia first came out (1977), she was distributed privately.}}

Beginning in 1980, he and his partner Carol Kalish co-edited the New Media/Irjax line of magazines. They also ran the New Media/Irjax-owned Boston-area distributor Solar Spice and Liquors,{{cite web|url= http://www.peterdavid.net/archives/001238.html|title= Carol|first= Peter|last= David|date= December 11, 2002|website= PeterDavid.net|archiveurl= https://archive.today/20220326224040/http://www.peterdavid.net/archives/001238.html|archivedate= March 26, 2022|url-status= live|df= mdy-all}} named after a fictional corporation created by science fiction writer Poul Anderson. Howell replaced Peter B. Gillis as editorial director of New Media/Irjax in June 1981.{{cite journal|title = NMP Editorial Shake-Up|magazine = Comics Feature|issue = 12/13|page = 18|publisher = New Media Publishing|date = September–October 1981}}

Howell began working for Marvel Comics in 1982 and DC Comics in 1983.{{gcdb|type=credit|search= Richard+Howell|title= Richard Howell}} Writer Tony Isabella and Howell produced The Shadow War of Hawkman limited series in 1985{{cite book|last=Manning|first= Matthew K.|editor-last= Dolan|editor-first= Hannah|chapter= 1980s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9|page= 215|quote = May [1985] saw the return of the Winged Wonder in a four-issue miniseries entitled The Shadow War of Hawkman by writer Tony Isabella and penciller Richard Howell.}} and an ongoing Hawkman series the following year.{{cite journal|last= Zawisza|first= Doug|title= Hawkman in the Bronze Age|journal= Back Issue!|issue= 97|pages= 15–20|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= July 2017|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}} Howell and writer Steve Englehart crafted a twelve-issue The Vision and the Scarlet Witch limited series in 1985-1986, wherein the Scarlet Witch became pregnant.{{cite web|url= http://www.steveenglehart.com/Comics/Vision%20%26%20Witch%201-12.html|title= The Vision and the Scarlet Witch|first= Steve|last= Englehart|authorlink = Steve Englehart|date= n.d.|publisher= SteveEnglehart.com|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100531054811/http://www.steveenglehart.com/Comics/Vision%20%26%20Witch%201-12.html|archivedate=May 31, 2010 |url-status= live|df=mdy-all|accessdate= January 5, 2013|quote= Once Wanda gets pregnant in issue 3, the following nine issues take place in real time - the first time that had ever been done.}}

With co-editor Jesse Reyes, he relaunched the Vampirella character at Harris Comics and co-founded Claypool Comics with Ed Via in 1993. Howell served as editor of Claypool's line throughout its existence.{{cite web |url= http://www.claypoolcomics.com/creators.html|title= Our Talented Creators|date= n.d.|publisher= Claypool Comics|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101006133943/http://www.claypoolcomics.com/creators.html|archivedate=October 6, 2010 |url-status= live|df=mdy-all|accessdate= January 5, 2013}}

Claypool announced in July 2006 that the print end of its published line would cease, as Diamond Comic Distributors, the industry's major distribution arm, would no longer carry it. Deadbeats continues as a webcomic at the Claypool Comics website.{{cite web |url= http://www.peterdavid.net/archives/004648.html|title= Searching No More|first= Peter|last= David|authorlink = Peter David|date= July 31, 2006|publisher= PeterDavid.net|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110607162226/http://www.peterdavid.net/archives/004648.html|archivedate=June 7, 2011 |url-status= live|df=mdy-all|accessdate= January 5, 2013}}

Personal life

Howell and Kalish were longtime residents of Leonia, New Jersey.{{cite web|url= https://leonialives50.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/a-real-life-comic-book-guy/|title= Richard Howell: Comic Book Artist|first1= Melinda|last1= Dean Aranda|first2= Carol|last2= Karels|date= July 11, 2014|website= Leonia Lives|archiveurl= https://archive.today/20220326224817/https://leonialives50.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/a-real-life-comic-book-guy/|archivedate= March 26, 2022|url-status= live|df= mdy-all|quote= Why did you move to Leonia?
Carol was brilliant at what she did, and had been hired by Marvel to do direct sales distribution for them, so we had to be within commuting distance of Marvel. After a few months living above a (frequently-robbed) convenience store in Edgewater, we bought a cheap fixer-upper house at the northern edge of Leonia. Carol commuted to the Marvel offices in the city, and I worked out of our house, drawing full-time. Carol and I were together for fourteen years, before her untimely passing.}}

Bibliography

= Claypool Comics=

  • Deadbeats #1–82 (1993–2007)
  • Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #1–166 (1993–2007)
  • Phantom of Fear City #1–12 (1993–1995)
  • Soulsearchers and Company #1–82 (1993–2007)

= Comico =

= DC Comics=

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=Desperado-Eastern Press=

  • Portia Prinz of the Glamazons #1–5 (1977–1978)

= Dynamite Entertainment =

= Eclipse Comics=

  • Alien Encounters #7 (1986)
  • The DNAgents #15, 17–19, 22 (1984–1985)
  • The Liberty Project #6 (1987)
  • Merchants of Death #3–4 (1988)
  • New DNAgents #11 (1986)
  • Portia Prinz of the Glamazons #1–6 (1986–1987)
  • Surge #2 (1984)
  • Three Dimensional DNAgents #1 (1986)

= Harris Comics=

  • Creepy 1993 Fearbook (1993)
  • Vampirella's Summer Nights (1992)
  • Vampirella: Morning in America #3 (1991)

= Marvel Comics=

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= Welsh Publishing =

  • The Adventures of Jell-O Man and Wobbly #1 (1991)

References

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