Mark Evanier

Mark Stephen Evanier (born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work. He is also known for his columns and blogs, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, in particular his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of Comics."Wondercon Special Guests"; Comic-Con magazine; Winter 2010; Page 19
==Early life==
Evanier is of ethnic Jewish heritage."'Evanier' (pronounced ev-uh-near) is not French; it was probably made up by some Immigration Officer at Ellis Island one day who said, 'Hey, here come some more Jews! Let's give them real stupid last names!'" He chose to be a writer after witnessing the misery his father felt from working for the Internal Revenue Service and contrasting that with the portrayal of a writer's life on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
==Career==
Evanier made his first professional sale in 1969 and almost immediately was taken on as a production assistant to Jack Kirby. Several years later Evanier began writing foreign comic books for the Walt Disney Studio Program, then from 1972 to 1976 wrote scripts for Gold Key Comics, along with comics for the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate. 
In 1974 he teamed with writer Dennis Palumbo and wrote for a number of television series, including The Nancy Walker Show, The McLean Stevenson Show and Welcome Back, Kotter. 
After the cancellation of Kotter, on which he was one of the story editors, Evanier and Palumbo amicably ended their partnership. Evanier subsequently wrote for the Hanna-Barbera comic book division and a number of variety shows and specials, and he began writing for animated cartoon shows, including Scooby Doo, Plastic Man, Thundarr the Barbarian, The ABC Weekend Special, Richie Rich, The Wuzzles, and Dungeons & Dragons. But he is most noted in animation for his work on Garfield and Friends, a seven-season series for which Evanier wrote or co-wrote nearly every episode and acted as voice recording director. For the past couple of years, Evanier has also been the co-writer and voice director of The Garfield Show. 
Evanier credits himself with convincing Jack Kirby to stop using Vince Colletta as an inker, and considers himself one of the "main vilifiers" of Colletta.
He also wrote a script and provided "'technical advice' about comic books" for Bob, Bob Newhart's unsuccessful third sitcom for CBS.
He has produced a number of comic books, including Blackhawk, Crossfire and Hollywood Superstars (with Dan Spiegle), Groo the Wanderer (with Sergio Aragonés), and The DNAgents (with Will Meugniot). For the Spiegle comics, Evanier contributed lengthy essays on the entertainment industry. He also wrote the New Gods series of 1989-1991.
For many years, Evanier wrote a regular column, "Point of View", for Comics Buyer's Guide.
Evanier's illustrated Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of Comics, was published February 2008 by Abrams Books. It won the 2009 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book.
==Personal life==
On May 26, 2006, Evanier checked into Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and underwent gastric bypass surgery. Having peaked at around 344 pounds (156 kg) by then, he has since lost nearly 130 pounds (45 kg) by June 2007 and is grateful for the overall health benefits, though he had to learn to adjust his eating habits.
==Bibliography==
===Comics===
*Sergio Aragonés Destroys DC (with Sergio Aragonés, one-shot, DC Comics, June 1996)
*Sergio Aragonés Massacres Marvel (with Sergio Aragonés, one-shot, Marvel Comics, June 1996)
*Superman & Bugs Bunny (DC Comics, July–October 2000)
===Books===
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==Awards==
*1992: Won "Best Humor Publication" Eisner Award for Groo the Wanderer
*1997: Won "Best Humor Publication" Eisner Award for Sergio Aragonés Destroys DC and Sergio Aragonés Massacres Marvel
*1999: Won "Best Humor Publication" Eisner Award for Sergio Aragonés Groo
*2001: Won "Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award"
*2009: Kirby: King of Comics won "Best Comics-Related Book" Eisner Award
==References==
==External links==
*Evanier's official website
*news from me is Evanier's blog
*Comic Geek Speak Podcast Interview (October 2005)
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Category:American comics writers
Category:American bloggers
Category:People from Santa Monica, California
Category:1952 births
Category:Living people
Category:American Jews
Category:Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award winners