Mark Evanier
Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series "Garfield and Friends" and on the comic book "Groo the Wanderer". He is also known for his columns and blog News from ME, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, such as his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, "". Early life. Evanier identifies as Jewish. His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic. 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". He graduated from University High School in 1969. Evanier attended UCLA but left before graduating. Career. Evanier was president of a Los Angeles comic book club from 1966–69. In 1967, he suggested the titles of the officers of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. He made his first professional sale in 1969; that same year, through a mutual association with a Marvel Comics mail-order firm, he 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—including one memorable story, "The Greatest of E's", where he revealed that the E in Wile E. Coyote stands for "Ethelbert"—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", on which he was a story editor. After leaving "Kotter" in 1977 and amicably ending his partnership  with Palumbo, Evanier wrote for and eventually ran the Hanna-Barbera comic book division. He also wrote a number of variety shows and specials, and he began writing for animated cartoon shows, including "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo", "The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show", "Thundarr the Barbarian", "The ABC Weekend Special", "Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper", "Richie Rich", "The Wuzzles", and "Dungeons & Dragons". 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. Since  2008, Evanier has been the co-writer and voice director of "The Garfield Show", which won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for June Foray. 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 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. In 1985, he launched the "DC Challenge" limited series with artist Gene Colan. He wrote the "New Gods" series of 1989–1991. Evanier collaborated with Joe Staton on the "Superman & Bugs Bunny" mini-series in 2000. For many years, Evanier wrote a regular column, "Point of View", for "Comics Buyer's Guide". Evanier's illustrated Jack Kirby biography, "", was published in February 2008 by Abrams Books. It won the 2009 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book. Evanier collaborated with Aragonés and Thomas Yeates  on the "Groo vs. Conan" crossover for Dark Horse Comics in 2014. In 1970, Evanier attended the Golden State Comic Con in San Diego, the first annual gathering of what came to be known as Comic-Con International. Evanier is one of a small group of people (estimated at six or less) who have attended every year. In 1973, he first hosted a panel at the yearly event and the volume soon escalated to the point where he was hosting as many as fourteen over a four-day convention. They usually include Quick Draw!, which pits fast cartoonists against one  another to respond with drawings to challenges Evanier throws at them; the Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, Cover Story (artists discussing the skills involved in creating covers for comic books), and several panels about the art of providing voices for animated cartoons. For years, he hosted the annual Golden Age Panel featuring artists and writers who'd worked in comic books in the 1940s but it ended after 2010 due to a lack of available panelists and was replaced by That 70's Panel, celebrating comic book creators from that era. Evanier also serves as Administrator of the Bill Finger  Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. Several of the panels he hosts at Comic-Con also appear at the annual WonderCon in Anaheim, California. In April 2022, Evanier was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, "Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds", a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Personal life. On May 26, 2006, Evanier underwent gastric bypass surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center  in Los Angeles. Having peaked at around 344 pounds (156 kg) by then, he subsequently lost nearly 99 pounds (45 kg) by June 2007.