Howard Chaykin: Conversations

Chronology

xv CHronoLogy 1950 Chaykin is born on October 7 in Newark, New Jersey, to Rosalind Pave and Norman Drucker, whose relationship soon ends. He spends his earliest years on Staten Island, New York with his grandparents. 1953 Rosalind Pave marries Leon Chaykin, who adopts her son. Howard is unaware that Leon Chaykin is not his biological father until the mid1990s . The Chaykin family moves to the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn. 1965 Chaykin moves to the Kew Garden Hills neighborhood in Queens with his mother, now divorced from Leon Chaykin. 1967 Chaykin graduates Jamaica High School at age sixteen. 1968 Chaykin spends the summer working at Zenith Press, his earliest paying job in the commercial art world. In the fall, Chaykin enrolls at Columbia College in Chicago. 1969 After leaving Columbia College and returning to New York, Chaykin takes a job as assistant for the artist who will become his most significant mentor, Gil Kane. 1970 Chaykin begins publishing art in science-fiction and comics fanzines, sometimes under the pseudonym “Eric Pave.” After leaving Kane’s employ, Chaykin works as an assistant for artist Wallace Wood and then for artist Gray Morrow. 1971 Chaykin’s first professional work—art for Shattuck, a racy Western comic strip for the U.S. military newspaper The Overseas Weekly—is published. Chaykin begins to work for artist Neal Adams, who advocates for Chaykin with DC Comics editors Dorothy Woolfolk and Murray Boltinoff. 1972 Chaykin pencils a Man-Thing story in Marvel’s Fear with inks by Morrow and works with him on comic strips for humor magazines. He draws his first story for DC Comics, “Strange Neighbor,” on an inventory basis; it eventually appears in Secrets of Sinister House #17 in 1974. DC publishes Sword of Sorcery #1, Chaykin’s most high-profile penciling job to date. Chaykin marries Daina Graziunas. xvi chronology xvi chronology 1973 Chaykin’s art continues to appear in Sword of Sorcery, and DC’s science -fiction series Weird Worlds features the debut of his character Ironwolf, a roguish but noble space opera hero; Chaykin also contributes to Marvel’s Amazing Adventures and, along with collaborator Steve Gerber, to “Tales of Atlantis,” a series of back-ups in Marvel’s Sub-Mariner. 1974 Chaykin begins working in freelance illustration for advertising agencies such as Benton and Bowles, J. Walter Thompson, and BBDO, a source of employment for him until 1978. Chaykin also pencils the Friday Foster daily comic strip for Gray Morrow and contributes short pieces to humor magazines such as Harpoon. He continues chronicling the adventures of Ironwolf in Weird Worlds, and his creator -owned character Cody Starbuck debuts in the first issue of Mike Friedrich’s independent comics anthology Star*Reach. His series The Scorpion premieres from publisher Atlas/Seaboard. After the second issue, editorial conflicts drive Chaykin from the title. Chaykin contributes art to titles including Red Circle Sorcery, Vampire Tales, Detective Comics, Creepy, and The Savage Sword of Conan. 1975 Chaykin’s creation Dominic Fortune, a revised version of The Scorpion , first appears in Marvel Preview #2, and his adventures continue in the pages of Marvel Super Action #1, the first Fortune story written solely by Chaykin. Chaykin also contributes to Apple Pie, Kull and the Barbarians, and Weird War Tales, among other titles. 1976 In the pages of Star*Reach, Chaykin continues to chronicle the adventures of Cody Starbuck and, with Len Wein, premieres the character Gideon Faust. He contributes work to Vampirella, Marvel Spotlight, and Marvel Premiere, including the first appearance of his character Monark Starstalker in Marvel Premiere #32. 1977 Chaykin pencils the first ten issues of Marvel’s Star Wars comic. He also contributes work to Batman Family, Conan the Barbarian, Marvel Premiere, and Heavy Metal. His marriage to Daina Graziunas ends. 1978 Empire, a graphic novel collaboration with Chaykin’s friend, noted science-fiction author Samuel R. Delany, is published by Byron Preiss . Chaykin also publishes a color Cody Starbuck one-shot and works on titles including Weird War Tales and Savage Sword of Conan. Along with Walter Simsonson, Jim Starlin, and Val Mayerik, Chaykin founds Upstart Associates, a shared workspace in New York’s Garment District. Chaykin and Leslie Zahler are married. 1979 Two graphic novel projects appear: The Swords of Heaven, the Flowers chronology xvii of Hell, a collaboration with Michael Moorcock, and The Stars My Destination , an adaptation of the science-fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Chaykin...