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gcd-main: Anything directly related to the indexing of comic books for the database such as questions about indexing, missing credits, or creator identification. This list is also used for official GCD business, such as administrative updates, announcements to the membership, Board elections, etc.

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GCD Comics Timeline

Tony Isabella (born 22 December 1951, USA) is a comic book writer, editor, and critic, and friend of the GCD.

He was active in comics fandom when he was a teenager, writing for fanzines and APAs and writing letters to the comics, typically to Marvel.

Although his career began in 1972 as an editor at Marvel, he began publishing stories there at the same time. He wrote stand-alone and series stories, from “Captain America” to ‘Tigra’, including a long run on “Ghost Rider”.

He created “Black Goliath”, and he created Misty Knight in ‘Iron Fist’, who would become one of the ‘Daughters of the Dragon’.

In the late 1970s, Isabella moved to DC Comics. He created “Black Lightning” in 1977, DC’s first black super-hero. He wrote the “Shadow War of Hawkman” mini-series in 1985.

In the late 1980s, he wrote the “Justice Machine” revival at Comico. In 1995, he briefly returned to Marvel for a second “Black Lightning” series.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Isabella
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/36S7307mmU6

(Rich Buckler penciled and Frank Springer inked the cover of “Black Lightning” #1, April 1977.)

Nicolas Barral (born 22 December 1966, France) is a comic book artist who works both in the realistic and the humorous drawing styles. He is best-known for the parodies he made with Pierre Veys, and as the third artist of the “Nestor Burma” comic series.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/barral_nicolas.htm
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/3YEx307mmIC

Chip Zdarsky is the comics-related pen-name of Steve Murray (born 21 December 1975, Canada), a journalist and illustrator under his given name who also creates comic books.

His comics work began in the 2000s with stories at Dark Horse and some self-published books. In 2013, he and writer Matt Fraction co-created “Sex Criminals” at Image.

In 2015, Zdarsky wrote a “Howard the Duck” mini-series at Marvel, and the relaunch of “Jughead” at Archie Comics.

Murray and Fraction won the Will Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2014.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Zdarsky
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/afXx307kc9i

(Zdarsky drew this variant cover of “Jughead” #1, November 2015.)

Bob Bindig (21 December 1920 – 6 November 2007, USA) was a cartoonist and comics historian who worked on the “Adventures of the Big Boy” comic book from 1985 to 1995.

He also created the character of Buster Bison a the mascot for the AAA Buffalo Bisons baseball team.

Bindig received the National Cartoonist Society Advertising Award for 1988.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Bindig
At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bindig_bob.htm
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/uw8B307kbRN

Ben Oda (21 December 1915 – November 1984, USA) was a comic strip and comic book letterer. He served as a paratrooper in World War II, having been drafted out of an internment camp where the rest of his family remained.

He began working in the comics industry after the war. He lettered both strips and comic books and was prolific — the GCD has nearly 7400 citations of his work.
He lettered strips from “Flash Gordon” and “Prince Valiant” to “The Spirit”.

In the 1940s, he worked for a variety of publishers, in Jack Kirby and Joe Simon’s studio. In the 1950s, he worked on EC Comics.

From the 1970s, Oda worked primarily at DC Comics. He brought a classic touch to features such as Superman, Batman, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, among many others.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Oda
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/n333307kbyQ

(Jack Kirby penciled and Joe Simon inked the cover of “Young Romance” #4, March-April 1948.)

Jidéhem is the pen-name of Jean de Mesmaeker (born 21 December 1935, Belgium), a comics artist of the Marcinelle school. His career began around 1954 with his detective series ‘Ginger’ in “Héroïc Albums”.

He moved to “Spirou” in 1957 and began assisting André Franquin on ‘Spirou et Fantasio’. He joined Franquin in developing the character Gaston from that series into the strip ‘Gaston Lagaffe’, providing most of the art until 1968.

In 1959, he created the ‘Starter’ series, which soon shifted focus to Jidéhem’s own character Sophie, named after his daughter. He continued to create ‘Sophie’ stories through the early 1990s.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/j/jidehem.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jid%C3%A9hem
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/w53u307kbh4

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional male reindeer with a glowing red nose, popularly known as "Santa's 9th Reindeer." When depicted, he is the lead reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. The luminosity of his nose is so great that it illuminates the team's path through inclement winter weather. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward.

DC Comics, then known as National Periodical Publications, published a series of 13 annuals titled Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1950 to 1962. Most of the 1950s stories were drawn by Rube Grossman. In 1972, DC published a 14th edition in an extra-large format. Subsequently, they published six more in that format: Limited Collectors' Edition C-24, C-33, C-42, C-50 and All-New Collectors' Edition C-53, C-60. Additionally, one digest format edition was published as The Best of DC #4 (March–April 1980). The 1970s Rudolph stories were written and drawn by Sheldon Mayer

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Frank Hampson (21 December 1918 – 8 July 1985, UK) was the creator of ‘Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future’, the famed science-fiction comic strip.

Hampson was an illustrator working for vicar Marcus Morris in 1949, when Morris decided to launch a magazine for children, “Eagle”. Hampson created ‘Dan Dare’ as the lead feature from the first issue.

Through 1961, he worked on ‘Dan Dare’ and other strips such as ‘Tommy Walls’ and ‘The Road of Courage’.

After leaving comics, he worked as a commercial artist.

Hampson received a Yellow Kid award at Lucca in 1975.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hampson_f.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Hampson
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/cg8D307kaWg

(Don Harley inked the art on the cover of “Dan Dare Pilot of the Future” #1: ‘The Man From Nowhere’, 1979, over pencils by Fred Hampson.)

Dave Simons (20 December 1954 – 9 June 2009, USA) was a comic book artist from the late 1970s until his early death, primarily at Marvel and DC Comics, and also at Malibu, Now Comics, Topps and others.

In the 1980s at Marvel, he was particularly known for his inking over artists such as Gene Colan, Ron Wilson, Frank Miller, and others. His 1982–1983 run on “Ghost Rider”, especially over pencils by Bob Budiansky, is regarded as a high point of the series.

He also provided inks on titles from “Iron Man” to “Doctor Strange” to “Star Wars”. He penciled stories in “Web of Spider-Man”, “Red Sonja”, and other series.

Simons moved to DC Comics in the 1990s, where he launched the “Forgotten Realms” licensed series over pencils by Rags Morales. He worked on other Dungeons & Dragons comics from both DC and TSR, and on DC television comics such as “Cartoon Network Block Party”.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Simons
At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/simons_dave.htm
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/mDTi307hSyl

(Dave Simons penciled and Joe Rubenstein inked the cover of “What If?” #25, February 1981.)

Bob de Moor (20 December 1925 - 26 August 1992, Belgium) was an early master of the Clear Line (Ligne claire) style in Franco-Belgian comics. His career began in animation during World War II and continued in newspaper strips after the war.

He worked at “Tintin” (“Kuifje” in Dutch) from 1949. His first work was an adaptation of “De Leeuw van Vlaanderen” (“The Lion of Flanders”), the 1838 novel by Hendrik Conscience that is a foundation of Fleming national literature.

From 1951, he worked very closely with Hergé on Tintin stories and Tintin-related material such as advertisements and animation. He was skilled at matching another artist’s style, and critics debate which work was done by Hergé and which by De Moor.

He also created humorous strips such as ‘Bonelli’ and ‘Balthazar’, and from 1989 was the artistic director of the publisher Le Lombard.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_de_Moor
At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/de-moor_bob.htm
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/nF5t307hSrw