Carl Gafford
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| Carl Gafford | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 23, 1953 |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Editor, Colorist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Gaff Douglas Gafford Jones |
| Notable works | Amazing World of DC Comics The Legion of Super-Heroes |
Carl Gafford (born November 23, 1953)[1] is a colorist (and occasional editor) who has worked for several decades in the comics industry. His career to date has spanned several publishers, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Topps Comics.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Carl Gafford was a member of comics fandom, writing and drawing his own ditto machine fanzine Minotaur from 1968 to 1972, as well as contributing art and writing to other fanzines and the amateur press alliance CAPA-alpha ("K-a") beginning in December 1970.
[edit] DC Comics
Gafford began his professional career at DC Comics as an assistant proofreader in the production department in March 1973, and was promoted to full proofreader at the end of the year with the retirement of Gerta Gattel. Gafford started coloring feature pages in the production department, eventually doing regular freelance coloring beginning with Justice League of America #115. He was promoted to assistant production manager in August 1974 and began work on DC's in-house fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics, doing editing, writing, production work and color separations.
[edit] Hanna-Barbera/Marvel
Gafford moved to San Francisco in September 1976, then to Los Angeles in 1977 to color and write for the Hanna-Barbera comics produced for Marvel Comics. Titles included Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Laff-A-Lympics and others. During this time, Gafford also worked in Hanna-Barbera's layout department on such TV shows as Godzilla and Super Friends before returning to New York City in August 1978. Gafford went to work in Marvel Comics' production department, first as a freelancer then as the staff typesetter.
[edit] Return to DC/freelance colorist
Gafford left Marvel in January 1981 and began freelancing for both DC and Marvel, one of the few colorists to work at both companies at the same time.[citation needed] He returned to staff at DC in the summer of 1981 as the proofreader, then by year's end had become Len Wein's assistant editor on Justice League, The Flash, Teen Titans, and the Batman books. At this time, Gafford became editor of Adventure Comics Digest, and with writer Bob Rozakis revived the Challengers of the Unknown, with art first by George Tuska and later by Alex Toth. Gafford also wrote the Creeper back-up series in The Flash, featuring British artist Dave Gibbons' first work for DC, — though most of the scripts were scrapped after a change of editors.[citation needed]
During this time, Gafford began coloring The Legion of Super-Heroes with #288, and continued on that run for seven years without missing an issue, totaling 125 regular issues, giants, mini-series and two different Legion books a month for a year.
Gafford returned to freelance coloring for DC and Marvel in the summer 1982 after marrying former Marvel staffer Sharon Ing and moving to Massachusetts, where she worked.
| “ | In particular, I remember how in the summer of 1983 I was called in to color the adaptation of Superman III, but Warner Bros. security wouldn't let the color stills leave DC's office, and the pages were coming in dribs and drabs. What ended up happening was a Marvel production person was on vacation that week, so during the day I filled in at Marvel pasting up covers and doing lettering & art corrections, spent my lunch hours going up to DC for the latest pages and reference, and then coloring the Superman III pages at night at the office of some friends of mine in lower Manhattan, where I crashed on their couch.[citation needed] | ” |
The Gaffords moved to San Francisco in August 1984, only to return to New York City a year later. While in New York, Gafford freelanced for DC and occasionally subbed for vacationing staff members like assistant editors and DC's proofreader.
[edit] Disney Comics
Gafford was offered a job as assistant editor to Denny O'Neil on the Batman books at DC in 1988, but turned it down to return to school full time (while still freelance coloring), graduating cum laude from the College of Staten Island in 1989 with a B.A. in history. After which, he returned to San Francisco (just in time for the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake), only to return to Los Angeles in June 1990 to accept a job at Disney Comics, a division of Disney Publishing producing a series of comics based on Mickey Mouse, Goofy, new TV cartoon shows like Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers and Duck Tales, and the continuation of Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories from Gladstone Publishing.
Gafford freelanced for Dark Horse Comics and Innovation while at Disney, and did some editing of the final Disney Comics (an Aladdin mini-series) while helping to transition the end of the Disney Comics line, returning the license to Gladstone Publishing (later bought out by Diamond Comics Distribution).
[edit] Defiant
In March 1993, Gafford moved back to New York to help noted writer and former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter launch his new Defiant Comics line, but creative differences resulted in severing ties with the new publisher (which eventually went out of business a year later).
[edit] Topps Comics
In June 1993, Gafford was hired by former Marvel editor Jim Salicrup for the new line of Topps Comics produced by noted sports trading card publisher The Topps. Topps Comics was producing a line of books licensed from famed comics creator Jack Kirby, who died in 1994. As the independent comics market shrank in the mid-1990s, Topps dropped their original titles and concentrated on TV and movie licensed titles, most notably The X-Files and Jurassic Park.
Gafford was laid off from Topps at the end of January 1997 along with other staffers, including editor-in-chief Salicrup. The few who remained were let go before year's end, and some of the inventory eventually saw print at Dark Horse Comics.
[edit] Freelance cartoonist
Starting in 1994, Gafford returned to writing and drawing, this time for the anthropomorphic (furry) market, and produced material that saw print at Antarctic Press, Radio Comics, and Shanda Fantasy Arts. He also wrote and drew original comics stories reminiscent of 1950s and '60s superhero genres which saw print in Big Bang Comics: two stories were redrawn by other artists, but the final one ("Ladybug," a combination of Fly Girl and Supergirl) featured Gafford's own art, the last to appear in print.
[edit] Post-comics
After leaving New York City behind for the final time in 1997, Gafford has returned to the "outside world," working in sales and retail for department and supermarket chains in roles far removed from the creative world of comics (as has happened to many in the comics field over the years).
[edit] Personal life
Gafford and his first wife Sharon have a son, William, born in May 1985. The couple separated in 1986 and divorced in 1991.
Gafford currently resides in Arizona, tending to his invalid second wife and battling arthritis and diabetes. There have been no other children. His father died March 11, 2008, at the age of 82 of complications with Alzheimers, and his mother lives in an assisted care facility in Florida following a series of strokes.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5trAbNQWw. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
[edit] References
- Carl Gafford at the Grand Comics Database
- Carl Gafford at the Comic Book DB
