Peter Kuper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter Kuper (b. September 22, 1958) is an American comics artist.
Besides his contributions to the political anthology World War 3 Illustrated, which he co-founded in 1979 with Seth Tobocman, he is currently best known for taking over Spy vs. Spy for MAD Magazine; it had passed through various hands after its creator Antonio Prohias retired, but Kuper's version has appeared without interruption since 1997. Kuper has produced numerous graphic novels which have been translated into French, German, Spanish,Italian, Portuguese, Swedish and Greek, including award-winning adaptations of Franz Kafka's Give It Up! and the Metamorphosis. His wordless picture story Sticks and Stones was awarded the 2004 gold medal from the Society of Illustrators. His most recent book Stop Forgetting to Remember covers the birth of his daughter, 9/11 and other vicissitudes in his life from 1995-2005.
As an illustrator Kuper has produced covers for Time, Newsweek, Businessweek and The Progressive. He has done hundreds of illustrations for newspapers including The New York Times and created Eye of the Beholder, the first comic strip to ever regularly appear in that paper. Kuper has been co-art director of the political illustration group INX [1] since 1988 and has taught courses in comics and illustration at The School of Visual Arts (1986-2001) and Parsons School of Design (2002-2004).
In 1994 Kuper was asked by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to be an expert defense witness in the trial of Florida cartoonist Mike Diana. In 2004 The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund defended Kuper when U.S. Customs seized a shipment containing the Eastern European publication Stripburger which had published Kuper's Richie Rich parody, Richie Bush[2]. After The CBDLF lawyers were brought in to argue that parody was not piracy, custom agents relented.
Kuper was born in Summit, New Jersey and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He moved to New York City in 1977 where he continues to live with his wife and daughter. He has traveled extensively through Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He lived in Israel (1969-70) and since 2006 has resided in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he has documented an ongoing teachers' strike.[3]
One of Kuper's earliest influences was the 1964 nuclear disaster film Fail-Safe, which became a motivation for positive personal achievement by encouraging him to accomplish his goals "before the bomb drops."
[edit] LITERARY HISTORY
2007 Stop Forgetting To Remember[4], The Autobiography of Walter Kurtz, Hard Cover, (Crown)
2006 Theo and The Blue Note, children’s book (Viking)
2004 The Jungle, (Hardcover reissue) adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel (NBM)
2004 Sticks and Stones, a novel in pictures (Three Rivers Press)
2003 The Metamorphosis, and adaptation of Franz Kafka's short story (Crown)
2001 SPEECHLESS, a retrospective collection, hardcover (Topshelf)
2000 Mind’s Eye, a collection of syndicated strips, hardcover, (NBM)
2000 Topsy Turvy, a collection of political comic strips, trade paperback (Eye Press)
1997 The System, (collected as a single book) softbound, (DC/Vertigo)
1996 Eye of the Beholder, a collection of syndicated strips, softbound (NBM)
1995 World War 3: Confrontational Comics, co-editor of anthology (4 Walls,8 Windows)
1995 Give It Up!, comics adaptation of Franz Kafka short stories, hardbound, (NBM)
1995 Stripped, An Unauthorized Autobiography, softbound (Fantagraphics)
1993- Wild Life, comics by the author, comic format, two issues (Fantagraphics) 1994
1992 ComicsTrips, travel-related comics by the author (NBM)
1991- Bleeding Heart, comics by the author, comic format, five issues (Fantagraphics) 1993
1991 The Jungle, comics adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel (First, Classics Illustrated)
1989 World War 3 Illustrated, co-editor of anthology (Fantagraphics)
1988 Life and Death, collection of author’s comics, magazine format (Fantagraphics)
1987 New York, New York, collection of author’s comics, soft-bound (Fantagraphics)
1984 The Last Cat Book illustrating an essay by Robert E.Howard, soft-bound (Dodd Mead)
[edit] External links
[edit] Interviews
On Newsarama http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=110834 On Mr. Media http://www.mrmedia.com/2007/06/peter-kuper-stop-forgetting-to-remember.html radio:Around Noon http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/an/2007/07/31/ On Mundo Fantasma http://blog.mundofantasma.com/?p=836
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