Carl Potts
| Carl Potts | |
|---|---|
 Potts in 2024 | |
| Born | November 12, 1952 Oakland, California, US |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Inker, Editor |
Notable works | Alien Legion Epic Comics The Punisher War Journal |
Carl Potts (born November 12, 1952)[1] is an American comics artist, writer, teacher, and editor best known for creating the series Alien Legion for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics.
Early life
[edit]Born in Oakland, California, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Hawaii, Potts received an associate degree in commercial art from Chabot College in Hayward, California.[2] He received his bachelor's degree in creative writing and editing from SUNY – Empire State College.
Career
[edit]After contributing to such comics fanzines as the anthology Venture,[3] Potts drew backgrounds and some secondary figures for a late fill-in issue of DC Comics' Richard Dragon: Kung Fu Fighter, being drawn by Bay Area comics artists Jim Starlin and Alan Weiss.[2] Potts began his comics career in 1975.[4]
Relocating to New York City, he freelanced briefly until joining Neal Adams' commercial art company and comic book packager Continuity Studios and was a member of the Crusty Bunkers.[5] As he explained in a 2000 interview: "Continuity was gearing up to produce black-and-white magazines based on several TV series: The Six Million Dollar Man, Space: 1999, and Emergency!. I got involved with storyboard and comp art for major New York ad agencies. I also produced finished-illustration for magazines and books for several years before joining Marvel's editorial staff in 1983".[2][6]
Marvel Comics
[edit]At Marvel as an editor, Potts discovered and/or mentored many top comics creators including Arthur Adams,[7][8] Jon Bogdanove, June Brigman, Jim Lee,[9] Mike Mignola,[10] Mike Okamoto, Whilce Portacio, Terry Shoemaker, Steve Skroce, Larry Stroman, Sal Velutto, Chris Warner, and Scott Williams. He oversaw the development of the Punisher from guest star to franchise character, and edited such titles as The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, The Defenders, The Thing,[11] Alpha Flight, and Moon Knight, as well as the newly created Amazing High Adventure, Power Pack, Strikeforce: Morituri, and What The--?!.[12] He was the editor who produced the first Rocket Raccoon miniseries.[10] Potts' editorship was humorously characterized in 1988 as "a remarkable feat considering [his] legendary spelling disability."[13]
After hours, Potts continued to write and produce occasional art for Marvel. He created the "Last of the Dragons" serial which appeared in Epic Illustrated #15–20 (Dec. 1982–Oct. 1983) and was written by Dennis O'Neil and inked by Terry Austin.[14][15] In 1983, Potts teamed with Alan Zelenetz and Frank Cirocco to co-create the series Alien Legion, conceived as "the French Foreign Legion in space." Two ongoing series and several miniseries and one-shots were produced.[2][16] In 2007, Potts' Alien Legion screenplay was optioned by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and The Walt Disney Company.[17] Bruckheimer exercised the option and bought the script in 2010, hiring Game of Thrones show runner David Benioff to do a rewrite.[citation needed]
Potts wrote and, for the early issues, did layouts for the launch of the Punisher War Journal title in 1988 with Jim Lee doing the finished art.[18] In 1989, Potts was named executive editor in charge of the Epic imprint, and about a third of the mainstream Marvel titles.[12] Five years later, he became editor-in-chief of the "General Entertainment" and Epic Comics divisions.[2]
Later career
[edit]After 13 years at Marvel, Potts left to become Creative Director at VR-1, a massively multiplayer online game company.[2] He then worked with Gary Winnick and Cirocco's Lightsource Studios[2] before freelancing. He has taught at the School of Visual Arts[19] and the Academy of Art University.[20]
In 2023 the rights to his Alien Legion were picked up by Warner Bros., with Tim Millerslated to direct an adaptation.[21]
Personal life
[edit]Potts and his wife Cathy have two children.[citation needed]
Bibliography
[edit]Books
[edit]- Potts, Carl (2013). The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling. Watson-Guptill. ISBN 978-0385344722.
Comics
[edit]Charlton Comics
[edit]- Space: 1999 magazine #7 (1976)
DC Comics
[edit]- Adventure Comics #453–455 (Aqualad backup stories) (1977–1978)
- Batman Family #11 (1977)
- Richard Dragon: Kung Fu Fighter #2 (1975)
- The Superman Family #183 ("Nightwing and Flamebird" backup story) (1977)
- Time Warp #5 (1980)
- Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #7, 9 (1985)
- Who's Who: Update '87 #4 (1987)
HM Communications, Inc.
[edit]- Heavy Metal #v2#10, #v4#2 (1979–1980)
Marvel Comics
[edit]- Doctor Strange vol. 2 #63 (1984)
- Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men #1 (1985)
- Marvel Comics Presents #14, 124, 138–139, 160–163 (1989–1994)
- Marvel Fanfare #42 (1989)
- Marvel Holiday Special #2 (1993)
- Moon Knight #32–33, 35 (1983–1984)
- Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #13 (1984)
- Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #9, 14, 16, 20 (1986–1988)
- Power Man and Iron Fist #82–83, 86–89 (1982–1983)
- Prowler #1–4 (1994–1995)
- The Punisher Movie Special #1 (1990)
- The Punisher War Journal #1–15, 17–24 (1988–1990)
- Punisher: Origin Micro Chip #1–2 (1993)
- Shadowmasters #1–4 (1989–1990)
- Spellbound #1–4, 6 (1988)
- Spider-Man Family #8 (2008)
- Spider-Man Unlimited #4 (1994)
- Spider-Woman #47 (1982)
- Venom: Funeral Pyre #1–3 (1993)
- Venom: The Mace #1–3 (1994)
- Web of Spider-Man #107–108 (1993–1994)
- What If: Secret Invasion #1 (2010)
- Wolverine and the Punisher: Damaging Evidence #1–3 (1993)
Epic Comics
[edit]- Alien Legion #2 (1984)
- Epic Illustrated #1, 13, 15–20 (1980–1983)
- Heavy Hitters Annual #1 (1993)
References
[edit]- ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ellis, Jonathan (May 2000). "Interview: Carl Potts". PopImage.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
- ^ "Carl Potts". Lambiek Comiclopedia. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
- ^ Carl Potts at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Bails, Jerry; Ware, Hames. "Crusty Bunkers". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999. Archived from the original on May 11, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (2008). "1980s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 210. ISBN 978-0756641238.
The editorial staff also changed in 1983. Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and Carl Potts all became editors.
- ^ Cooke, Jon B. (January 2002). "The Art of Arthur Adams". Comic Book Artist (17). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016.
- ^ Khoury, George; Nolen-Weathington, Eric (2006). Modern Masters, Vol. 6: Arthur Adams. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1893905542.
- ^ Lee, Jim; Baker, Bill (2010). Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee. London, United Kingdom: Titan Books. pp. 8–10. ISBN 978-1845765194.
- ^ a b "VF / NM Industry Interview: Carl Potts". VeryFineNearMint.com. January 10, 2010. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
When I became an editor, Mike [Mignola] had just penciled his first story, a Sub-Mariner job for Marvel Fanfare. We renewed our acquaintance and I assigned him his first series as a penciller, Rocket Raccoon.
- ^ Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel Comics cover-dated November 1983.
- ^ a b Carl Potts (editor) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ The Punisher War Journal #1 (1988). Reprinted in The Punisher War Journal: Classic, (Marvel Comics, 2008) ISBN 978-0-7851-3118-2, p. 33
- ^ Dueben, Alex (March 1, 2016). "Former Marvel Editor Returns to 'Last of the Dragons', Talks Mentoring Talent". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016.
One of Potts' first comics projects, 'Last of the Dragons', originally published in Epic Illustrated, has been repackaged and released by Dover Books. The story, written and illustrated by the comics veteran in the early '80s, has a unique take on monks, ninjas, samurais and dragons as a group of monks in 19th Century Japan have trained dragons and plan to bring them to America.
- ^ Potts, Carl; O'Neil, Dennis (2015). Last of the Dragons. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. p. 80. ISBN 978-0486803579.
- ^ "Mission Summaries". Alien Legion.com. n.d. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016.
- ^ Geddes, John (November 16, 2009). "Alien Legion Prepares for Blast-off". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 19, 2009.
- ^ Daniels, Les (1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 203. ISBN 9780810938212.
A second regularly published series, The Punisher: War Journal, was added in November 1988; this time Carl Potts provided the scripts himself, and also did layouts that were fully rendered by artist Jim Lee.
- ^ "Our Faculty: Carl Potts". School of Visual Arts. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
- ^ "Academy of Art University Catalog Addendum 2" (PDF). Academy of Art University. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 25, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ Umberto Gonzalez (November 14, 2023). "Warner Bros. Picks Up 'Alien Legion' With Tim Miller Attached to Direct". TheWrap. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
External links
[edit]
- Carl Potts at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- General Eclectic (Carl Potts official blog). WebCitation archive.
- Alien Legion official website.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1952 births
- 20th-century American artists
- 21st-century American artists
- Academy of Art University faculty
- American comics artists
- American comics writers
- American art educators
- Artists from Oakland, California
- Chabot College alumni
- American comic book editors
- Comics inkers
- DC Comics people
- Empire State University alumni
- Living people
- Marvel Comics people
- Writers from Oakland, California