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Trevor Von Eeden

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Trevor Von Eeden (born July 24, 1959)[1] is a Guyanese-American comics artist, actor and writer known for his work on such titles as Black Lightning, Batman, Green Arrow, Power Man and Iron Fist, and the biographical series The Original Johnson.

Trevor Von Eeden
Trevor Von Eeden
BornTrevor Von Eeden
(1959-07-24) July 24, 1959 (age 65)
Guyana
Area(s)Comics
Notable works
Black Lightning
Batman
Green Arrow
Power Man and Iron Fist
The Original Johnson

Early life

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Von Eeden was born in Guyana[1] and moved to New York City when he was 11 years old.[1] According to Von Eeden, he remembers drawing in his early teens in order to alleviate the boredom of junior high school, beginning with anatomical studies of faces and hands, which he says are the most difficult things to draw accurately. He was introduced to comics through the vast comic collection and encouragement of his best friend Al Simonson, who suggested to submit sample artwork to DC Comics.[2] Von Eeden's influences included Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, John Buscema, and Curt Swan.[3] He was also studying medicine at Columbia University.[3]

Career

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Trevor Von Eeden's comic book career began at age 16, when DC Comics editor Jack C. Harris hired him to illustrate prototype assignments with the "Legion of Super-Heroes" and Weird War Tales.[3] Soon after, Von Eeden was officially hired to design and draw the company's first African-American superhero to have his own title, Black Lightning.[4]

About three years later, Von Eeden began to suspect he had gotten that job because of his skin color, which displeased him and resulted in his writing what he called a five-page mission statement that said "in detail exactly what I wanted to create — the kind of style I thought would express myself most effectively, while also telling a story in the most dramatic way possible. I wrote everything down that I could think of — the details, form, and purpose of the style of art that I'd wanted to create."[2]

 
Von Eeden at the 2012 New York Comic Con

In 1977, he began drawing the "Green Arrow" backup feature in World's Finest Comics[5] and co-created the Count Vertigo character with Gerry Conway in World's Finest Comics #251 (July 1978). Von Eeden recalled in a 2011 interview that he "worked for Neal [Adams] concurrent with my DC tenure—starting in 1978, until somewhere in the late '90s".[6] He moved to Marvel Comics in 1979 and 1980 and pencilled Power Man and Iron Fist and Spider-Woman.[7] His stint at Marvel Comics was cut short because, in his own words, he was "fired by Jim Shooter, who’d told me specifically, when I’d first started there, to try and draw like Jack Kirby—and apparently wasn’t happy that I didn’t."[8] He then returned to DC and once again drew the "Green Arrow" feature in World's Finest Comics[5] and later in Detective Comics as well.[9] In collaboration with writer Mike W. Barr, he crafted Batman Annual #8 (1982)[10] and a Green Arrow miniseries.[11] Von Eeden has noted that the Batman Annual is "the book I’m most proud of, in my 25 year career at DC Comics. I was able to ink it myself, and also got my girlfriend at the time, Lynn Varley, to colour it – her first job in comics."[12] He and writer Jack C. Harris proposed to DC an all-female superteam named the Power Squad, but were turned down.[13] In 1983, Von Eeden and writer Robert Loren Fleming created the DC series Thriller, an action-adventure story that allowed him room to experiment.[14][15] Von Eeden left the series as of its eighth issue due to difficulties with DC Comics' management.[16] He stated in a 2017 interview that he was "thrilled beyond measure" that Thriller is "the one job of my entire 41-year career that the fans have fondly and consistently remembered since it first appeared."[17]

He was asked by Frank Miller to draw the "Batman: Year One" storyline but did not accept the offer.[18]

"Venom", the fourth story arc in the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight series, was drawn by Von Eeden, Russell Braun, and José Luis García-López.[7][19] Von Eeden drew a Black Canary limited series (Nov. 1991-Feb. 1992) as well as an ongoing series featuring the character in 1992–1993.[7] In a 2009 interview he stated that ''Black Canary, on the other hand, was done in one state of mind, from beginning to end, one of semi-interest, to tell you the truth. I didn't, and still don't, find her to be a particularly interesting character."[20]

In 2001 Von Eeden returned to Batman, penciling the five-issue storyline "Grimm" in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #149–153.[21] He also illustrated a series of short stories, "Joe In The Future", published in Heavy Metal #v25 #6 (Jan. 2002) and #v27 #5 (Nov. 2003)[1]

In 2007 Von Eeden began writing and drawing The Original Johnson, a biography of the boxer Jack Johnson. The 242-page graphic novel was serialized in weekly online installments at ComicMix, and was completed in 2008.[14] Print rights to the book were acquired by IDW Publishing, who issued the series as a two-volume set in 2009 and 2011.[1] He has called this project "The other 'most satisfying' book of my career (aside from the Batman Annual #8) is The Original Johnson – the first book I’ve ever written and drawn."[12]

He provided illustrations for the text story "The Holo-Marketeer" for Heavy Metal #v34 #9 (Jan. 2011) and designed and illustrated superhero comics produced for the National Hockey League by Stan Lee.[1] He later drew four issues of Gateway Comics' Stalker.[22]

Awards and recognition

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Bibliography

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Archie Comics

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Continuity Comics

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  • Armor #6 (1989)
  • Megalith #4–5 (1990–1991)
  • Toyboy #2–6 (1987–1988)
  • Urth 4 #1–3 (1989–1990)

DC Comics

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DC Comics/United States Postal Service

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Impact Comics

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Paradox Press

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  • The Big Book of Bad #1 (1998)
  • The Big Book of Little Criminals #1 (1996)
  • The Big Book of the Weird Wild West #1 (1998)

Eureka Productions

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  • Graphic Classics African-American Classics #22 (2011)

Gateway Comics

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  • Stalker #1–4 (2012–2013)

IDW Publishing

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  • The Original Johnson #1–2 (2009–2011)

Marvel Comics

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Metal Mammoth Inc.

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Pacific Comics

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  • Bold Adventure #1–2 (1983–1984)

Filmography

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Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2020 Black Lightning Judge Von Eeden Episode: "The Book of War: Chapter Three: Liberation"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "About the Artists & Writers African-American Classics Graphic Classics vol. 22". Eureka Productions. 2011. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Von Eeden, Trevor (2009). "Booom". Trevorvoneeden.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2011. About three years into my career, at about the age of 20, I started to feel that I'd only gotten the job because of my skin color—a notion which displeased me greatly.
  3. ^ a b c Gold, Mike (July 1977). "DC Profiles #10: Trevor Von Eeden". DC Comics. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Archived at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden provided the creative juice for Black Lightning. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Kingman, Jim (May 2013). "The Ballad of Ollie and Dinah". Back Issue! (64). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 10–21.
  6. ^ "Interview with Trevor Von Eeden". The Arrow Cave. September 8, 2011. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Trevor Von Eeden at the Grand Comics Database
  8. ^ Callahan, Timothy (December 2010). "Power Man and Iron Fist". Back Issue! (45). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 5.
  9. ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 199: "Green Arrow netted the coveted position as back-up story to the Dark Knight's adventures in Detective Comics. Written by Joey Cavalieri, with art by Trevor Von Eeden, the new feature saw Star City's renowned archer renew his war on crime."
  10. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "1980s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 143. ISBN 978-1465424563. [This] was the longest single Batman story ever published to date, a 42-page blockbuster written by Mike W. Barr and illustrated by Trevor Von Eeden. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 201: "The Battling Bowman fought his way into his own four-issue miniseries at long last, thanks to writer Mike W. Barr and artist Trevor Von Eeden."
  12. ^ a b Williams, Luke G. (August 24, 2014). "Boxiana Vol. 1 extras: Five rounds with Trevor Von Eeden". Boxiana. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015.
  13. ^ "The all-female DC Comics' team book that wasn't". DC Women Kicking Ass. August 3, 2011. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
  14. ^ a b Gustines, George Gene (December 24, 2008). "Comic Book Takes Unflinching Look at a Boxing Champion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024.
  15. ^ Sacks, Jason (March 28, 2013). "The Full Run: Thriller #1 by Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor Von Eeden". Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015.
  16. ^ Fiffe, Michel (June 21, 2009). "The Trevor Von Eeden Interview (Online excerpts from print interview)". The Comics Journal. No. 298. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on July 10, 2009.
  17. ^ Catto, Ed (August 2017). "Thriller". Back Issue! (98). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 30.
  18. ^ Best, Daniel (June 22, 2009). "Original Art Stories: 'Batman Year One' – Frank Miller & Trevor Von Eeden". 20th Century Danny Boy. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Frank had called me in person to offer me the 'Batman: Year One' job, before giving it to Mazzuchelli. I said, 'No.',' says Trevor, 'And I have no regrets – Dave did a beautiful job. His wife [Richmond Lewis] colored it, too.
  19. ^ Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 191: "The strength-enhancing drug that would later help villain Bane defeat Batman debuted in this five-issue arc written by Dennis O'Neil and drawn by Trevor Von Eeden and Russell Braun."
  20. ^ Fiffe, Michel (July 1, 2009). "Interview with Trevor Von Eeden – Interview Extras". Michel Fiffe. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015.
  21. ^ Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 261: "Batman met the threat of new villain Mother Grimm in this five-issue flashback tale written by J. M. DeMatteis and penciled by Trevor Von Eeden."
  22. ^ Vasseur, Richard (December 24, 2013). "Bradley Potts Owner/Writer/Publisher". Gateway Comics. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. The first four chapters of Stalker are illustrated by comics legend Trevor Von Eeden.
  23. ^ "Inkwell Awards". The Inkwell Awards Committee. n.d. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015.
  24. ^ "Inkpot Awards". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2015. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trevor Von Eeden.
Preceded by "Green Arrow" feature
in World's Finest Comics artist
1977–1979 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Power Man and Iron Fist artist
1979 		Succeeded by
Preceded by "Green Arrow" feature
in World's Finest Comics artist
1980–1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
n/a
 Thriller artist
1983–1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight artist
1991 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight artist
1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight artist
2002 		Succeeded by
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