Jerry Robinson
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Jerry Robinson (b. January 1, 1922 in Trenton, New Jersey), is an American comic book artist best known for his work on the Batman line of books during the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.
He suggested the name "Robin" for the sidekick Bob Kane wanted for Batman and even designed most of the costume. He also came up with the basic concept of the Joker, Batman's arch enemy, who was re-modeled by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Kane and Finger based the final version on a photograph of actor Conrad Veidt, who was wearing make-up for a silent film entitled "The Man Who Laughs"; however, the Joker's penchant for leaving his calling card at the scene of a crime was taken from Robinson's original concept.
Robinson was actually Bob Kane's inker and letterer during the early years until Kane hired George Roussos to take over the background chores. Eventually, when Bob Kane left comic books to work on the Batman newspaper strip, Robinson took over the full pencilling chores along with others such as Dick Sprang. As was customary of the time, only Kane's name appeared on the strip.
Robinson went on to work on numerous other characters and publishers and he even had his own newspaper strip. But he will always be remembered for his contributions in the Bob Kane Studio. He was president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1967 to 1969 and president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists in 1979. In 1978 he founded Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate/CartoonArts International.
For his work in comics, he won several awards, including the National Cartoonists Society award for the Comic Book Division in 1956, their Newspaper Panel Cartoon for 1963 for Still Life, their Special Features Award in 1965 for Flubs and Fluffs, and their Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
He has recently been hired as a consultant on the upcoming Batman movie 'The Dark Knight' scheduled for a 2008 release.
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