| Greg Theakston | |
|---|---|
Greg Theakston at the Big Apple Con in 2008. |
|
| Born | Greg Allen Theakston November 21, 1953 |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Colorist Inker Penciller Publisher |
| Pseudonym(s) | Earl P. Wooton |
Greg Allen Theakston (born November 21, 1953)[1] is an American comics artist and illustrator who has worked for numerous publishers. In addition to his many contributions to books and magazines, he is known for developing the Theakstonizing process used in comics restoration.[2] He has used the pseudonym Earl P. Wooten.
Contents |
After Theakston graduated in 1971 from Redford High School, he worked with artist Jim Steranko before moving with partner Carl Lundgren in 1972 to upstate New York, where he began illustrating for men's magazines, including Gent, Dude and Nugget. As he built his portfolio, Theakston expanded to paperbacks and magazines, including Berkley Books, Dell, Ace, DAW, Zebra, Tor, St. Martin's Press, Warner, Ballantine Books, Belmont-Tower, If and Galaxy Science Fiction.
Among other various assignments were jobs for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Warren Comics, New York Daily News, Archie Comics, as well as periodicals magazines including National Lampoon, The New York Times, Kitchen Sink, Playboy, TV Guide and Rolling Stone. He was a Mad illustrator for ten years and has worked regularly with numerous comics publishers on projects such as Omega Men, Super Powers, DC Comics Presents, DC's Who's Who and Planet of the Apes.[3]
He contributed to Detroit's Fantasy Fans and Comic-collector's Group on their fanzine The Fan Informer (1968–71), as well as his own publication, The Aardvark Annual (1968). Theakston was also involved in the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, a multimedia convention from 1970 to 1978, eventually owning it after working on a dozen shows.[4] An original member of the Crusty Bunkers, Theakston worked closely with Neal Adams at Continuity Associates between 1972 and 1979, producing animatics, storyboards, comic art and various commercial advertising assignments.
Theakston's movie poster work includes Invaders From Mars, Silk Stockings, B'Wani Junction, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Jungle Book and Mogambo. He has seven lithographs in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art.
Theakston has run Pure Imagination, a comic book and magazine publisher since 1975. His biographical work includes an estimated 200,000 words on Jack Kirby, his long-time friend and work associate, 250,000 words on Bettie Page, numerous pieces on great comic book artists, and pop culture figures for Pure Imagination and other publishers including, Mad, Penthouse and Playboy.
His name has been given to a process called "Theakstonizing", a term coined by DC editor-in-chief, Dick Giordano, which bleaches color from old comics pages, used in the restoration for reprinting. To date, he has reconstructed over 12,000 pages of classic comic art, including work on Superman, Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, The Flash, Porky Pig, The Spirit, The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Archie, Dick Tracy, Torchy, Pogo and numerous collections of popular comics artists, including Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Basil Wolverton, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Jack Cole, Lou Fine, Wallace Wood, and many others.