James O'Barr

James O'Barr

Born James W. O'Barr
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Artist
Notable works The Crow

James O'Barr is an American graphic artist, best known as the creator of the comic book series The Crow.[1]

Contents

Personal life

O'Barr, an orphan, was raised in the foster care system.[2] He studied Renaissance sculpture, live models and photographic still lifes.

In the 1990s O'Barr was affiliated with the experimental metal band Trust Obey, which was signed briefly to Trent Reznor's Nothing label before the band was dropped. Trust Obey released the album Fear and Bullets: Music to Accompany The Crow in 1993. The album was packaged with a special edition of The Crow graphic novel.

As of the mid-2000s, O'Barr resides in Texas.

The Crow

In 1978, O'Barr's fiancée, Beverly, was killed by a drunk driver, and he joined the Marines in an effort to cope with the loss. He was stationed in Germany and illustrated combat manuals for the military. While living in Berlin in 1981, O'Barr began work on The Crow as a means of dealing with his personal tragedy.[3] O'Barr was further inspired by a Detroit newspaper account of the murder of a young couple over a $20 engagement ring.[4] After his discharge from the Marines, O'Barr continued his painting and illustration as well as doing lots of odd jobs, including working for a Detroit body shop. The Crow sat on a shelf for seven years, but at last someone wanted to publish it: Gary Reed of Caliber Press. In The Crow, the protagonist and his fiancée are murdered by a gang of criminals. He then returns from the dead to hunt their killers.

O'Barr's own hope that his project would result in a personal catharsis went unfulfilled, he told an interviewer in 1994, saying, "[A]s I drew each page, it made me more self-destructive, if anything....There is pure anger on each page".[5] The Crow has sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide.[6]

The book was adapted into a successful film of the same name in 1994, but it resulted in further tragedy. Brandon Lee, who played the main character, was accidentally shot and killed during filming,[7] survived by his then-fiancée Eliza Hutton.

Acclaim

O'Barr was the second American to be awarded the "Storyteller Award" by the International Comic Festival held annually in Angoulême, France.

Sundown

O'Barr has been working on a 300 page graphic novel called "Sundown" for years now, and he is finally able to release the book in 2011.[8] The book will be delivered to O'Barr fans through the digital medium of the iPhone and iPad in late February 2011. The publisher and new digital motion comic company Motionworks Entertainment will feature a premiere of the book on January 29, 2011 via their website in a live web broadcast.[9]

Bibliography

KEY

Note: If no letters are indicated, all of the above are by O'Barr. All dates refer to first printings.

Comic Books

Digital Comics

Magazines

Books

Collectible card games

References

  1. ^ "From the Beginning, 'The Crow' Had a Grim Side : Movies: James O'Barr's comic book might have adapted smoothly to the big screen, but it was spurred by personal tragedy.". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-30/entertainment/ca-63961_1_comic-book. Retrieved 2010-12-04. 
  2. ^ Dark Dreams: How the Crow was Born : James O'Barr
  3. ^ "DIKE BLAIR | Writing". Thing.net. http://www.thing.net/~lilyvac/writing35.html. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
  4. ^ "KAOS2000 Magazine interview with James O'Barr / The Crow". Kaos2000.net. 2000-07-20. http://www.kaos2000.net/interviews/jamesobarr/. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
  5. ^ "Graphic novel". TheCrow.info. http://www.thecrow.info/granovel.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
  6. ^ Wizard magazine Link inactive 24 April 2008
  7. ^ "Mercy.Tripod.com". Inner_mercy.tripod.com. http://inner_mercy.tripod.com/Accident.html. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
  8. ^ "Motionworkscomics.com". Motionworks Entertainment. http://www.motionworkscomics.com/frontpage/motionworks-releasing-first-comic-book-sundown. Retrieved 2011-01-17. 
  9. ^ "Motionworkscomics.com". Motionworks Entertainment. http://www.motionworkscomics.com/frontpage/live-broadcast-sundown-premiere.html. Retrieved 2011-01-17. 
  10. ^ "Heresy Cards by Artist". The Sendai Bubble. Archived from the original on 2003-12-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20031210110205/http://sendai.best.vwh.net/rich/heresy/Artist.html. Retrieved 2011-08-17. 

External links

Creator
James O'Barr
Film and television
Characters
Music
Novels
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