| Michael Kaluta | |
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| Born | August 25, 1947 Guatemala |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Penciller, Inker |
| Pseudonym(s) | Mike Kaluta |
| Notable works | The Shadow |
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Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comic book artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero, The Shadow with writer Dennis O'Neil.
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Born in Guatemala to U.S. citizens, Kaluta studied at the Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University).
Kaluta's early work included a 3-page adventure story, "The Battle of Shiraz", in Charlton Comics Flash Gordon, issue #6 and an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Venus novels for DC. Kaluta's influences and style are drawn from pulp illustrations of the 1930's and the turn of the century poster work of Alphonse Mucha - his signature motif is elaborate decorative panel designs - rather than the silver age comics of the 1960s. Kaluta has worked rarely with the superhero genre. Associated during the 1970's with Bernie Wrightson and Jeffrey Jones he also contributed illustrations to Ted White's Fantastic and Amazing. He is known for his work on the series Starstruck and The Shadow.[3] He co-created Eve, the horror host turned The Sandman supporting character.
Kaluta was one of the four comic book artists/fine illustrator/painters who formed the artists' commune The Studio in a loft in Manhattan's Chelsea district from 1975 to 1979. His Studio colleagues were Barry Windsor-Smith, Jeffrey Jones, and Bernie Wrightson. Aside from many comic books and covers Kaluta has done a wide variety of book illustrations.
In 1984 he not only drew the illustrations for but directed the music video of The Alan Parsons Project song "Don't Answer Me," which became one of the most requested videos of the year on cable video channel MTV in America.
Among music fans, Kaluta is known as the artist for the cover of Glenn Danzig's instrumental album Black Aria and for the interior illustration of Danzig's fourth album, the latter of which appeared in 1994 and 1995 as a pendant sold at Danzig concerts, and on Danzig T-shirts and sweaters produced in the same period. Kaluta also created the CD covers and interior booklet illustrations for Nativity in Black I and II, tribute albums to the music of Black Sabbath.
Kaluta has also worked for role-playing game companies such as White Wolf. He has done artwork for collectible card games companies, including a comic book for Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering and illustrating cards on Last Unicorn Games' Heresy: Kingdom Come.[4]
His work has won him a good deal of recognition, including the Shazam Award for Outstanding New Talent in 1971 and the 2003 Spectrum Grandmaster Award.
In the early 1990s, he was active in Compuserve's Macintosh Gaming Forum, in the flight simulator enthusiast group which called itself VFA-13 Shadow Riders. He contributed a number of designs for airplane nose art and flight suit unit patches.
Comics work (interior pencil art, except where noted) includes: