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David Wenzel

Born November 22, 1950 (1950-11-22) (age 59)
Nationality American
Area(s) Penciller, Inker, Colorist
Notable works The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic
The Wizard's Tale
Avengers
Awards Eagle Award, 1979
Official website

David T. Wenzel (b. November 22, 1950)[1] is an illustrator and children's book artist. He is best known for his graphic novel adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Contents

Biography

Wenzel's early career was as a penciler in the mainstream comic book industry. From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s he worked on such Marvel Comics titles as Avengers and Savage Sword of Conan. He penciled part of the The Avengers story arc which won a 1979 Eagle Award for Best Continued Story.

Segueing from comics to children's literature in the 1980s, Wenzel illustrated Robb Walsh's Kingdom of the Dwarfs for Centaur Books, and then illustrated a series of books about American colonial life for Troll Associates.

Gollum, from Wenzel's adaptation of The Hobbit.

Wenzel's next major project was the fully painted graphic novel The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic. This three-part adaptation of The Hobbit with writers writers Chuck Dixon and Sean Deming was originally published by Eclipse Comics in 1989. Published in a collected edition by Ballantine in 1990, The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic is one of the most successful graphic format adaptations of a piece of classic literature.[2] In 2001, it was updated by Del Ray Books with a new cover, larger format, and 32 new pages of artwork.

Another graphic novel project in a similar vein was Wenzel and writer Douglas Wheeler's adaptation of some of the Brothers Grimm's fairytales for NBM in 1995. In 1998 Wenzel teamed with acclaimed comics writer Kurt Busiek on The Wizard’s Tale, the story of Evernight, a land ruled by a consortium of evil wizards who discover that one of their kind harbors a "dangerous" glimmer of good. The Wizard’s Tale was designed to be a crossover book that blended children’s book elements with the format and readability of a graphic novel.

Other notable projects Wenzel has done include Robert L. May's Christmas bestseller Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Grosset and Dunlap, 2001); Max Lucado's A Hat For Ivan (Crossway Books, 2004); and several books in the Little Bear series which were art-directed by Maurice Sendak (HarperFestival, 2003–2004).

Wenzel's non-book related projects include puzzles, greeting cards, and two entire miniature kingdoms of collectible figurines.

Wenzel cites illustrators like Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, N.C. Wyeth, and Howard Pyle as influences; as well as the Dutch painters Pieter Bruegel and Jan Steen.[3]

Wenzel lives in Connecticut with his wife Janice, an artist and high school art teacher; their sons Brendan and Christopher are both artists; and Wenzel's brother Greg is a book writer and illustrator.

Bibliography

Comics

Illustrated books (selected)

  • Middle-earth: the World of Tolkien Illustrated (with writer Lin Carter; Centaur Books, 1977) ISBN 0878180141
  • Kingdom of the Dwarfs (with writer Robb Walsh; Centaur Books, 1980) ISBN 0878180176
  • Boston Tea Party: Rebellion in the Colonies (with writer James E. Knight; Troll Associates, 1982) ISBN 0893757349
  • Jamestown, New World Adventure (with writer James E. Knight; Troll Associates, 1982) ISBN 0893757241
  • More About Dinosaurs (with writer David Cutts; Troll Associates, 1982) ISBN 0893756687
  • Salem Days: Life in a Colonial Seaport (with writer James E. Knight; Troll Associates, 1982) ISBN 0893757322
  • Pilgrims and Thanksgiving (with writer Rae Bains; Troll Associates, 1985) ISBN 0816702225
  • Hauntings: Ghosts and Ghouls from Around the World (with writer Margaret Hodges; Little, Brown, and Co., 1991) ISBN 0316367966
  • The Liberty Tree: the Beginning of the American Revolution (with writer Lucille Recht Penner; Random House, 1998) ISBN 0679834826
  • Halloween Night (with writer Arden Druce; Rising Moon, 2001) ISBN 0873587626
  • Sebastian in Central Park (with writer Margaret Hall; Bear & Co., 2001) ISBN 0971317402
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (with writer Robert Lewis May; Grosset & Dunlap, 2001) ISBN 0448425343
  • Little Bear's Bad Day (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2003) ISBN 0060535466
  • Little Bear's Picture (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2003) ISBN 0694017019
  • Lost in Little Bear's Room (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2004) ISBN 069401706X
  • Lucky Little Bear (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2004) ISBN 0694017000
  • A Hat for Ivan (with writer Max Lucado; Crossway Books, 2004) ISBN 1581344147
  • Your Special Gift (with writer Max Lucado; Crossway Books, 2006) ISBN 1581346980
  • Rodeo Time (with writer Stuart J. Murphy; HarperCollins, 2006) ISBN 9780060557782
  • Baby Loves You So Much! (with writer Eileen Spinelli; Ideals Children's Books, 2007) ISBN 9780824955502

Notes

  1. ^ Thompson, Maggie and Miller, John Jackson. "Comics Industry Birthdays," CBGXtra Forum, Comic Buyer's Guide (June 10, 2005). Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
  2. ^ Wenzel bio, Arts Center Kilingsworth.
  3. ^ Biography at DavidWenzel.com. Accessed Nov. 26, 2008.

External links








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