Mark Evanier
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Mark Stephen Evanier (born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work.
Biography
Evanier chose to be a writer after witnessing the misery his father felt from working for the Internal Revenue Service and contrasting that with the portrayal of a writer's life on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
He made his first professional sale in 1969 and almost immediately was taken on as an assistant to the legendary Jack Kirby. While apprenticing under Kirby, Evanier began writing foreign comic books for The Walt Disney Company, followed by his scripts for the American Disney Comics, Gold Key Comics, and comics for the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate.
In 1974 he teamed with writer Dennis Palumbo and wrote for a number of television series, including The Nancy Walker Show, The McLean Stevenson Show and Welcome Back, Kotter.
After the cancellation of Kotter, on which he was one of the story editors, Evanier and Palumbo amicably ended their partnership. Evanier subsequently wrote for the Hanna-Barbera comic book division and a number of variety shows and specials, and he began writing for animated cartoon shows, including Scooby Doo, Plastic Man, Thundarr the Barbarian, The ABC Weekend Special, Richie Rich, The Wuzzles, Dungeons & Dragons and Garfield and Friends. He also wrote a script and provided "'technical advice' about comic books" for Bob, Bob Newhart's unsuccessful third sitcom for CBS.
He has produced a number of comic books, including Blackhawk, Crossfire and Hollywood Superstars (with Dan Spiegle), Groo the Wanderer (with Sergio Aragonés), and The DNAgents (with Will Meugniot). For the Spiegle comics, Evanier contributed lengthy essays the entertainment industry.
Evanier has been nominated for the Emmy Awards numerous times for his writing but has yet to receive one.
On May 26, 2006, Evanier checked into Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and underwent gastric bypass surgery. Having peaked at around 344 pounds (156 kg) by then, he has since lost nearly 130 pounds (45 kg) by June 2007 and is grateful for the overall health benefits, though he had to learn to adjust his eating habits.
Presently, he is the documented administrator for the official Walt Kelly Pogo web site.
Evanier's illustrated Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of Comics, was published February 2008 by Abrams Books.