People Who Need To Be Inducted Into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.

Peter Laird is an American comics artist and writer from North Adams, Massachusetts. His main claim to fame is co-creating the hit series "Teenage Mutants Ninja Turtles" with his then-partner Kevin Eastman.

Next to nothing is known about Laird's family background and his early life. Unlike Kevin Eastman, he has rarely spoken about his background in interviews. He was born in 1954, and he was in his early 30s by the time he became a professional comics creator. In the early 1980s, Laird worked as an illustrator for a newspaper located in Dover, New Hampshire. His rates at the time were 10 dollars for each new illustration. To supplement his meager income, Eastman also created illustrations for fanzines.

In 1983 or 1984, Laird met aspiring comics artist Kevin Eastman who was searching for a publisher for his work. Laird was also interested in becoming a comics artist, and the two men decided to collaborate on creating their next works.

In 1984, Eastman and Laird had a brainstorming session in an effort to find ideas for their own comic book series. They decided to parody elements from four popular comics series of the early 1980s: Marvel Comics' "Daredevil" (about a super-powered mutate with ninja training) and "New Mutants" (about a team of teenage mutants), Dave Sim's "Cerebus the Aardvark" (about an anthropomorphic aardvark who has sword- and-sorcery style adventures), and Frank Miller's Ronin (about a long-dead Japanese ronin who is reincarnated in a dystopian version of New York City). They combined elements from all four series into the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (TMNT for short).

Eastman and Laird decided to self-publish the first issue of TMNT, founding the publishing company Mirage Studios to do so. The company was funded through a loan from Eastman's uncle Quentin. They chose the name "mirage", because their company was more an illusion than a reality. The company mostly consisted of its creative duo, and lacked actual offices.

The first issue of TMNT was published in May, 1984. It was a black-and-white publication, only 40 pages long, The duo had the idea to advertise their product by sending a four-page press kit to 180 television and radio stations, to the Associated Press and to the United Press International. The result was that the comic book received much publicity, unusually so for a product by a fledgling publisher.

The initial print run for the first issue was 3,275 copies, and they were quickly sold out. Due to high demand from market, three additional printings were published the Summer of 1984 and September, 1985. Eastman and Laird had a sales success in their hands. There were advance orders of 15,000 copies for the second issue. Eastman and Laird earned a profit of 2,000 dollars each. They decided to quit their day jobs and to become full-time comic book creators.

Eastman and Laird made deals with other companies, granting them the right to create TMNT tie-ins and merchandise. Within a few years, there was a high demand for more TMNT stories and material. Laird has stated in interviews that he did not expect either the TMNT's rapid success, nor the pressures involved in trying to run both a company and a media franchise. For a while, Laird struggled with artist's block. He also realized that he no longer enjoyed drawing.

One solution for Laird's problems at the time was to hire more creative staff to help with the workload. Among the early additions to Mirage's staff were letterer Steve Lavigne, inker Ryan Brown, penciler Jim Lawson, and cover artist Michael Dooney. The company gained its first real offices in Florence, Massachusetts, in order to properly house the new staff. The Mirage creative team produced most of their work in-house, instead of relying on freelancers.

Further additions to Mirage's staff in the late 1980s included writer and artist Eric Talbot, writer Stephen Murphy, and inker Dan Berger. Murphy would eventually be promoted to managing editor of Mirage, shouldering much of the workload.

By 1990, Eastman had grown tired of working exclusively on TMNT and wanted to expand to new projects. Laird refused to either help him or to finance these projects. Eastman founded his own company, Tundra Publishing, while Laird remained at the head of Mirage. From this point on, Laird was de facto Mirage's only publisher, while Eastman progressively distanced himself from the company.

In 1992, Laird founded the nonprofit corporation Xeric Foundation, headquartered in Northampton, Massachusetts. The corporation's main goal is to grant funds to comic book creators who want to self-publish new projects. Laird felt that he owed his success as a self-publishing writer and artist to the loan he had received from Quentin Eastman. He felt that other aspiring creators could have a chance at success, if they have sufficient funds. Over the following decades the corporation has helped fund projects by many writers and artists.

In 2000, Laird partially bought out Eastman's ownership rights on Mirage and the TMNT franchise. According to the terms of the deal, Eastman was left with a small continuing income participation. In 2008, Laird purchased the remaining rights from Eastman, and briefly became the sole owner of the TMNT franchise.

In 2009, Laird sold the rights to the TMNT franchise to media corporation Viacom. Mirage became a subsidiary of Viacom. The rights were mainly handled by Viacom's subsidiary Nickelodeon, which was interested in financing new adaptations of the franchise. By the terms of the deal, Laird maintained the rights to annually create and publish up to eighteen black-and-white comics based on the TMNT franchise.

By 2021, Laird was 67-years-old. He infrequently writes or draws new comics projects, and is otherwise semi-retired.

Shotaro Ishinomori was born on January 25, 1938 in Tome, Japan as Shotaro Onodera. As 1 of the most prolific comic artist in history, his works encompasses over 770 titles exceeding 128,000 pages. Being 1 of the early pioneers of Japanese manga, he was 1 of the few comic artists whose works has been syndicated overseas along w/ Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy), Jiro Kuwata (8th Man), Rumiko Takahashi (Inuyasha) & Fujiko Fujio (Obake no Q-taro). He made his debut as a comic artist in 1954 w/ Nikyu Tenshi. His name could be read either as Ishimori or Ishinomori. Although he intended it to be read as Ishinomori, most people read it as Ishimori, which stuck for the next 30 years. In 1956, he moved to Tokyo to live in a now legendary apartment called Tokiwa-so, which housed many of the future comic artists of Japan. He was mentored like so many young comic artists living in there by the late Osamu Tezuka. The 1st episode of Astro Boy was actually penned by Ishinomori because Tezuka was sick at the time. He was writing adventure sci-fi action like many of his colleagues for pre-teen boys in the late 50s & early 60s such as Niichan Sensha, Mutant Sabu & Cyborg 009. He also drew a cartoon version of Toho's movie Matango during this period. In 1966, he won the Kodansha manga award for both works. In 1971, his comic Kamen Rider was syndicated as a TV series, which saw enormous success. The word henshin (the battle cry Kamen Rider shouts before making his transformation) became part of the staple language of youth at the time. He followed up on his success w/ Kamen Rider II, Kamen Rider V3, Kamen Rider Black, Inazuman & Kikaida, who all transformed their appearances before battle. In 1975, he co-created the Go Rangers, the 1st Super Sentai series. A later Super Sentai, Zyuranger, became popular in the U.S. in the 90s as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In 1986, he officially changed his pen name to Shotaro Ishinomori to celebrate his 30th year as a comic artist. It was also the name he intended for himself to begin w/. During his later years, he was penning many comics for adults that depicted society from his view as a comic artist. He passed away at 60 in 1998 from heart failure. He'll be remembered as 1 of the founding fathers of manga.

Leiji Matsumoto was born on 25 January 1938 in Fukuoka, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love (1978), Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years (1985) and Space Battleship Yamato (1974). He was married to Miyako Maki. He died on 13 February 2023 in Tokyo, Japan.

Monkey Punch was born on 26 May 1937 in Hamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan. He was a writer, known for Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus (1995) and Lupin III: Dead or Alive (1996). He died on 11 April 2019 in Sakura, Chiba, Japan.

Herb Trimpe was born on 26 May 1939 in Peekskill, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Brazilian Wolverine (2009) and Helstrom (2020). He was married to Patricia Velasquez, Linda Fite and Merril Travis. He died on 13 April 2015 in Hurley, New York, USA.

Jeff Smith was born on 27 February 1960 in McKnees Rock, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and art director, known for Rasl, Bone: Out from Boneville (2005) and Bone. He is married to Vijaya.

James Robert "Jim" Davis is a professional cartoonist, television writer, and television producer from Marion, Indiana. His main claim to fame has been the creation of the long-running comic strip "Garfield" (1978-), featuring a cantankerous cat and a memorable group of supporting characters. The strip has been adapted into three animated television series, 12 prime-time television specials, two theatrical films, and a number of video games. Davis also created the short-lived comic strip "U.S. Acres" (1986-1989), featuring a group of anthropomorphic barnyard animals. This strip was also adapted in animated form. It inspired a series of spin-off children's books.

In 1945, Davis was born in Marion, Indiana. The city is primarily known as the base for the Indiana Wesleyan University, the largest evangelical Christian university in the Midwestern United States. Davis parents' were farmers, named James William "Jim" Davis and Anna Catherine "Betty" Carter. Davis was primarily raised on a small cow farm, located in the vicinity of Fairmount, Indiana. Fairmount serves as a bedroom community for nearby Marion. Davis parents' primarily owned Aberdeen Angus cows, members of a Scottish breed of small beef cattle. The breed was first imported into the United States in 1873.

Davis received his secondary education at the Fairmount High School. He joined the staff of the school newspaper, "The Breeze". He eventually served as the newspaper's art editor. While working there, he created a comic strip about school life. He used the strip's characters to illustrate his senior yearbook.

Davis received his tertiary education at the Ball State University, a public research university located in Muncie, Indiana. He studied both art and business. Following his graduation graduation, he intended to become a professional newspaper cartoonist. In 1969, Davis was hired as an assistant by experienced cartoonist Tom K. Ryan (1926-2019). From 1969 to 1978, Davis worked as an assistant artist in the Western comedy strip "Tumbleweeds" (1965-2007). The comic strip's protagonist was the laconic cowboy Tumbleweeds, a man who was content to drift through life.

Davis aspired to create a comic strip of his own. His first effort was the strip "Gnorm Gnat" (1973-1975), published by the newspaper "The Pendleton Times" in Indiana. It featured anthropomorphic insects, with the main character Gnorm Gnat serving as a comedic straight man to his zanier supporting cast. Davis tried for years to sign a deal to have this comic strip syndicated nationwide. He kept facing rejection by various syndicates. He was told that he had a good art style, and a good sense for gags. But that readers would have trouble relating to insect characters. Davis decided to end this comic strip, and to start a replacement.

Davis decided to research other people's syndicated comic strips, trying to find out what made them popular. He noticed that there were numerous strips about animals, many of them featuring pet dogs. He realized that people related well to the idea of a pet animal, but figured that creating another comic strip about a dog would make his work unlikely to stand out. He realized that there were no comic strips about pet cats, so he decided to create a comic strip about a pet cat. Davis created the locally published comic strip "Jon" (1976-1978), featuring the relationship of a pet owner and his cat. He created the character Garfield for this comic strip. He based the character's personality on his own cantankerous grandfather, who was named James A. Garfield Davis.

In 1948, Davis signed a deal with United Feature Syndicate. They agreed to syndicate his comic strip for national distribution. He launched the revised comic strip "Garfield" on June 19, 1978. It was published in 41 newspapers, Davis' first work to have such a wide distribution. A Sunday version of the comic strip was launched June 25, 1978.

Davis gradually changed Garfield's design over the first years of the comic strip. By 1983, Garfield had become a bipedal animal. Garfield was far more successful than Davis had expected. By 1981, it was published in 850 newspapers and had accumulated over 15 million dollars in merchandise. David founded the company "Paws, Inc." (1981-) to handle the licensing rights to the comic strip and its characters. He started employing both artists (as assistants) and licensing administrators.

Davis signed a deal with producers Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson for the creation of the first Garfield television special, "Here Comes Garfield" (1982). Both men had previously produced television specials for the comic strip "Peanuts". The director of the special was Phil Roman, while Davis himself handled the screenplay. The special reached an audience of about 50 million people, and was nominated for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program". Based on this success, other 11 television specials were created between 1983 and 1991. All of them were nominated for Emmy Awards, and four of them won the Award.

Based on the success of Garfield in animation, Davis went to work on creating an animated television series about the character. He served as the producer of "Garfield and Friends" (1988-1994). Veteran comic book writer Mark Evanier was hired as the series' head writer. The series lasted for 7 seasons and 121 episodes. The series was considered quite successful, but its production cost kept rising. The network CBS eventually ended the series. Its end was one of a series of cost-cutting measures for the network, as CBS was facing financial problems in the mid-1990s. The series found further success in syndication.

In 1994, Davis (through Paws, Inc.) purchased all rights to the previously published Garfield comic strips from the United Feature Syndicate. Davis was the sole owner of the comic strip series from 1994 to 2019, while having the right to license reprints of the strip.

In the late 1990s, Davis stopped drawing the "Garfield" comic strip. He only provided rough sketches for subsequent comic strips, while the main artists for the strip were his long-term assistants Brett Koth and Gary Barker. Davis remained as the strip's main writer.

In 2000, Davis and his frequent collaborator Brett Koth launched a new comic strip, based on the toy character "Mr. Potato Head". The strip was not particularly successful, and ended in 2003. In 2002, "Garfield" became the world's most syndicated strip. It was published in 2,570 different newspapers across several countries, and had an estimated reading audience of 263 million people.

In 2006, Davis joined the faculty of the Ball State University as an adjunct professor. He lectured students "on the creative and business aspects of the comics industry". In 2011, Davis started drawing comics digitally through using a graphics tablet. He kept his older hand-painted "Garfield" strips in a climate-controlled safe, until he could figure what to do with his art archives. In 2019, he started selling parts of his archives at auctions.

In 2019, Davis sold Paws, Inc. to the media conglomerate Viacom. The rights to the "Garfield" comic strip and its global merchandising were transferred to Nickelodeon, one of Viacom's subsidiaries. As part of the deal, Davis would continue to supervise the production of the comic strip. The main offices of Paws Inc. were transferred from Muncie, Indiana to the skyscraper "One Astor Plaza" in New York City.

By 2022, Davis was 76-years-old. He continues supervising the production of the "Garfield" comic strip from his home in Indiana. He has spend most of his life in his home state, and seems to have no plans to move out or to retire. He has had two marriages, and has raised several of his own children and two step-children. While the comic strip market has declined in the 21st century, the popularity of Davis' cantankerous cat has never faded.

Began his art career in High School when he drew a headless spaceman outside his ship and then spat read paint where the head should have been, causing the illusion of an explosion, and named it "Gesundheit". Went on to draw "filler" cartoons for his local newspaper, and got his editor's front lawn vandalized when he drew a cartoon called "Honky Trek", a ripoff of the then-new Star Trek: The Motion Picture. After the strip ran, crazed Trek fans hanged a dummy from the editor's elm tree in his front lawn with the cartoon stuck in its chest with an arrow. In the early 80's he began drawing "Bloom County", a political satire, for college newspapers. The racy cartoons, often focusing on swinging lawyer Steve Dallas and an unnamed elderly woman, gained a cult following and soon became syndicated. The strip became the subject of a nation wide cult following and sparked a mass marketing campaign. Nation wide recognition came to Breathed in the mid 80s with his creation of Opus, an insecure penguin who reflected the political conscience of America. Opus became a pop culture icon of the 80's with dolls, cartoons, action figures, telephones, and books all dedicated to him. Breathed furthered his fame with his subsequent creation of Bill the Cat, a Garfield ripoff, who was the exact opposite of Opus in that he represented the scum of Americ a- Bill was a drug addicted, alcohol chugging, chain smoking rocker who had been in and out of detox. The combination of Opus and Bill was a hit success, and saved Breathed from the near demise of his strip. With the end of the 80's came the end of Bloom County, which in turn gave billionaire Donald Trump the opportunity to lash out at Breathed for his political views. Breathed retaliated by having his comic strip characters - who were treated as real people who worked in a comic strip - all get fired by Trump, who had a freak accident and had his brain put in Bill's head. This series that ended the strip proved to be the beginning, as fans wrote in saying that the final strips were the best yet. Breathed created "Outland", where Opus, Bill, and several other characters resurfaced in a utopia like world. Outland had a successful four year run but suffered criticism for its parody of the OJ Simpson trial, so in 1995 Breathed ended Outland, its final strip mirroring that of Bloom County. He then started "Opus", a new comic strip featuring Opus, Bill and other characters.

Todd McFarlane was born on 16 March 1961 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is a writer and producer, known for Venom (2018), Venom: The Last Dance (2024) and Spawn (1997). He has been married to Wanda Kolomyjec since 27 July 1985. They have three children.

Erik Larsen was born on 8 December 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is a writer, known for The Savage Dragon (1995), Turtles Forever (2009) and The Devil You Know: Inside the Mind of Todd McFarlane (2001).

Gary Larson was born on 14 August 1950 in Tacoma, Washington, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Tales from the Far Side II (1997), War of the Worlds (1988) and Tales from the Far Side (1994). He has been married to Toni Carmichael since 1987.

Steve Purcell is known for Brave (2012), Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014) and Incredibles 2 (2018).

Masashi Kishimoto was born on 8 November 1974 in Nagi, Japan. He is a writer and producer, known for Naruto: Shippuden (2007), Naruto and Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015).

Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga writer, manga artist, and character designer for video games. He has been a working artist since 1978. In manga, he is better known for creating the science fiction comedy series "Dr. Slump" (1980-1984) and the martial-arts-themed series "Dragon Ball" (1984-1995). "Dragon Ball" has been adapted into four animated series: "Dragon Ball" (1986-1989), "Dragon Ball Z" (1989-1996), "Dragon Ball GT" (1996-1997), and "Dragon Ball Super" (2015-2018). Toriyama has provided character designs for several of the adaptations. As a video game designer, Toriyama is primarily known for co-creating the long-running series "Dragon Quest" (1986-). He has continued to work in most of the series' games. Toriyama's works are credited with boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was named as a Chevalier (knight) of the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" ("Order of the Arts and the Letters") by France. It is a French order of merit, awarded to writers and artists.

During the 20th century, Nagoya became a center for automotive, Several manufacturing companies of the industry have their headquarters in Nagoya. By 1961, Toriyama started drawing pictures of animals and vehicles as a hobby. He was reportedly inspired by the animated film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians"(1961), as he was impressed by the film's art style.

During his elementary school years, Toriyama has access to the manga collection owned by the older brother of a friend. He was fascinated by the science fiction series "Astro Boy" (1952-1968), which featured the adventures of a sentient android with superpowers. During his middle school years, Toriyama was increasingly fascinated with live-action film and television. He was a fan of the tokusatsu series (science fantasy series, using special effects) "Ultraman" (1966-1967). The series focused on the adventures of a gigantic superhero, who regularly defended the Earth from aliens and monsters. He also enjoyed kaiju films (films about giant monsters). His favorite film series was "Gamera" (1965-2006), which featured the adventures of a fire-breathing turtle.

Toriyama attended a high school which focused on teaching creative design to its students. Against the wishes of his parents, he decided to not pursue a college education. Shortly after graduating high school, Toriyama used his art skills to get hired at an advertising agency in Nagoya. He spend several years in designing posters, but was increasingly fed up with his job. He was repeatedly reprimanded for dressing casually at work. He quit his job at age 23, and started considering a professional career as a manga artist.

Trying to get an entry into the manga industry, Toriyama created a manga story which parodied the recent film "Star Wars" (1977). He submitted the story to a contest organized by the magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump", hoping to win the magazine's "Newcomer Award". The story was rejected because it was a derivative work, and the contest was for original works. But magazine editor Kazuhiko Torishima (1952-) liked Toriyama's art style. He encouraged him to send more original material to the magazine.

Toriyama's first published work was the story "Wonder Island" (1978). It featured a kamikaze pilot who had been stranded on an island for 35 years, and was trying to find a way to escape. The story came last in a popularity contest, disappointing Toriyama. The sequel "Wonder Island 2" (1979) focused on the police searching for a missing criminal. It parodied elements from the film "Dirty Harry" (1971). This story was also considered a flop. Most of Toriyama's early stories failed to impress his readers. He had more success with "Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe" (1979), a story about a rookie detective. It was his first work featuring a female lead, and was well-liked by the readers.

Toriyama decided to use a female lead in next major effort. The result was the best-selling series "Dr. Slump". (1980-1984) It focused on Arale Norimaki, a sentient robot in the form of a little girl. She had superhuman strength, but her naivety and inexperience landed her in trouble. The series also featured a cast of eccentric supporting characters. Among them was the shape-shifting superhero Suppaman, a parody version of Superman who was depicted as a pompous buffoon. The series became one of the most popular manga of its era, and received an animated adaption (which lasted from 1981 to 1986). Toriyama wanted to end the series after its first six months, but his publisher insisted that the story should be continued. In 1981, Toriyama won a "Shogakukan Manga Award" for his work on "Dr. Slump".

Despite his success with a long-term series in the early 1980s, Toriyama continued to regularly submit one-shot stories for publication. He was frustrated when several of these stories met with lukewarm response by his readers. At about this point in his career, he created his own artist's studio, under the name "Bird Studio". The name was a pun on his own last name, as "tori" means "bird". He started employing assistants to work on the background details of his stories.

Kazuhiko Torishima (Toriyama's editor) noted that Toriyama enjoyed viewing kung fu films, but had never used martial arts elements in his stories. He suggested that Toriyama should try creating a kung-fu manga. Toriyama responded by creating the two-part story "Dragon Boy" (1983). It depicted a young martial artist who escorts a princess on a return journey to her home country. The story was warmly received, and Toriyama would later incorporate aspects of this story in "Dragon Ball".

In 1984, Toriyama finally concluded the "Dr. Slump". He had to promise his editor and publisher that he would soon start work on a replacement series. This new series was "Dragon Ball", which lasted for 11 years. Toriyama produced 519 chapters of the manga, which were collected into 42 volumes. The story focused on the life of martial artist Son Goku from childhood to adulthood, and gradually introduced the character's wife and descendants. The series gained in popularity due to its large cast of colorful characters, and its exciting use of combat scenes. Toriyama reportedly used Jackie Chan's films as the main inspiration for the fighting scenes.

Despite a busy working schedule due to long-term commitment to "Dragon Ball", Toriyama continued submitting one-shot stories for publication. In 1986, he was recruited as a character designer for the role-playing video game "Dragon Quest". He later admitted that he had never even heard of role-playing games before being offered the job, and he was not certain what the demands of the job were. He was created as the co-creator of the game, and the initial game launched a long-running franchise. Based on this success, Toriyama was later hired as a character designer on the role-playing game "Chrono Trigger" (1995) and on the fighting games "Tobal No. 1" (1996) and "Tobal 2" (1997).

Until the late 1980s, Toriyama had never worked in animation. His first substantial effort in the field was the animated film "Kosuke & Rikimaru: The Dragon of Konpei Island" (1988). He wrote the initial concept for the film, he co-wrote its screenplay, and designed all of its characters.

In 1995, Toriyama decided to conclude the "Dragon Ball" manga with a low-key ending. Son Goku left the planet Earth to serve as the mentor to a reincarnated former foe, leaving room for a new generation of heroes. Toriyama wanted to imply that the story would continue, though he had no actual intention to write a sequel at that point. When the animated series "Dragon Ball GT" (1996-1997) was conceived as a sequel, Toriyama was hired as a character designer. For the following few years, Toriyama primarily produced short-lived manga series. Among them were "Cowa!"(1997-1998), "Kajika" (1998), and "Sand Land" (2000). In 2002, Toriyama made a promotional visit to the United States, as a number of his works were about to be reprinted in the American magazine "Shonen Jump".

In 2005, Toriyama served as the main designer of an electric car for CQ Motors. It was not a commercial success, with only 9 vehicles being produced. In 2006, Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda created the crossover story "Cross Epoch". It featured characters from "Dragon Ball" co-existing with fantasy characters from the series "One Piece" (1997-). Also in 2006, Toriyama served as a character designer for the video game "Blue Dragon". The story featured a small group of heroes trying to stop the villain Nene's efforts to massacre villagers.

In 2009, Toriyama was credited as both a creative consultant and an executive producer for the live-action film "Dragonball Evolution". He reportedly cautioned the film's producers that the film's script was "bland" and uninteresting, but his suggestions to alter the script were ignored. The film was a commercial flop. Also in 2009, Toriyama created a promotional manga for the environmental organization "Rural Society Project". In 2011, Toriyama helped raise awareness for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.

From 2012 to 2013, Toriyama was part of the film crew for the animated feature film "Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods" (2013). It was the first theatrical animated film based on "Dragon Ball" since 1996. In the film, the god Beerus threatens to destroy the planet Earth. He only backs down when one of the heroes achieves godhood. Also in 2013, a touring exhibition displayed Toriyama's manga manuscripts from "Dragon Ball".

Toriyama served as the main screenwriter for the animated film "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F" (2015). The film featured the resurrection of the long-dead villain Frieza, who tries to improve his skills before seeking revenge. Toriyama continued to work on the film's sequels until 2022. He also provided the scripts for the sequel manga "Dragon Ball Super" (2015-), though the artwork was provided by the younger artist Toyotarou (1978-). There were 18 volumes of the manga published between 2016 and 2022.

By 2022, Toriyama was 67-years-old. He has been married to the retired manga artist Yoshimi Kato since 1982, and they have two adult children. He works from his home studio in Kiyosu, and reportedly lives a reclusive life. He rarely appears in public or offers interviews. He has never retired, and seems to have no intention to do so.

Akira Toriyama died at the age of 68 on march 1, 2024.

Pierre Culliford (pen name:Peyo) was a Belgian comics writer and artist. He contributed to several series, but his main claim to fame is creating the sword-and-sorcery series "Johan and Peewit" (1947-2001) and its spin-off, the adventure comedy series "The Smurfs" (1963-). His works have received several animated adaptations.

In 1928, Peyo was born in Schaerbeek, a municipality within the Brussels-Capital Region. In the early 20th century, Schaerbeek was a booming suburb with a large middle-class population. Peyo's father was an Englishman, while his mother was Belgian. Peyo received his art training at the "Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts", an art school located in Brussels.

Early in his career, Peyo worked for the animation studio "Compagnie belge d'actualités" (CBA). The studio folded after World War II, and Peyo decided to seek work as a comics artist. He was hired by the sports-oriented newspaper "La Dernière Heure" (The Latest Hour, 1906-). His salary was meager, and he supplemented his income through providing artwork for advertisements.

In 1947, Peyo created the character Johan for the "La Dernière Heure". The character was a heroic page of the Middle Ages, skilled in swordsmanship and aspiring to become a knight. Peyo had the character involved in fantasy-style adventures. In 1949, Peyo was hired by the newspaper "Le Soir" ("The Evening", 1887-), transferring the Johan comic strip to it. He created for this newspaper the comic strip "Poussy" ("Pussy"), featuring a cute black cat as the protagonist. This comic strip developed in a typical gag-a-day format.

In 1952, Peyo was hired by the comics magazine "Spirou" (1938-). He was reportedly recommended for hiring by his old friend André Franquin (1924-1997), who already worked for the magazine. Peyo transferred Johan to this magazine, and started writing longer adventures for him.

In 1954, Peyo retooled the "Johan" series to "Johan and Peewit", by adding a comic-relief sidekick for Johan. Peewit was a dwarf, depicted as a reformed thief, a professional court jester, and an inept musician. Unlike Johan, Peewit was a reluctant hero. But his cunning, his capacity for outwitting opponents, and his fighting skills made him a useful companion for the hero.

In 1958, Peyo wrote an adventure story called "The Flute with Six Holes", where Johan and Peewit seek a magical flute which was stolen. They meet the flute's creators, a race of blue-skinned gnomes, called the Smurfs. Peyo designed them as wearing traditional Phrygian caps (conical cap used in antiquity by various peoples of Anatolia and the Balkans), a developed a peculiar language and habits for them.

By 1959, the Smurfs had become popular enough to inspire merchandising of their own. Peyo was asked to create a spin-off comic strip for them. The characters supplanted Johan and Peewit in popularity, though Peyo preferred writing the original series. In 1960, Peyo founded his own studio, allowing him to have trained assistants work on Smurf-inspired stories, and other comics projects (such as "Steven Strong" and "Jacky and Célestin"). Peyo's most notable assistant during the early 1960s was François Walthéry (1946-), who would later create a number of successful series of his own.

In 1963, the first comics album devoted to the Smurfs was published. It was the story "The Purple Smurfs", featuring an infectious disease which turns the affected Smurfs into "violent, irrational and uncontrolled" beings with an urge to bite others. The album was successful, and ensured the production of further albums. By the time of Peyo's death in 1992, 16 comics albums had been completed.

Peyo remained active in the 1970s, but his work output diminished. He did, however, provide a script for the animated film "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" (1976). He also was tasked with overseeing production aspects of the film. In the 1980s, Peyo authorized an adaptation of his work by the American studio Hanna-Barbera. He served as a story supervisor for the animated series "The Smurfs" (1981-1989). A notable hit of its era, the series lasted for 9 seasons and introduced the Smurfs to a wider international audience.

Until 1989, all Smurf stories were published by Dupuis due to a long-standing contract with Peyo. In 1989, Peyo decided to terminate their business relationship and to establish his own publishing house, Cartoon Creation. It turned out to be a failed business venture. Peyo had been facing recurring health problems throughout the decade, and was unable to properly handle the affairs of the new company. Within a few years, the company folded "due to management problems".

In 1992, the publishing rights to the Smurfs were sold to Le Lombard, a publisher known for holding the rights to "Tintin" since 1946. Peyo tried working with his new publisher, but his career was ending. On Christmas Eve 1992, Peyo died of a heart attack in Brussels at the age of 64.

A number of Peyo's series have been continued by other writers and artists. New Smurfs-related comics albums were published into the 2020s, often with input by Peyo's son, Thierry Culliford. The popularity of the Smurfs has endured, decades after the demise of their creator.

Hank Ketcham was born on March 14, 1920, in Seattle; he wanted to be a cartoonist since age 6. In 1938, Hank left college after his freshman year. He went to California to work as an animator, first for Walter Lantz, creator of Woody Woodpecker. Later Hank worked for Walt Disney, where he helped draw "Bambi" and Donald Duck shorts. During World War II, Hank joined the Navy, and kept drawing-- but now for training material and posters. After the war, Hank was a freelance cartoonist and drew magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post. But his dream of having his own comic strip still eluded him. Hank was living in Carmel, in October 1950, when his wife Alice, worn out by their misbehaving kid, snapped at Hank one day: "Your son is a menace!" History was about to be made. The mischievous adventures of his 4-year-old son Dennis gave Hank fodder to create the famous comic strip, which made its debut on March 12, 1951, in 16 newspapers, and was an instant hit. Hank named Mr. Wilson after a teacher he'd known, and Dennis' friend Gina was named after Gina Lollobrigida. Hank was doing the strip daily, but eventually the work load was too heavy for one person, and Hank built up a staff with comedy writers. His work led to the live action "Dennis the Menace" (1959) TV series, which ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963, and is fondly remembered by baby boomers everywhere. The entire country loved it, and Hank recalled: "I set the whole thing in Wichita, Kansas, and as a result I got made an honorary mayor of Wichita." The newspaper funnies gave rise to collected works of his strips, 50 million "Dennis the Menace" books have been sold. In real life, Hank remarried, then his 2nd marriage ended in divorce. He married a 3rd time, to Rolande, and they had 2 wonderful children, Scott and Dania. The comic strip continued to have tremendous success. Hank stopped drawing the Sunday funnies in the mid-1980s. There was a "Dennis" musical, and a 1993 movie. Hank retired from drawing the weekday sketches in 1994, leaving the work to assistants, but he was still overseeing it. March 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of "Dennis the Menace," now running in 1,000 newspapers. Hank died on June 1, 2001, at his home in Pebble Beach; he was 81. In an interview, Hank had shared his thoughts on his creation: "There's some little bright spot in your day that reminds you that it's fun to smile."

Bil Keane was born on 5 October 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer, known for A Special Valentine with the Family Circus (1978), A Family Circus Easter (1982) and A Family Circus Christmas (1979). He was married to Thelma Carne. He died on 8 November 2011 in Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Bruce grew up doodling cartoons in the margins of his notebook as well as playing piano and organ in rock bands all around the Philly area. He then turned professional with both these skills and worked in a wide variety of artistic fields.

He wrote and hosted 104 episodes of his Television series, "Cartooning with Blitz" and was rewarded with four Emmy-nominations, one of which was for his music, that he created for the series. His TV series and products have been translated and are seen many different countries such as: Mexico, Columbia, Mid East, Israel, Serbia, Japan, England and Spain.

He created art instruction books, videos & DVDs as well as his unique How-to-Draw kits that feature his cartooning inventions such as The Re-Tooner(TM) and The Insta-Cartooner(TM). He taught cartooning on the Joan Rivers Show, appeared on the QVC Shopping Network, 95 shows for Comcast on Demand's popular kid show, "Activity TV" and appear on the recent hit Television Show, Wonderama.

Throughout his travels, he's found that people are fascinated by seeing a blank piece of paper turn into a finished cartoon. On his TV series and with his products, He tries to do just that... take simple shapes and add some detail.

Brian Pulido was born on 30 November 1960. He is a producer and director, known for There's Something Out There (2004), The Graves (2009) and *batteries not included (1987). He is married to Francisca.

As a kid, Oda was inspired by vikings and aspired to become a manga artist. He later submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga "Kinnikuman", who was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works. At the age of 17, he submitted his work "Wanted!" in 1992. And won several awards, including 2nd place in the coveted Tezuka manga awards. At the age of 19, he worked as an assistant artist for Nobuhiro Watsuki on the manga "Rurouni Kenshin", before winning the Hop Step Award for new artists. During this time, he drew two pirate-themed one-shot stories, called "Romance Dawn". In 1997, One Piece appeared for the 1st time in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine issue #34 and promptly became one of the most popular manga in Japan (after the "Dragon Ball" series). His biggest influence is Akira Toriyama. Also known as the creator of "Dragon Ball" and "Dr. Slump". Him and Toriyama have also made a one-shot manga called "Cross Epoch", a crossover containing characters from both Dragon Ball and One Piece.

Doug TenNapel writes books, makes art and created Catscratch and Ami Jones, The Neverhood and Earthworm Jim. His work in television includes creating Earthworm Jim, Nickelodeon's Catscratch, Nick Jr's Ami Jones (Movie Only) and serving as show runner for the Netflix/Dreamworks VeggieTales in the House. He made the comic Cardboard, the mysterious Mothman and created the Youtube hit Sockbaby series featuring Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery) and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite). He is also the author of seventeen graphic novels and sold stories to studios including: Fox New Regency, Disney, Sony and Universal. He has a Facebook page and posts free art tutorials on Youtube. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his wife and four children as he continues to create stories that families love.

Ben Edlund was born on 20 September 1968 in Pembroke, Massachusetts, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Angel (1999), The Tick (1994) and Supernatural (2005).

Martin Goodman was born on 18 January 1908 in New York, USA. He died on 6 June 1992 in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

Mistuteru Yokoyama was born on June 18, 1934 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. As a boy, he loved reading magazine novels and manga. He got his first inspiration to draw manga after reading Osamu Tezuka's manga "Metropolis". In his own words, Tezuka's ability to write interesting stories, his graceful lines, and the fact that they were both from the city of Kobe moved and inspired him to draw manga himself. Returning to Kobe from Tottori after the war (i.e., World War II), Tezuka's "Metropolis" and the burned-down city of Kobe gave him the inspiration to draw. In his own words, he was not so good at drawing and had no confidence in his story or artwork, but from middle school on throughout high school whenever he had the time, he drew manga and sent the drafts to the publishers. After graduating from high school, he worked for a bank in Kobe. Even then he was not so determined to be a manga writer, but he kept up his periodic submission of his work to the publishers anyway. Around that time he realized that working for the bank left him little time to draw, so he quit his job after five months. Next, he worked as an advertising agent for one of the film distribution companies in the Hanshin District (i.e., Kobe - Osaka) of Japan. There he was doing art work for film fliers, but was only busy before the release of a new film. So he used his remaining time to draw and send his work to the publishers as he had always done. About half of his work was accepted and about half of it was rejected. Around that time, Japan had publishers who specialized in rental books, where book stores rented their books to customers and charged per diem. Japan's economy was still weak also at that time and people had little money to buy books so, especially for children, these books were in high demand. One such publisher, Tokoudo of Osaka, asked Yokoyama to write a feature-length manga. The first manga he wrote for this publisher was "Otonashi no Ken" ("The Silent Sword"). He was 20 at the time. The manga was well received by the audience and he soon got a follow-up order for a second manga, so he wrote a second manga, "Shirayuri Monogatari" ("The White Lily Story"). The third manga that he wrote was "Maken Reppu Ken" ("Demonic Whirlwind Sword"), and the fourth manga that he was beginning to write, "Tetsujin 28 Go" ("Ironman #28" a.k.a. "Gigantor" in the U.S.) was the one that would change his entire life forever. His parents, who at first were against him wanting to become a manga artist, slowly accepted his career choice as they saw money coming in from his artistic career. Having seen his previous work in Osaka, Kobundo, a publisher from Tokyo, asked him to draw for one of their magazines targeted for girls titled "Shoujyo". His idol, Osamu Tezuka, was one of the contributing artists for this magazine, so this request was a dream come true for him. In this magazine a modified version of "Shirayuri Monogatari" was reprinted, and he was also asked to write for its sister magazine targeted for boys titled "Shounen". He submitted "Tetsujin 28 Go", which he was originally planning to submit to Tokoudo. It was first published in July 1956 and was instantly rated as the number 1 favorite story of its readers. Osamu Tezuka's "Tetsuwan Atom" ("Mighty Atom" a.k.a. "Astro Boy" in the U.S.) had begun five years earlier, also on "Shounen", and these two robot manga stories by Yokoyama and Tezuka, respectively, became the greatest science fiction / action manga stories of post-war era Japan. Yokoyama's veracity for drawing manga was well known at the time, as he was able to draw one page in 30 minutes. He continued to expand into period manga like "Iga no Kage-Maru", which was featured in the weekly magazine "Shounen Sunday", followed by "Ninja Aka-Kage", which also became an anime TV series along with "Tetsujin 28 Go". "Tetsujin 28 Go" ran in "Shounen" from July 1956 to May 1966, when it was finished. Many of Yokoyama's other manga, such as "Mahotsukai Sally" ("Sally the Witch") which was targeted for girls, also became anime TV series. Today, Yokoyama is remembered as one of the two giants and founding fathers of the genre that we now call "manga", along with Osamu Tezuka.

Dav Pilkey was born on 4 March 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), Dog Man (2025) and Ask the Mask (2022). He has been married to Sayuri Pilkey since 2005.