If you've read comics over the past 40 years, you know who Klaus Janson is. He's one of the most famous second fiddles in the pencil and ink biz. Rarely up front, and drawing books himself, Janson is perhaps one of only a few major superstars among the inking world.
That may have to do with a guy named Frank Miller and a little book called The Dark Knight Returns. You may recall, it set the entire industry on its ear and recreated comics as we know them in the mid 1980s. Of course, he and Miller did a stint on Daredevil too, which is pretty well regarded by many. But it was Dark Knight that made Klaus a household name. He is as much a part of the DKR legend as Frank Miller and colorist Lynn Varley at this point. And Miller has kept going back to Klaus to back him up.
(Yes, of course I will get him to sign my TPB of this!)
Now, I know a number of folks who would call it sacrilege, but I have other things I think of when I think of Klaus and his work. First, I recall his stellar turn as inker for Marvel's Battlestar Galactica in the late 1970s. He was teamed - mostly - with legendary Walt Simonson, who wrote and penciled many of those great tales. Some are so great that Dynamite Entertainment is releasing a deluxe Artists Edition soon, showcasing those issues. (I already pre-ordered it, and hope it is brought to me by another Claus this Christmas!)
Klaus also inked Sal Buscema on the Marvel Raiders Of The Lost Ark adaptation. I was all over that book, and the movie is still my all time favorite. I have the Marvel Super Special edition (under a Howard Chaykin cover) to get signed at Bull City Con in early November.
I'm even debating on getting a sketch from Klaus of either Indiana Jones of Lt. Starbuck. Silly, I know, but those were the heroes who captured my heart as a kid, and his art was all over the comics that bore those names. I can't help myself! While others will be drooling over Batman, Daredevil, Punisher and others, I'll be stunning him with talk of BSG and Indy.
In recent times, we've lost some great creators from the comic world of our childhoods, and I have been inspired to go on a mission to get books signed by as many of those who are still around as possible. I missed Bernie Wrightson, Len Wein and others that I could have seen and met, but missed. No more. Denny O'Neil, Jim Steranko, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Paul Gulacy and others have signed books of mine this past year, and I will continue to seek out those comic book heroes behind the heroes, to meet and chat with, and to get signatures and sketches from.
So, Klaus, get ready! I'm coming to see you with some odd books and even odder requests!
Don't miss the great NC Comicon Bull City Con, November 10 - 12, in Durham, NC!
http://nccomicon.com/bull-city/
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