Personal History
As an artist, Jack has spent his whole life dedicated to drawing, writing and getting his thoughts out to the universe. His working life as an artist has spanned a number of waves of comic book development and his paintings reach down into the present from their original roots back in the early years of 20th century American illustration and art.
His most enduring accomplishment has been the production of the original 24-issue graphic novel known as "The First Kingdom". Many have said it was the very first independently published graphic novel and it began to be re-issued as a four-volume set in the spring of 2005.
Aside from his drawing and painting, Jack has written extensively through the years on his ideas exploring the place humans have taken in the universe and the directions in which they may or may not take in the future.
Today he teaches anatomy for figurative art students and continues to work on his comic book projects. Currently in the works as well are a number of publications and videos presenting his distinctive ideas of teaching figure drawing.
Recent publication included the first volume of a collection of sketches Jack has done over the past decades that illustrate for the advanced figurative art student the many different ways in which the dynamic human form can be expressed. With over one-hundred-fifty pages and spiral-bound to be propped up and viewed for convenient reference, the book is entitled Anatomy by Jack Katz, Vol. 1.Professional History
Jack Katz began his career doing art for Archie Comics, and working as an assistant on several features for King Features in the second half of the 1940s. In the early 1950s, he went to work as a comic bookk penciler for Stan Lee and Marvel Comics, and continued into the early 1970s. He did art on many war, mystery and romance titles, mainly for Marvel, but also for Better Publications.
Then he dropped out of mainstream comics to devote twelve years to his 'The First Kingdom' project - a complex science-fiction epic that tells of man's migration into space, the ensuing galactic battles, and the great mystery of mankind's origin before the fall of civilization. Each book is introduced by top talents like Jim Steranko, Stan Lynde, Burne Hogarth, etc. Katz completed this series with issue number 24 in 1986. 'The First Kingdom' stands in the minds of many as the first true graphic novel.
In the 1970s, Katz was additionally present in DC's romance titles and in the horror magazines of Warren Publishing and Skywald. He was also a sculpting teacher at the University of California at Berkley.