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{{Short description|American comics artist and illustrator (1953–2019)}}{{more citations needed|date=April 2019}}

factoids

| birth_place =20192211|21}}| death_place =| nationality = American| area = PainterColoristInkerPencillerHistorianPublisher| alias = Earl P. Wooten| awards = Shel Dorf Torch Bearer’s Award, 2010}}Greg Allen Theakston (November 21, 1953JOURNAL, December 2007, Greg Theakston, Comics Buyer’s Guide, 1636, 135, F+W Media,www.cbgxtra.com/issue-spotlight/comics-buyers-guide-1636-december-2007, 1 February 2012,  â€“ April 22, 2019WEB,www.bleedingcool.com/2019/04/23/comcis-archivist-and-publisher-greg-theakston-has-died-aged-65/, Comics Archivist and Publisher Greg Theakston Has Died, Aged 65, Johnston, Rich, Johnston, Rich, Bleeding Cool, April 23, 2019, April 23, 2019, April 23, 2019, live,web.archive.org/web/20190423165026/https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/04/23/comcis-archivist-and-publisher-greg-theakston-has-died-aged-65/, ) was an American comics artist and illustrator who worked for numerous publishers. He is known for his independent publications as a comics historian under his Pure Imagination imprint,WEB,kirbymuseum.org/blogs/kirby/archives/2172, Upcoming Kirby – Theakston biography, Heer, Bob, 24 February 2011, The Jack Kirby Comic Weblog, The Jack Kirby Museum, 1 February 2012, as well as for developing the Theakstonizing process used in comics restoration.BOOK, Morrow, John, Collected Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 4,books.google.com/books?id=dGU-ngEACAAJ&pg=PA97, 1 February 2012, 2004, TwoMorrows Publishing, Raleigh, North Carolina, 978-1-893905-32-0, 97–103, He used the pseudonym Earl P. Wooten.Garza, Matt (April 24, 2019). “Greg Theakston, Comics Historian, Publisher and Archivist, Dead at 65”. Multiversity Comics. Retrieved May 29, 2019.

Early career

Greg Theakston became involved in the Detroit area fandom community, contributing to Detroit’s Fantasy Fans and Comic-collector’s Group on their fanzine The Fan Informer (1968–71), as well as his own publication, The Aardvark Annual (1968),{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} and Titan. For much of the 1970s Theakston helped organize the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, credited as one of the first conventions in the United States dedicated to comic books,WEB,apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/animeblog/index.php?blogid=910, New comic convention, Detroit Fanfare, coming this fall, Henrickson, Eric, 7 Jul 2010, Geek Watch, The Detroit News, 31 January 2012, dead,apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/animeblog/index.php?blogid=910," title="archive.today/20120708035548apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/animeblog/index.php?blogid=910,">archive.today/20120708035548apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/animeblog/index.php?blogid=910, July 8, 2012, eventually owning it after working on a number of shows.Detroit Triple Fan Fair, registered as a Domestic Nonprofit Corporation on October 16, 1973, by Greg Allan Theakston (Agent) of Detroit, MI; dissolved on Oct. 1, 1978. Accessed Feb. 15, 2016.After graduating from Redford High School in 1971, Theakston worked with artist Jim Steranko at his Supergraphics publishing company in Reading, Pennsylvania. He moved with partner Carl Lundgren to upstate New York in 1972, where he began illustrating for men’s magazines, including Gent, Dude and Nugget.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} He also inked samples of Jim Starlin’s early pencils, which helped Starlin gain his first work for Marvel Comics in 1972.WEB,comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/trri/the.htm, Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection, Michigan State University, Michigan State University Libraries, 31 January 2012,

Illustration and comics

Theakston built his portfolio and expanded to paperbacks and magazines, including Berkley Books, Dell, Ace, DAW, Zebra, Tor, St. Martin’s Press, Warner, Ballantine Books, Belmont-Tower, If and Galaxy Science Fiction.WEB,www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?26019, Greg Theakston SF book covers at ISFDB, ISFDB, 1 February 2012, He was an original member of the Crusty Bunkers, and worked closely with Neal Adams at Continuity Associates between 1972 and 1979, producing animatics, storyboards, comic art and various commercial advertising assignments.WEB,www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/theakston1.shtml, Theakston Interview: Part 1, Stroud, Bryan D., October 2010, The Silver Age Sage, 1 February 2012, WEB,www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/theakston2.shtml, Theakston Interview: Part 2, Stroud, Bryan D., November 2010, The Silver Age Sage, 1 February 2012, Among other various assignments were jobs for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Warren Comics, New York Daily News, Archie Comics, as well as periodicals magazines including National Lampoon, The New York Times, Kitchen Sink, Playboy, TV Guide and Rolling Stone. He was a Mad illustrator for ten years and has worked regularly with numerous comics publishers on projects such as Omega Men, Super Powers, DC Comics Presents, DC’s Who’s Who and Planet of the Apes.WEB,www.comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=2874, Greg Allen Theakston - ‘Earl P. Wooton’, Comic Book Database, April 23, 2019, WEB,www.comics.org/credit/name/Greg%20Theakston/sort/chrono/, Story Search Results, Grand Comics Database, April 23, 2019,

Posters and publishing

Theakston’s movie poster work include Invaders From Mars. He has seven lithographs in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}Theakston founded and operated Pure Imagination,WEB,www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/an-interview-with-golden-age-comics-collector-and-historian-greg-theakston/, Golden Age Comics: The Pages Where Captain America Could Punch Out Hitler, Keane, Maribeth, Quinn, Brad, 18 February 2010, Pop culture interview, Collectors Weekly, 1 February 2012, a comic book and magazine publisher since 1975. His biographical work includes an estimated 200,000 words on Jack Kirby, his long-time friend and work associate, 250,000 words on Bettie Page, numerous pieces on great comic book artists, and pop culture figures for Pure Imagination and other publishers including Mad, Penthouse and Playboy.

Comics restoration

His name has been given to a process called “Theakstonizing”, a term coined by DC editor-in-chief, Dick Giordano,{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} which bleaches color from old comics pages, used in the restoration for reprinting. He reconstructed over 12,000 pages of classic comic art, including work on Superman, Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, The Flash, Porky Pig, The Spirit, The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Archie, Dick Tracy, Torchy, Pogo and numerous collections of popular comics artists, including Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Basil Wolverton, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Jack Cole, Lou Fine, Wallace Wood, and many others.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

Awards

Theakston received the Shel Dorf Torch Bearer’s Award in 2010 “[f]or Preserving the Flame of the Spirit of Comics and Carrying the Torch Forward in the Comic Industry.“WEB,www.sheldorfawards.com/past-winners, Past Winners, The Shel Dorf Awards, February 1, 2012, January 17, 2016,www.sheldorfawards.com/past-winners," title="web.archive.org/web/20160117161607www.sheldorfawards.com/past-winners,">web.archive.org/web/20160117161607www.sheldorfawards.com/past-winners,

References

{{Reflist|2}}

External links

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