Arie Kaplan
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Arie Kaplan is an American writer and comedian. He is the author of the book ''Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!'', and a writer for '' Mad'' magazine. He lives in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.


Career

Although he is also a comedian and a cartoonist, Arie Kaplan is best known as a writer. Kaplan has written for '' Teen Beat'', ''
Tiger Beat ''Tiger Beat'' is an American internet teen fan magazine originally published by The Laufer Company, and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. The magazine had a paper edition that was sold at stores until December 2018. History and profile ...
'', ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'', ''
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'', the ''
Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...
'', and other publications. He has also won acclaim for exploring the role Jews have played in the history of both comedy writing and the comic book industry. Several years ago, Kaplan wrote a three-part series called "Kings of Comics" about Jews in comics for ''
Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...
Magazine''. In that series, he interviewed such comics luminaries as
Al Jaffee Allan Jaffee (born Abraham Jaffee; March 13, 1921) is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine '' Mad'', including his trademark feature, the ''Mad'' Fold-in. Jaffee was a regular contributor to the magazine ...
, Stan Lee,
Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
,
Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel '' Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade'' and '' Ra ...
,
Jerry Robinson Sherrill David Robinson (January 1, 1922 – December 7, 2011), known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and ...
,
Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for D ...
,
Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
, Drew Friedman,
Judd Winick Judd Winick (born February 12, 1970) is an American cartoonist, comic book writer and screenwriter, as well as a former reality television personality. He first gained fame for his stint on MTV's ''The Real World: San Francisco'' in 1994, before f ...
, Chris Claremont, Jon Bogdanove, and
Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Polish-born American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He is also kno ...
. In his role as an entertainment journalist, Kaplan has also interviewed recording artists, comedians, filmmakers, and cartoonists, including R. Kelly,
'N Sync NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to Europea ...
,
Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...
, Susie Essman,
Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series ''M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the B ...
, Sam Gross,
Tom Leopold Tom Leopold (born ) is an American comedy writer, performer, and novelist. He has written episodes of '' Seinfeld'' and '' Cheers'', along with several books. Leopold has often been associated with Chevy Chase, Harry Shearer, and Paul Shaffer ...
,
Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...
, and
Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series '' Lewi ...
. Apart from being a journalist, he is also an in-demand public speaker, lecturing all over the world about various pop culture-related subjects. These include, but are not limited to, the history of comic books, comedy history, film history, the history of television, and the history of science fiction. He has lectured and performed stand-up comedy at resorts, synagogues, comedy clubs, and academic institutions worldwide, including the Nevele Grand Resort in the Catskills, Stand-Up New York in Manhattan, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Koffler Centre of the Arts in Toronto, the Kislak Vacation Center in the Poconos, the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, Poland, and the Jewish Cultural Festival in Trondheim, Norway. In 2008 Kaplan wrote a ''
Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese media franchise about Auto racing, automobile racing. ''Mach GoGoGo'' was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun W ...
'' comic book mini-series called ''Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer'' for IDW Publishing. He has also written two ''
Ben 10 ''Ben 10'' is an American media franchise created by Man of Action Studios, produced by Cartoon Network Studios and owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The series centers on a boy named Ben Tennyson who acquires the Omnitrix, an alien device resem ...
'' comic book scripts for the
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
title ''Cartoon Network Action Pack''. He is the writer/creator of the children's comic strip "Dave Danger, Action Kid" which ran in ''Reform Judaism Magazine'' from 2005-2007. In 2010, he wrote "Disney Club Penguin: Shadow Guy & Gamma Gal: Heroes Unite" for Grosset & Dunlap. He is currently working on a new graphic novel "The New Kid From Planet Glorf" for Capstone. Kaplan can also be credited with writing for a various number of comic book series. These include the DC comics title "DC Universe Holiday Special", the DC series "Cartoon Network Action Pack", Bongo Comics anthology "Bart Simpson", Archie Comics title "Archie & Friends" and Papercutz horror series "Tales From the Crypt". A writer for '' Mad'' magazine since 2000, Kaplan has described it as a dream to work for pioneering satire publication. Some of his best-known MAD pieces are the "Gulf Wars Episode 2: Clone of the Attacks" poster, "What if Chris Rock Performed At A Bar Mitzvah?" and "MAD's New 'Sesame Street' Characters That Better Reflect Today's World." In ''Masters'', Kaplan profiles the lives and careers of a diverse range of icons of the comic book genre, including Stan Lee ('' Spider-Man''); Neil Gaiman ('' The Sandman'');
Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; fa, مرجان ساتراپی ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis'' a ...
(''
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'',
Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel '' Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade'' and '' Ra ...
('' Maus'');
Dwayne McDuffie Dwayne Glenn McDuffie (February 20, 1962February 21, 2011) was an American writer of comic books and television, known for producing and writing the animated series '' Static Shock'', '' Damage Control'', ''Justice League Unlimited'' and '' Ben ...
(''
Static Shock ''Static Shock'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero List of animated television series, animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static (DC Comics), Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000, on the W ...
''); and
Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
(''
The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...
'').xx At an event at MoCCA celebrating the release of the book Kaplan was asked what the comic artists he interviewed—such as Eisner, Spiegelman, and Gaiman—have in common. He said that they were "elevating the art" and showing comics to be "art with a capital A." On the panel to discuss Kaplan's work was
Jerry Robinson Sherrill David Robinson (January 1, 1922 – December 7, 2011), known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and ...
, legendary creator of
The Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...
, Robert Sikoryak, who does comic adaptations of literature, and
Danny Fingeroth Daniel Fingeroth (; born September 17) is an American comic book writer and editor, best known for a long stint as group editor of the Spider-Man books at Marvel Comics. Early life Fingeroth was born in New York City, New York. Career As a write ...
, former Spider-Man editor at
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
and author of "Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society." Kaplan's book, ''From Krakow to Krypton: The history of Jews in Comics'', came out in Sept 2008 from JPS, with a foreword by ''
American Splendor ''American Splendor'' is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the last one in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular interv ...
'' creator
Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical ''American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a ...
and quickly became a National Jewish Book Award finalist that same year. In 2009 it won the Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, the Sophie Brody Honor Book and was a finalist in the National "Best Books 2009" Award competition. His newest release, "American Pop: Hit Makers, Superstars, and Dance Revolutionaries" was published by Lerner Publishing Group's Twenty-First Century Books imprint in November 2012. In addition to the above work, Kaplan has also had his hands in the creation of various video games such as Episode 2: Home to Roost of "Law & Order: Legacies" by Telltale Games. This episode is now available for PC and Mac, including the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. He wrote the storyline and dialogue for all five episodes of "House M.D." for Legacy Interactive, which can now be purchased for PC and Nintendo DSiWare platforms. Together with Legacy Interactive, Kaplan is currently working on the storyline and dialogue for the upcoming game "Disaster Hero", an educational children's game.


Quotes

*"
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
built the
comic book industry A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...
from the ground up, and the influence of Jewish writers, artists, and editors continues to be felt to this day."


Personal life

On May 30, 2004, Kaplan married playwright Nadine Graham.Anna Jane Grossman, ''Countdown to Bliss'', ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'', March 22, 2004; Page 12.
"I'm very goal-oriented. I pursue something until I've worn it down to a nub. That's what I did with Nadine."


References


Further reading

* ''Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!''


External links


Arie Kaplan's Website
*Debra Rubin,

''The Jewish State'', 2/28/03 *Gary Shapiro,
In Comics, Villains Needed
''
The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New Yor ...
'', 8/31/06 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Arie American graphic novelists New York University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male comedians 21st-century American comedians