Chris Eliopoulos (born September 30, 1967) is an American cartoonist and

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...

of comic books.

Early life

Eliopoulos attended the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

in New York City from 1985 to 1989. He majored in graphic design and minored in illustration. He is a resident of

River Vale, New Jersey River Vale is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. River Vale is the easternmost municipality in an area of the county referred to as the Pascack Valley. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 9,6 ...

Career

Chris Eliopoulos (49056483281) (cropped)

Eliopoulos is known as a prolific letterer, in particular for hand-lettering the first 100 issues of the ongoing ''

Savage Dragon The Savage Dragon is a fictional superhero created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic features the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon. The character first appeared ...

'' series, even after much of the comic book industry (including Eliopoulos himself, on other titles) had come to rely on computer-generated fonts for dialogue; this was done at ''Savage Dragon'' creator

Erik Larsen Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel ...

's request; Larsen preferring the individual look of hand-lettered dialogue. He designed the fonts for

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 ...

' in-house computer lettering unit.Contino, Jennifer
"ABCs with Orzechowski," Comicon.com: The Pulse (Dec. 30, 2003). Retrieved January 3, 2010.
He has also contributed lettering work to

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim E ...

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 ...

, and other publishers. For

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

, Eliopoulos wrote and/or drew some ''Star Wars'' stories. Eliopoulous is also known for his comic strip ''Desperate Times'', which showcases art admittedly inspired by the work of Bill Watterson of ''Calvin and Hobbes'' fame. ''Desperate Times'' features the misadventures of bachelor losers Marty and Toad, which ran as a back-up feature in ''Savage Dragon'', and later ''Desperate Times'' comics from ''Savage Dragon'' publisher Image Comics and AAArgh! Comics, a part of After Hours Press. Eliopoulos quoted in interview about art inspiration. Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, Eliopoulos contributed a story to a Marvel Comics benefit book about how his family was affected by the event, which shares the date of his wedding anniversary. He is the artist and co-writer on Marvel Comics' former back-up feature and current series of one-shot comics, '' Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius'', teamed with writer

Marc Sumerak Marc Sumerak (born 1978 in Solon, Ohio) is a freelance comic book writer from Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2000 and worked as an editor at Marvel Comics before becoming a freelance writer. His credits inclu ...

. The first one-shot in the series was nominated for an Eisner Award and a

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

in 2005. Eliopoulos also created a daily

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be c ...

, ''Misery Loves Sherman'', until abandoning it around 2015. He has contributed cartoon strips to the book series ''The Complete Idiot's Guide...'' and to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. On January 14, 2014 Dial Books published ''I am Amelia Earhart'' and ''I am

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

'', the first two books in writer

Brad Meltzer Brad Meltzer (born April 1, 1970) is an American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also written superher ...

's series of 29 children's books, ''Ordinary People Change the World'', which are illustrated by Eliopoulos. The series focused on 23 historical figures (six books were compilations) such as

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "th ...

, Helen Keller,

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...

, Sacagawea, and Jackie Robinson. Eliopoulos promoted the series during an October 7, 2016 appearance on the NBC talk show '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'', which included a live drawing demonstration in which Meyers participated. Eliopoulos appeared as a guest on the August 8, 2020 episode of ''

The George Lucas Talk Show ''The George Lucas Talk Show'' is an improvised talk show in New York City hosted by comedian Connor Ratliff, who appears as George Lucas, the creator of '' Star Wars'', and he interviews real guests as themselves in a panel format. He is join ...

'' with fellow guest

Lauren Lapkus Dorthea Lauren Allegra Lapkus (born September 6, 1985) is an American actress and comedian. Lapkus is known for portraying Susan Fischer in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2014, 2019) and Jess in the HBO come ...

, in which he discussed his work and career with "retired filmmaker George Lucas" (actor and comedian

Connor Ratliff Connor Ratliff (born August 27, 1975) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his podcast '' Dead Eyes'', is the star and creator of the long running stage and streaming show ''The George Lucas Talk Show'', and is associated with Upri ...

Reception

Doug Zawisza, reviewing the 2011 '' Fear Itself'' miniseries for

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

, praised Eliopoulos' lettering, singling issue #4 in particular, for which he positively compared Eliopoulous' work to letterer

John Workman John Workman (born June 20, 1950) is an American editor, writer, artist, designer, colorist and letterer in the comic book industry. He is known for his frequent partnerships with writer/artist Walter Simonson and also for lettering the entire r ...

, to whom Zawisza felt Eliopoulos was paying homage.Zawisza, Doug (July 6, 2011)
"Review for Fear Itself #4"

Awards

Awards include: * 2002 and 2003 Wizard Fan Award "Favorite Letterer" * 2007 "Best Letterer" Eagle Award * 2008 "Best Letterer"

, for '' Daredevil''2008 Harvey Award Winners
Comic Book Resources, September 28, 2008 Nominations include: * 2006 "Best Letterer" Eisner Award * 2006 "Best Letterer" Eagle Award * 2008 "Special Award for Humor" Harvey Award, for '' Franklin Richards'' * 2008 "Best letterer" Eagle Award

Bibliography

*'' Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius'' (writer, artist and letterer with co-author

, Marvel Comics) *''

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

'' (letterer, Marvel Comics) *'' Kick-Ass'' (letterer, Marvel/ Icon Comics)

References

External links

* * *
Desperate Times Daily @ ComicBookGazette.com
A New Page of Chris Eliopoulos' Desperate Times Comic Every Day

Interviews

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliopoulos, Chris 1967 births American cartoonists American comics artists American comics writers American people of Greek descent Comic book letterers Fashion Institute of Technology alumni Living people People from River Vale, New Jersey