Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi (born April 8, 1978) is a Japanese-born American

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology ''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be ...

'' and for creating the webcomic '' Copper''. He is also the author and illustrator of the ongoing ''

Amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

'' series.

Early life and education

Kibuishi was born April 8, 1978, in Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He moved to the United States with his mother and brother in 1982. Kibuishi enrolled at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

in 1996 in pursuit of a film studies degree. While attending UC Santa Barbara, he credits the university's newspaper, the ''

Daily Nexus The ''Daily Nexus'' is a campus newspaper at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). ''Daily Nexus'' lineage can be traced to the Santa Barbara State College student newspaper, ''The Eagle'', of the 1930s. After the college became ...

'', as where his illustration career started. Though he had previously drawn for his high school's newspaper, Kibuishi has stated that " is careerall began when I started writing comics for the Nexus. I actually went to UCSB for film. I was trying to quit drawing." He would ultimately serve as the Art Director for the ''Daily Nexus'' for three and a half years, and developed his comic ''Clive and Cabbage'' during his tenure. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2000 with a B.A. in film studies.

Career

Kibuishi started drawing at age five. He has stated that it was "the sadness that came from no longer having cool robot TV shows like

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman (character), Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman (1966 ...

around once we came to the States that triggered a lot of my early drawings and projects." He has also noted

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the t ...

and the magazines ''Mad'' Magazine, and ''CARtoons'' as catalysts for his love of comic books in particular. After he graduated from UC Santa Barbara, Kibuishi worked as an animator for Shadedbox Animations for two years. He decided to leave animation to focus on comics, where he could spend more time writing. He started producing the monthly comic '' Copper'' at his website which ran for seven years, ending in 2009.

''Flight''

'' was conceived by Kibuishi as an anthology with contributions coming from friends. The project was promoted at the

Alternative Press Expo The Alternative Press Expo (APE) was a comic book festival and alternative comics convention that operated from 1994 to 2017. Founded by Slave Labor Graphics publisher Dan Vado, APE focused on self-published, independent, and alternative cart ...

, where it attracted the attention of

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 ...

, then-new publisher of

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-own ...

. This caused the project to explode, attracting talent from all over the industry. Image published the first volume in 2004 and the anthology series concluded with the eighth volume in 2011.

''Explorer''

Following the conclusion of ''Flight'', the ''Explorer'' series was Kibuishi's anthology for children using many of the same contributors to ''Flight''. Seen as a successor series, ''Explorer'' covered three books and concluded with ''Explorer: The Hidden Doors''.

''Amulet''

Kibuishi is the creator of ''

'', a series of graphic novels which debuted in 2008 with '' The Stonekeeper''. Scholastic won the rights to publish the series after they were victorious in a hotly contested auction. In addition to ''The Stonekeeper'', other titles in the series include ''The Stonekeeper's Curse'', ''The Cloud Searchers'', ''The Last Council'', ''Prince of the Elves'', ''Escape From Lucien'', ''Firelight'', and ''Supernova''. The series currently has eight books, with a ninth book anticipated to conclude the series based on Kibuishi’s prior announcements.

Other projects

While editing ''Flight'' Volume 1, Kibuishi created the 4-issue

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era ...

graphic novel ''Daisy Kutter: The Last Train'', published by Viper Comics. Through his relationship with Scholastic, Kibuishi was asked to illustrate the covers for the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Ho ...

'' novels for inclusion in the 15th anniversary edition box set. He also illustrated the story "?" for the short story collection '' Machine of Death''.

Honors and awards

Kibuishi's ''

'' Volume 2 was nominated for the 2006

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best Anthology. ''Daisy Kutter: The Last Train'' was named as one of the 2006 Best Books for Young Adults by the

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

. His series ''

'' has spent numerous weeks on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Best Seller list.

Personal life

Kibuishi is married to fellow illustrator and collaborator Amy Kim Ganter. He has two children, Juni and Sophie. He resides in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a sa ...

. He suffered a life-threatening case of bacterial

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

which resulted in a hospital stay for weeks and being induced into a coma for treatment.

References

External links

*
Scholastic biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kibuishi, Kazu 1978 births Living people American illustrators American artists of Japanese descent Comic book editors American comics artists American webcomic creators University of California, Santa Barbara alumni People from Tokyo People from Alhambra, California Web Cartoonists' Choice Award winners Japanese emigrants to the United States