Nathan L. Butler (born February 1, 1954) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and writer-illustrator of

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

, best known for Christian-themed comics.

Early career

Butler began his full-time professional career at the Albuquerque News/Modern Press organization in 1975, starting in the production department and finishing as advertising art director. He self-published two tabloid-size ''Desperate Planet'' comic books in 1976 and 1977. In 1979 Butler opened his own studio and began

freelancing ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

. While operating his business as Captain Renaissance Studios in the early 1980s, Butler worked almost exclusively with

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

-area clients such as the

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fra ...

baseball team. He also contributed cartoon panels to the ''New Mexico Business Journal'', ''Viva New Mexico'', and ''New Mexico Stockman'' magazines, and taught cartooning and advertising layout at the Academy of Art & Design in Albuquerque. The company name changed to The Nate Butler Studio, incorporating in 1990.

Mainstream comics

The Nate Butler Studio, Inc. operated through at least 1995, producing artwork for

Jim Henson Productions The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known fo ...

, ''

Weekly Reader ''Weekly Reader'' was a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children. It began in 1928 as ''My Weekly Reader''. Editions covered curriculum themes in the younger grade levels and news-based, current events and curriculum themed-i ...

'',

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

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

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

. The company worked on comic books, coloring books, magazines, apparel, and other

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

products utilizing characters such as

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

Tiny Toons ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation af ...

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorro ...

Rocky & Bullwinkle ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC te ...

Snuffy Smith ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearin ...

, '' Batman: The Animated Series'',

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced ...

Berenstain Bears The ''Berenstain Bears'' is a children's literature franchise created by the late Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son, Mike Berenstain, who assumed partial authorship in 2002, and full authorship in 2012 following Jan's death. T ...

, and

Tom & Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

. His work for

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Betty and Me'', '' Archie and Me'' and other titles in the mid-1980s. He drew and in some cases scripted the first seven issues of '' Jughead'' (August 1987 - August 1988), and was the primary writer-penciler, and occasionally inker, of ''

Jughead's Pal Hot Dog Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is one of the fictional characters created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in Archie Comics who first appeared in the first Archie story, from ''Pep Comics'' #22 (December 1941). He is the drummer of ...

'' (Jan.-Oct. 1990). 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 ...

, Butler worked on the licensed series '' Heathcliff'', for the publisher's

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

imprint, and inked an issue of ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

'' in 1996.Nate Butler
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

/ In 1989, Butler attended the 1989 Albuquerque Winter-Con. That same year, he and wife, Susan Butler, co-created a children's book series about baby barnyard animals for the Honey Bear Books imprint of Modern Publishing. In the early 1990s, Butler was one of 125 artists selected to ink

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

's pencil artwork in the book ''Heroes and Villains'', published by

Pure Imagination "Pure Imagination" is a song from the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. It was written by British composers Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the movie. It was sung by Gene Wilder who played the character of ...

Christian comics

1990 was also the year Butler's studio formed a division called Aida-Zee Comics & Magazines and began to produce Christian comics. The studio's one-shot, Christian color comic ''Aida-Zee'' (1990) featured writers and artists including

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

Murphy Anderson Murphy C. Anderson Jr. (July 9, 1926 – October 22, 2015) was an American comics artist, known as one of the premier inkers of his era, who worked for companies such as DC Comics for over fifty years, starting in the Golden Age of Comic Books in ...

Gaylord DuBois Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (sometimes written DuBois) (August 24, 1899 – October 20, 1993) was an American writer of comic book stories and comic strips, as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure novels. Du Bois wrote ''Tarzan'' for De ...

Nestor Redondo Nestor P. Redondo (May 4, 1928 – December 30, 1995)Nestor P. Redondo
at the

Kathleen Webb.''Aida-Zee''
at the Grand Comics Database. It contained the last published comic-book work by

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

comics professional Jay Disbrow, who inked, colored and lettered the five-page story "Alien Operation". The studio also produced the black=and-white one-shot ''Paro-Dee'' for publisher Entity-Parody in 1993, and the 3-D one-shot ''Behold 3-D'' in 1996, for the UK's Edge Publishing. Butler organized the first two Christian comics panels ever held at the San Diego

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events ...

in 1992 and 1995, with

Nestor Redondo Nestor P. Redondo (May 4, 1928 – December 30, 1995)Nestor P. Redondo
at the

Stan Lynde, and Kathleen Webb participating. Later Butler took part the ''Spirituality in Comics'' panel with

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...

Supanova Supanova Comic Con & Gaming (also known simply as Supanova) is a fan convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy film and TV, comic books, anime, gaming and collectables. It is held annually in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane, ...

2007 in Australia, where Butler was a Featured Comic Book Guest along with

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

and others. Butler's studio also produced the ''Christian Comics Catalog'' in 1993 and in 1995. The latter contained Gaylord DuBois' last completed comic-book script.

Comics ministry and missions work

Butler went on to found COMIX35, nonprofit comics-training ministry and consulting company.COMIX35
official website The company sponsored the First International Christian Comics Training Conference held in

Tagaytay Tagaytay, officially the City of Tagaytay ( fil, Lungsod ng Tagaytay), is a 2nd class component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 85,330 people. It is one of the country's most po ...

, the Philippines, in January 1996. Butler was an adviser at the start-up of the ''PowerMark'' comic-book series. He had been art director on an earlier ''PowerMark: Creation'' tract and ''Jungle Village: The Adventure Begins'' comic by the same publisher, which were used by

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. In the following years Butler led comics seminars and workshops in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, the US,

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, and a number of other countries. In the mid-2000s Butler, briefly re-opened his own

sole proprietorship A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. A sole ...

, The Nate Butler Company, to produce comics for ministries. He co-scripted and art directed a

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 ...

about

Brother Yun Liu Zhenying (), known as Brother Yun (, literally "Brother Cloud"), born 1958, is an exiled Chinese Christian house church leader, evangelist, and proponent of the Back To Jerusalem movement. Brother Yun was involved in the Christian house chur ...

entitled ''Yun: The Illustrated Story of the Heavenly Man'' for

Lion Hudson Lion Hudson is UK's largest publisher of children's Christian books. It is based in Oxford, UK. It had its origins as Lion Publishing (founded in 1971) and Hudson International (founded in 1977) which merged to become Lion Hudson PLC in 2003. ...

with black-and-white tonal artwork supplied by former DC Comics artist Rico Rival and Joel Chua. He also produced ''The Truth For Youth Bible'' comics for Revival Fires Ministries and the

George South George South (born September 7, 1962) is an American professional wrestler. In the course of his career, South has wrestled for professional wrestling promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrest ...

wrestling tracts. Then that company was closed. Butler organized the first International Christian Comics Competition (ICCC) in 2005. The winner in the professional division was Brazilian

Sergio Cariello Sergio Cariello (born April 23, 1964) is a Brazilian-American comic book artist. He has done work for many major comic publishers through his career, including Marvel Comics and DC Comics, as well as popular independent companies like CrossGen Co ...

. The amateur winner was José Carlos Gutiérrez. The ICCC2 was held in 2007 and was won by American comics artist Kevin Dzuban. From around 2004 to 2010, Butler traveled to

regularly to assist Shinsei Senkyodan (New Life Ministries) with their Bible manga series: ''Manga Messiah'' (Four Gospels), ''Manga Metamorphosis'' (Acts/Letters), ''Manga Mutiny'' (Genesis to early Exodus), ''Manga Melech'' (Exodus through the reign of David), and ''Manga Messengers'' (Solomon through the Prophets). In 2006, Butler partnered with Australian cartoonist and filmmaker Graham Wade and animator Phil Watson to hold a second comics seminar in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. The next year Butler and Watson held the First Christian Animation Conference in Sydney. In addition to Butler and Watson, the instructors included former Disney animators Matt Baker, Rene Pfitzner, and Ian Harrowell, the Supervising Animator for Simba in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. In 2008 Butler and COMIX35 produced the pilot edition of a comic written and drawn by African Christians for an English-speaking African audience. It was published under two titles, ''The Good Shepherd'' and ''Lifegate Comics Africana''. This led to a partnership with ministries operating in

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

(French-speaking) Africa and to co-publishing the comic magazine ''Éclats: Bandes Dessinées d’Afrique'' (''Bursts: Comics of Africa'') with Publications pour la Jeunesse Africaine (PJA), producers of the magazin
''Jouv’Afrique''
COMIX35 has held seminars in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, Africa. Butler has taught cartooning classes in prisons and has worked to develop inmate-produced comics. He and COMIX35 are members of Operation Starting Line (OSL), which is part of

Chuck Colson Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * ...

Prison Fellowship Prison Fellowship is the world's largest Christian nonprofit organization for prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for justice reform.Mark Oppenheimer ''New York Times'' (April 27, 2012). History Prison Fell ...

, and the Coalition of Prison Evangelists (COPE). In 2013, Butler was chosen to be one of the original 44 EvangelVision bloggers selected by The

Billy Graham Center The Wheaton College Billy Graham Center was founded and opened in 1981 on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Named after Billy Graham, the center is the primary location for many of Wheaton College's bible and theology classes, as ...

for Evangelism at Wheaton College. That same year, Butler began assisting Kingstone Comics, overseeing artists and colorists on various titles. In 2014, he wrote the ''Story of Ruth'' script for the publisher's ''Kingstone Bible''.

Personal life

Born again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

in 1979, Butler was married to his wife Susan for 30 years until her death in 2011. He married COMIX35 board member Renée Paden Butler in 2012. Butler has three daughters. Butler is famous for always ordering a "yankee" when he eats out, a combination of iced tea and orange juice.

References

External links

Grand Comics Database: Nate Butler

* ttp://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2011/02/christian-comics/ ''Christian Comics'' by Alec Stevens, publisher of Calvary Comics

Alec Stevens Alec Preston Stevens (born 22 February 1965) is an American author, illustrator and musician. Biography Alec Stevens was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil where his father, a USAF officer stationed in various parts of the world, was on military ...

The Comic Book Database: L. Nathan Butler - 'Nate Butler'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Nate American cartoonists 1954 births Living people People from Meriden, Connecticut People from Cromwell, Connecticut 20th-century American artists 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American male artists Christian comics creators