John Calnan
John Calnan was an American comics artist best known as the co-creator of Lucius Fox with writer Len Wein.
Early life
John Calnan graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. One of his instructors was Jerry Robinson.
Career
John Calnan's first work in the comic book industry was with fellow artist Tom Gill on The Lone Ranger series. Calnan later moved into the advertising field. He stated in a 2011 interview that he "became an advertising art director and TV producer for agencies and still kept the comic work on the side." Calnan began working for DC Comics in 1966 and drew a large number of stories for that publisher's horror comics titles such as Ghosts, The Unexpected, and The Witching Hour. His earliest credited work at DC Comics appeared in Our Fighting Forces #104. He worked primarily with editors Murray Boltinoff, Joe Orlando, and Robert Kanigher. A "Johnny Peril" story drawn by Calnan for The Unexpected series in 1969 was put into inventory and finally published ten years later in the APA-I fanzine. Calnan was the main artist on the "Metamorpho" back-up feature in Action Comics and World's Finest Comics. He later became the regular artist on the Superman and Batman team-up stories which were the main feature in World's Finest Comics. Soon after leaving that series, he and writer Bob Rozakis introduced the Quakemaster, an [List of Batman (comic book)|Batman family enemies|enemy of the Batman] in DC Special #28. Calnan then became the artist on the main Batman solo-series. His debut on the series was "Where Were You On The Night Batman Was Killed?", a four-issue storyline in issues #291–294 written by David Vern Reed. Calnan drew the first appearance of Lucius Fox, a supporting cast member of the Batman mythos, in Batman #307. This character was later portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the movies Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises. Calnan's last work for DC Comics appeared in Action Comics #538.
Personal life
Calnan retired in 1996 and died on December 27, 2016, at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife, Barbara, his daughters, Donna, Susan, and Diane and his grandchildren.
DC Comics
Action Comics #410–418, 469, 471–472, 537–538 Adventure Comics #453, 492 All-Out War #5 Batman #291–294, 298–299, 301–309, 352 The Brave and the Bold #126, 137 Capt. Storm #18 DC Comics Presents #47, 49 DC Special #25, 28 Detective Comics #467, 484, 490, 519 Falling in Love #130 The Flash #272 Ghosts #2–7, 9, 12–13, 17, 20–21, 27, 29, 32, 35–40, 44, 50–51, 53–54, 56, 59, 62–63, 73 G.I. Combat #191, 201, 203 Girls' Love Stories #155, 172 House of Mystery #212, 251–253 Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #260–261, 271 Limited Collectors' Edition #C-32 Mystery in Space #111 The New Adventures of Superboy #10, 15–17, 19–21, 23–24, 32 Our Army at War #176 Our Fighting Forces #104, 110 Secrets of Haunted House #12 Secrets of Sinister House #18 Superman #371, 373 The Superman Family #182–184, 187, 194–196, 198, 201–202, 204–206, 208–216, 221 Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #121 The Unexpected #118, 121, 127, 129–130, 134, 137, 144, 157–158, 164, 189, 193, 204 The Witching Hour #16–18, 20, 28, 31, 47, 58, 64 Wonder Woman #265–266 World's Finest Comics #218–220, 229, 232–242, 244, 281 Young Love #97
George A. Pflaum
Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact #v16#2, #v16#4, #v16#8
Western Publishing
Mystery Comics Digest #19