David Anthony Kraft

David Anthony Kraft
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Critic, Writer
Pseudonym(s)	DAK, Dave the Dude
Notable works	Comics Interview, The Defenders

David Anthony Kraft, also credited simply as David Kraft, is an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He is primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, Comics Interview.

Writing career

Before his comics career, Kraft worked as a rock and roll journalist.^[1]

Known for his offbeat approach, Kraft first made a name for himself as a comic book author with his work on Marvel Comics' The Defenders, particularly the 1977 "Scorpio Saga" story-arc (issues #46, 48–50).^[2] In The Defenders, Kraft wrestled with large philosophical issues: the temptations of power, the Cold War and nuclear power, sibling rivalry, and growing old alone. Kraft also merged his interests in music and comics by inserting multiple references to the band Blue Öyster Cult into his Defenders stories (specifically the "Xenogenesis: Day of the Demons" storyline, issues #58-60).^[3]

Kraft also combined music and comics in his scripting of the Marvel Super Specials #4 (featuring The Beatles)^[1] and #25 (Rock & Rule: the Official Adaptation of the Feature-Length Animated Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy from Nelvana!).

Kraft wrote the entire run, except the first issue, of Savage She-Hulk, which ran from 1980–1982. He had stints on such titles as Captain America and Creatures on the Loose. He scripted the first story drawn by John Byrne for Marvel Comics: "Dark Asylum," published in Giant-Size Dracula #5 (June 1975).^[4]

In September 1976, Kraft took over as editor of FOOM, Marvel's self-produced fan magazine, lasting as editor until the magazine's demise in the fall of 1978.^[5]

In the early to mid-1980s Kraft wrote children's storybooks featuring Marvel characters like Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Fantastic Four for the Childrens Press, Marvel Books and Simon & Schuster.^[1] During this same time he wrote the interactive game books Ghost Knights of Camelot for Avon, and Robot Race for Scholastic books.

In 1983-1984, Kraft wrote World's Finest Comics for DC Comics. After that, Kraft did occasional comics writing, but mostly focused his energies on publishing and criticism.

In 1995, Kraft worked as story-editor and scripter for the short-lived animated series G.I. Joe Extreme.

Kraft is the co-writer and editor of Yi Soon Shin: Warrior and Defender by Onrie Kompan Productions, LLC.

Publisher, critic and literary agent

Fictioneer Books

In 1974, Kraft founded the specialty science fiction publisher Fictioneer Books Ltd. Over the years, Fictioneer has published books by such authors as A.E. van Vogt, Robert E. Howard, Jack London, Otis Adelbert Kline, and Don McGregor.^[1]

Fictioneer and its imprint Comics Interview Group also published comics, such as Henry Vogel and Mark Propst's Aristocratic Xtraterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves (1988), and Julie Woodcock and Brian Stelfreeze's CyCops; as well as trade journals like Comics Revue, and MICRA, and the trade text 100 Hot Tips from Top Comics Creators (1994).

Comics Interview

In 1983, Kraft founded David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview, with ran for 150 issues^[6] between 1983 and 1995,^[7] and garnered Eisner and Eagle Award nominations. From Frank Miller and his work on The Dark Knight Returns, to Jim Shooter and Marvel's Secret Wars, to Robotech, to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Comics Interview covered some of the most memorable characters on and off the comic book pages during the 1980s and early 1990s. Besides its numerous, in-depth creator interviews, each issue of Comics Interview featured multiple articles, many on a particular theme, from Star Trek to the Punisher, from independent comics creators to major Marvel or DC superheroes. Some of Comics Interview's most popular articles were on the Golden Age and Silver Age.

Literary agent

Since 1974, Kraft has been the literary agent for the estate of pulp author Otis Adelbert Kline.

Influences and personal life

Kraft counts science fiction author Leigh Brackett, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, and writer E. Hoffmann Price as mentors.^[1] He currently lives in Clayton, Georgia.

Bibliography

• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Junior Press, 1979)
• The Compleat OAK Leaves: Volume One of the Official Journal of Otis Adelbert Kline and his Works (editor) (Borgo Press, 1980)
• Stan Lee Presents the Incredible Hulk pop-up book (Marvel Comics Group, 1980)
• Captain America: The Secret Story of Marvel's Star-Spangled Super Hero (Children's Press, 1981)
• The Fantastic Four: The Secret Story of Marvel's Cosmic Quartet (Children's Press, 1981)
• The Incredible Hulk: The Secret Story of Marvel's Gamma-powered Goliath (Children's Press, 1981)
• Attack of the Tarantula (Intervisual Communications, 1982)
• The Dark Crystal (Marvel Books, 1982)
• Stan Lee Presents the Incredible Hulk Pop-up Book, "Trapped" (Marvel Comics Group, 1982)
• Fantastic Four vs. the Frightful Four coloring book (Marvel Books, 1983)
• Heathcliff, #1 Cat at the Show coloring and activity book (Marvel Books, 1983)
• Heathcliff at The Circus coloring book (Marvel Books, 1983)
• The Treasure of Time (Marvel Books, 1983)
• The Amazing Spider-Man: The Big Top Mystery (Marvel Books, 1984)
• The Amazing Spider-Man and Wolverine in The Crime of the Centuries (Marvel Books, 1984)
• Ghost Knights of Camelot (Avon Books, 1984) ISBN 978-0380892761
• Micro Adventure no. 6: Robot Race (Scholastic, 1984) ISBN 0-590-33170-1
• Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Captain America and Iron Man in Escape from Doom (Budget Books, 1986)
• Marvel Super Heroes Jumbo Coloring & Activity Book (Marvel Books, 1987)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Guest biography, 2007 Dragon*Con. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
2. ^ Latta, D.K. "Who Remembers Scorpio?," The Masked Bookwyrm.^{[dead link]} Retrieved August 15, 2008.
3. ^ "Blue Öyster Cult FAQ (Dec. 10, 2001). Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
4. ^ Isabella, Tony. "Tony's Tips," Comics Buyer's Guide #1433 (May 4, 2001). Accessed Sept. 17, 2008.
5. ^ Ruby, Sam. "FOOM," The Amazing Spider-Man Gallery. Retrieved August 15, 2008.
6. ^ "Newswatch: Comics Interview Gives Up the Ghost," The Comics Journal no. 183 (Jan. 1996), p. 28.
7. ^ David Anthony Kraft at the Michigan State University Libraries: Index to the Comic Art Collection. WebCitation archive.

References

• David Anthony Kraft at the Comic Book DB

External links

• New, circa 2010 Comics Interview website. Comics Interview: The Complete Collection Volume I offered for sale.
• Alphabetical index of the first 100 issues of Comics Interview.
• Ordering information for Comics Interview back issues.

Preceded by Gerry Conway	The Defenders writer 1977–1979	Succeeded by Ed Hannigan
Preceded by Stan Lee	Savage She-Hulk writer 1980–1982	Succeeded by N/A
Preceded by Doug Moench	World's Finest Comics writer 1983–1984	Succeeded by Kurt Busiek

Persondata
Name	Kraft, David Anthony
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1952
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death