Jack Katz. September 27, 1927—April 24, 2025

Katz started his career in the 1940’s as a “Golden Age” comic book artist working in the studios of C.C. Beck, Jerry Iger and Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

This  circa 1950's comic book panel is an example of the stunning detail Katz was capable of.

By 1974 he began his proto-graphic novel, First Kingdom, a project lasting twelve years and comprising 768 pages.

The latter part of his life he was a drawing and anatomy instructor in the SF Bay Area. Here are examples from one of his sketch booklets. I picked this up from him at a comic convention back about 2019.

And he was a remarkable painter.

His paintings remind me of the WPA-era work of Paul Cadmus.

Jack Katz was 97.