Jack Katz, Pioneer of the Graphic Novel, Is Dead at 97
The volumes were originally issued by the publishing arm of Comics & Comix, a retailer in Berkeley, and later by Bud Plant, a founder of Comics & Comix.
After completing his masterwork, Mr. Katz continued to paint and teach art. Along the way, he published two books on the art of anatomy, two volumes of sketchbooks and another graphic novel, âLegacy,â about the mysterious fate of a billionaireâs fortune, written with the comics veteran Charlie Novinskie.
Mr. Katzâs survivors include two sons, Ivan and David, and two daughters, Beth and Laura Katz, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His three marriages ended in divorce.
Around 2013 â the year Titan Comics reissued âThe First Kingdomâ â Mr. Katz embarked on an ambitious follow-up to his masterwork: a 500-page graphic novel called âBeyond the Beyond,â which he financed in part through the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, while toiling away on it up to 18 hours a day, often in his pajamas, he said in a 2015 video interview. He added that he already had the story by the time he was 12, and that âThe First Kingdomâ was basically its preamble.
âAll of these people, they were, âOh, youâre 45, youâre over the hill!ââ he told ICv2, recalling the early days of âThe First Kingdom.â âIâm 85 now! Iâm ready to take on âBeyond the Beyondâ!â
That work, completed in 2019, remains unpublished. Then again, Mr. Katz understood the challenges going in.
âFor heavenâs sake,â he said, âyou know, if you climbed Mount Everest one time, itâs not a snap the second.â
