David T. Wenzel (; born November 22, 1950) is an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

and

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

artist. He is best known for his

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

''.

Career

Wenzel's first ambition had been to work for one of the big animation houses in California, but his early career path led him instead to work at an advertising agency and as a penciler in the mainstream comic book industry."Obsession with The Hobbit turns into career as fantasy illustrator" By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF May 04, 2012
/ref> From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s he worked on such

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

titles as '' Avengers'' and '' Savage Sword of Conan''. He penciled part of ''The Avengers'' " Korvac Saga" story arc which won a 1979 Eagle Award for Best Continued Story. Segueing from comics to children's literature in the 1980s, Wenzel illustrated

Robb Walsh Robb Walsh is an American food writer, cookbook author, and restaurant owner who divides his time between Galway Bay, Ireland, and Galveston, Texas. He is a former commentator on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, Sunday; former restaurant ...

's ''Kingdom of the Dwarfs'' for Centaur Books, two books in the '' Little Bear'' book series, and then illustrated a series of books about American colonial life for Troll Associates. A recommendation from college classmate Larry Marder was key to Wenzel's landing his next major project. Marder was working with the people who had secured the rights to adapt ''

'' to comics, and he knew firsthand that Wenzel had devoted his senior year in college to drawing Tolkien's characters. And so Wenzel provided the fully painted art for ''The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic'', a three-part adaptation of ''The Hobbit'', written by

Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...

and Sean Deming. The work was originally published by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

in 1989. Published in a collected edition by Ballantine in 1990, ''The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic'' is one of the most successful graphic format adaptations of a piece of classic literature. In 2001, it was updated by Del Rey Books with a new cover, larger format, and 32 new pages of artwork. Another graphic novel project in a similar vein was Wenzel and writer Douglas Wheeler's adaptation of some of the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

's fairytales for NBM in 1995. In 1998 Wenzel teamed with acclaimed comics writer

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...

on ''The Wizard’s Tale'', the story of Evernight, a land ruled by a consortium of evil wizards who discover that one of their kind harbors a "dangerous" glimmer of good. ''The Wizard’s Tale'' was designed to be a crossover book that blended children's book elements with the format and readability of a graphic novel. Other notable projects Wenzel has done include Robert L. May's Christmas bestseller ''Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'' (Grosset and Dunlap, 2001); Max Lucado's ''A Hat For Ivan'' (Crossway Books, 2004); and several books in the Little Bear series which were art-directed by

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

(HarperFestival, 2003–2004). Wenzel's non-book related projects include puzzles, greeting cards, and two entire miniature kingdoms of collectible figurines. He also teaches at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Connecticut. Wenzel cites illustrators like

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

, Edmund Dulac,

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

, and

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator, Painting, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life ...

as influences; as well as the Dutch painters Pieter Bruegel and

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen ( – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Life ...

Personal life

Wenzel lives in Connecticut with his wife Janice, an artist and high school art teacher. Their sons Brendan and Christopher are both artists, and Wenzel's brother Greg is a book writer and illustrator.

Awards

* 2014 Irma Black Award Honor for ''The King of Little Things''

Bibliography

Comics

* ''The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic'' (with writers

and Sean Deming;

, 1989; Ballantine Books, 1990; Del Ray Books, 2001) *'' Aliens: Stalker'' (script and art, one-shot; Dark Horse Comics, 1989) * ''Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm'' (with writer Douglas Wheeler; NBM, 1995) * ''The Wizard's Tale'' (with writer

; Homage Comics, 1998)

Illustrated books (selected)

*''

Middle Earth Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

: the World of Tolkien Illustrated'' (with writer

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lov ...

; Centaur Books, 1977) * ''Kingdom of the Dwarfs'' (with writer

; Centaur Books, 1980) * ''Boston Tea Party: Rebellion in the Colonies'' (with writer James E. Knight; Troll Associates, 1982) * ''Jamestown, New World Adventure'' (with writer James E. Knight; Troll Associates, 1982) * ''More About Dinosaurs'' (with writer David Cutts; Troll Associates, 1982) * ''Salem Days: Life in a Colonial Seaport'' (with writer James E. Knight; Troll Associates, 1982) * ''Pilgrims and Thanksgiving'' (with writer Rae Bains; Troll Associates, 1985) * ''Hauntings: Ghosts and Ghouls from Around the World'' (with writer Margaret Hodges; Little, Brown, and Co., 1991) * ''The Liberty Tree: the Beginning of the American Revolution'' (with writer Lucille Recht Penner; Random House, 1998) * ''Halloween Night'' (with writer Arden Druce; Rising Moon, 2001) * ''Sebastian in Central Park'' (with writer Margaret Hall; Bear & Co., 2001) * ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (with writer Robert Lewis May; Grosset & Dunlap, 2001) * ''Little Bear's Bad Day'' (with writer

Else Holmelund Minarik Else Holmelund Minarik (née Holmelund; September 13, 1920 – July 12, 2012) was a Danish-born American author of more than 40 children's books. She was most commonly associated with her ''Little Bear (book), Little Bear'' series of children's b ...

; HarperFestival, 2003) * ''Little Bear's Picture'' (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2003) * ''Lost in Little Bear's Room'' (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2004) * ''Lucky Little Bear'' (with writer Else Holmelund Minarik; HarperFestival, 2004) * ''A Hat for Ivan'' (with writer Max Lucado; Crossway Books, 2004) * ''Your Special Gift'' (with writer Max Lucado; Crossway Books, 2006) * ''Rodeo Time'' (with writer Stuart J. Murphy; HarperCollins, 2006) * ''Baby Loves You So Much!'' (with writer Eileen Spinelli; Ideals Children's Books, 2007) * ''Kapheus Earth'' (with writer Marguerite Tonery; TribesPress, 2014) * ''Kapheus Air'' (with writer Marguerite Tonery; TribesPress, 2015) * ''Kapheus Water'' (with writer Marguerite Tonery; TribesPress, 2016)

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wenzel, David American comics artists American illustrators American fantasy artists People from Middlesex County, Connecticut Tolkien artists Living people 1950 births