Nathan L. Butler (born February 1, 1954) is an American
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
and writer-illustrator of
comics
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
, best known for Christian-themed comics.
Early career
Butler began his full-time professional career at the Albuquerque News/Modern Press organization in 1975, starting in the production department and finishing as advertising art director. He self-published two tabloid-size ''Desperate Planet'' comic books in 1976 and 1977. In 1979 Butler opened his own studio and began
freelancing
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
.
While operating his business as Captain Renaissance Studios in the early 1980s, Butler worked almost exclusively with
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
-area clients such as the
Albuquerque Dukes
The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
History
The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fran ...
baseball team. He also contributed cartoon panels to the ''New Mexico Business Journal'', ''Viva New Mexico'', and ''New Mexico Stockman'' magazines, and taught cartooning and advertising layout at the Academy of Art & Design in Albuquerque. The company name changed to The Nate Butler Studio, incorporating in 1990.
Mainstream comics
The Nate Butler Studio, Inc. operated through at least 1995, producing artwork for
Jim Henson Productions
The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...
, ''
Weekly Reader
''Weekly Reader'' was a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children. It began in 1928 as ''My Weekly Reader''. Editions covered curriculum themes in the younger grade levels and news-based, current events and curriculum themed- ...
'',
Children's Television Workshop
Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...
,
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
, and
King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...
. The company worked on comic books, coloring books, magazines, apparel, and other
licensed
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
products utilizing characters such as
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...
,
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...
,
Tiny Toons
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
,
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an American animated character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. He is an anthropomorphic superhero mouse, originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorrow''. Th ...
Snuffy Smith
Snuffy may refer to:
People
* Snuffy Browne (1890–1964), West Indian cricketer
* Snuffy Jenkins (1909–1990), American banjo player
* Leighton W. Smith Jr. (born 1939), retired United States Navy four-star admiral
* Maynard Harrison Smith ( ...
The Jetsons
''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produc ...
,
Berenstain Bears
The ''Berenstain Bears'' is a children's literature franchise created by Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son, Mike Berenstain. The books feature a family of anthropomorphic grizzly bears who generally learn a moral or safety ...
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...
includes variously writing, penciling and/or inking stories in roughly a dozen issues of '' Betty and Me'', '' Archie and Me'' and other titles in the mid-1980s. He drew and in some cases scripted the first seven issues of '' Jughead'' (August 1987 - August 1988), and was the primary writer-penciler, and occasionally inker, of '' Jughead's Pal Hot Dog'' (Jan.-Oct. 1990). For
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 ...
, Butler worked on the licensed series '' Heathcliff'', for the publisher's
Star Comics
Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...
imprint, and inked an issue of ''
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...
Grand Comics Database
The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...
/
In 1989, Butler attended the 1989 Albuquerque Winter-Con. That same year, he and wife, Susan Butler, co-created a children's book series about baby barnyard animals for the Honey Bear Books imprint of Modern Publishing. In the early 1990s, Butler was one of 125 artists selected to ink
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...
's pencil artwork in the book ''Heroes and Villains'', published by
Pure Imagination
"Pure Imagination" is a song from the 1971 film ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. It was written by British composers Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the movie. It was sung by Gene Wilder, who played the character of ...
.
Christian comics
1990 was also the year Butler's studio formed a division called Aida-Zee Comics & Magazines and began to produce Christian comics. The studio's
one-shot
One shot may refer to:
Film and television
* One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so
* ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake
* ''One Shot'', a ...
, Christian color comic ''Aida-Zee'' (1990) featured writers and artists including
Dick Ayers
Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...
,
Murphy Anderson
Murphy C. Anderson Jr. (July 9, 1926 – October 22, 2015) was an American comics artist, known as one of the premier inkers of his era, who worked for companies such as DC Comics for over fifty years, starting in the Golden Age of Comic Books in ...
,
Gaylord DuBois
Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (; sometimes written DuBois; August 24, 1899 – October 20, 1993) was an American writer of comic book stories and comic strips, as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure novels. Du Bois wrote ''Tarzan'' for De ...
Kathleen Webb
Kathleen Webb (born October 6, 1956) is an American comic book writer and artist and one of the first female writers for Archie Comics.
Biography
Kathleen Webb was born in Puyallup, Washington. Mentored by Archie Comics writer-artist Dan DeCa ...
.''Aida-Zee'' at the Grand Comics Database. It contained the last published comic-book work by
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...
comics professional Jay Disbrow, who inked, colored and lettered the five-page story "Alien Operation". The studio also produced the black=and-white one-shot ''Paro-Dee'' for publisher Entity-Parody in 1993, and the 3-D one-shot ''Behold 3-D'' in 1996, for the UK's Edge Publishing.
Butler organized the first two Christian comics panels ever held at
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
Stan Lynde
Myron Stanford Lynde (September 23, 1931 – August 6, 2013) was an American comic strip artist, painter and novelist.
Biography
Born 23 September 1931 in Billings, Montana, he was raised on a sheep ranch near Lodge Grass. He attended the ...
, and
Kathleen Webb
Kathleen Webb (born October 6, 1956) is an American comic book writer and artist and one of the first female writers for Archie Comics.
Biography
Kathleen Webb was born in Puyallup, Washington. Mentored by Archie Comics writer-artist Dan DeCa ...
participating. Later Butler took part the ''Spirituality in Comics'' panel with
Marv Wolfman
Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...
at
Supanova
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming (also known simply as Supanova) is a fan convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy film and TV, comic books, anime, gaming and collectables. It is held annually in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane, M ...
2007 in Australia, where Butler was a Featured Comic Book Guest along with
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...
and others.
Butler's studio also produced the ''Christian Comics Catalog'' in 1993 and in 1995. The latter contained Gaylord DuBois' last completed comic-book script.
Comics ministry and missions work
Butler went on to found COMIX35, nonprofit comics-training ministry and consulting company.COMIX35 official website The company sponsored the First International Christian Comics Training Conference held in
Tagaytay
Tagaytay (), officially the City of Tagaytay (), is a component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 85,330 people.
It is one of the country's most popular destinations for domestic ...
, the Philippines, in January 1996.
Butler was an adviser at the start-up of the ''PowerMark'' comic-book series. He had been art director on an earlier ''PowerMark: Creation'' tract and ''Jungle Village: The Adventure Begins'' comic by the same publisher, which were used by
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
.
In the following years Butler led comics seminars and workshops in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
,
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
, the US,
Québec
Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...
, and a number of other countries.
In the mid-2000s Butler, briefly re-opened his own
sole proprietorship
A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by only one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. ...
, The Nate Butler Company, to produce comics for ministries. He co-scripted and art directed a
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 ...
about
Brother Yun
Liu Zhenying (; born 1 January 1958), known as Brother Yun (, literally "Brother Cloud"), is an exiled Chinese Christian house church leader, evangelist, and proponent of the Back To Jerusalem movement. Brother Yun was involved in the Christia ...
entitled ''Yun: The Illustrated Story of the Heavenly Man'' for
Lion Hudson
Lion Hudson is UK's largest publisher of children's Christian books. It is based in Oxford, United Kingdom. Since 2021, it has been an imprint of Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, SPCK.
History
It had its origins as Lion Publishing ...
with black-and-white tonal artwork supplied by former DC Comics artist Rico Rival and Joel Chua. He also produced ''The Truth For Youth Bible'' comics for Revival Fires Ministries and the
George South
George South (born September 7, 1962) is an American professional wrestler. In the course of his career, South has wrestled for professional wrestling promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestl ...
wrestling tracts. Then that company was closed.
Butler organized the first International Christian Comics Competition (ICCC) in 2005. The winner in the professional division was Brazilian Sergio Cariello. The amateur winner was José Carlos Gutiérrez. The ICCC2 was held in 2007 and was won by American comics artist Kevin Dzuban.
From around 2004 to 2010, Butler traveled to
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
regularly to assist Shinsei Senkyodan (New Life Ministries) with their Bible manga series: ''Manga Messiah'' (Four Gospels), ''Manga Metamorphosis'' (Acts/Letters), ''Manga Mutiny'' (Genesis to early Exodus), ''Manga Melech'' (Exodus through the reign of David), and ''Manga Messengers'' (Solomon through the Prophets).
In 2006, Butler partnered with Australian cartoonist and filmmaker Graham Wade and animator Phil Watson to hold a second comics seminar in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia. The next year Butler and Watson held the First Christian Animation Conference in Sydney. In addition to Butler and Watson, the instructors included former Disney animators Matt Baker, Rene Pfitzner, and Ian Harrowell, the Supervising Animator for Simba in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
In 2008 Butler and COMIX35 produced the pilot edition of a comic written and drawn by African Christians for an English-speaking African audience. It was published under two titles, ''The Good Shepherd'' and ''Lifegate Comics Africana''. This led to a partnership with ministries operating in
Francophone
The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
(French-speaking) Africa and to co-publishing the comic magazine ''Éclats: Bandes Dessinées d’Afrique'' (''Bursts: Comics of Africa'') with Publications pour la Jeunesse Africaine (PJA), producers of the magazin ''Jouv’Afrique'' COMIX35 has held seminars in
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
and
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
, Africa.
Butler has taught cartooning classes in prisons and has worked to develop inmate-produced comics. He and COMIX35 are members of Operation Starting Line (OSL), which is part of
Chuck Colson
Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...
's
Prison Fellowship
Prison Fellowship is the world's largest Christian nonprofit organization for prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for justice reform.Mark Oppenheimer ''New York Times'' (April 27, 2012).
History
Prison Fel ...
, and the Coalition of Prison Evangelists (COPE).
In 2013, Butler was chosen to be one of the original 44 EvangelVision bloggers selected by The
Billy Graham Center
The Billy Graham Center, whose building is known as the Billy Graham Hall, was founded and opened in 1981 on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Named after Billy Graham, the center is the primary location for many of Wheaton Co ...
for Evangelism at Wheaton College. That same year, Butler began assisting Kingstone Comics, overseeing artists and colorists on various titles. In 2014, he wrote the ''Story of Ruth'' script for the publisher's ''Kingstone Bible''.
Personal life
Born again
To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...
in 1979, Butler was married to his wife Susan for 30 years until her death in 2011. He married COMIX35 board member Renée Paden Butler in 2012. Butler has three daughters. Butler is famous for always ordering a "yankee" when he eats out, a combination of iced tea and orange juice.
Alec Stevens
Alec Preston Stevens (born 22 February 1965) is an American author, illustrator and musician.
Biography
Alec Stevens was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil where his father, a USAF officer stationed in various parts of the world, was on military a ...