Howard Chaykin

Howard Chaykin
Chaykin at Special Edition NYC in Manhattan
Born	Howard Victor Chaykin (1950-10-07) October 7, 1950 (age 66) Newark, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Penciller, Inker
Notable works	Dominic Fortune Cody Starbuck American Flagg!
Awards	Inkpot Award, 1977 Eagle Award, 2006

Howard Victor Chaykin (born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material. Chaykin’s influences include the comic book artist Gil Kane and the mid-20th century book illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker.

Howard Chaykin was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Rosalind Pave and Norman Drucker, who soon separated. Chaykin was initially raised by his grandparents in Staten Island, New York City, until his mother married Leon Chaykin in 1953 and the family moved to East Flatbush and later to 370 Saratoga Avenue, Brownsville, Brooklyn. At 14, Chaykin moved with his now divorced mother to the Kew Gardens section of Queens. He said in 2000 he was raised on welfare after his parents separated and that his absent biological father eventually was declared dead, although Chaykin, as an adult, located him alive. Chaykin's "nutty and cruel" adoptive father, whom Chaykin until the 1990s believed was his natural father, encouraged Chaykin's interest in drawing and bought him sketchbooks. He was introduced to comics by his cousin, who gave him a refrigerator box filled with them. He graduated from Jamaica High School at 16, in 1967, and in the summer of 1968 worked at Zenith Press. He attended Columbia College in Chicago that fall, but left school and returned to New York the following year. Chaykin said that after high school, "I hitchhiked around the country" before becoming, at 19, a "gofer" for the New York City-based comic book artist Gil Kane, whom he would name as his greatest influence.

I'd heard on the grapevine that Gil's assistant had dropped dead of a heart attack at 23. I gave Gil a call, and he said, 'Yeah, I can use you.' So I went to work for him. ... He was doing [the early graphic novel] Blackmark, and I did a really bad job pasting up the dialog and putting in [Zip-a-Tone].... It was a great apprenticeship. I learned a lot from watching Gil work.