At one time, Kyle Baker was a cartoonist, but for the most part, he is best-known for his work as both a cartoonist and a comic book artist. In fact, he should be most recognizable to comic book fans for his work on graphic novels as well as a comic book series about one of DC Comics’s less well-known superheroes Plastic Man, which have brought him widespread success in his chosen profession.
Here are five things that you may or may not have known about Kyle Baker:
Influenced By His Father
Like most artists, Baker was influenced as a child by those who preceded him. For example, he has stated that he was influenced by the art of people that included but were not limited to caricaturist Jack Davis, comic book artist Jack Kirby, and painter Norman Rockwell. However, it is interesting to note that Baker was also influenced by his father, an advertising art director who would sometimes amuse his children by drawing pictures for them.
Became an Intern at Marvel Comics
When he was still a high school senior, Baker became an intern at Marvel Comics because he knew someone who was working there at the time. As an intern, he was responsible for such things as making photocopies and answering fan mail, but he did manage to learn some things by working with the artists as well as all of the other people who contribute to the creation of a comic book. For example, Baker used to make photocopies of the comic book artist John Buscema’s penciling so that he could practice inking at home.
Broke Through with Why I Hate Saturn
Baker had done a fair amount of work in the comics industry by 1990, but it was his work on Why I Hate Saturn that propelled him to the forefront, as shown by it winning an Eisner Award. With that said, it is interesting to note that Baker completed Why I Hate Saturn at a time when being a comic book artist was no longer fun for him because of too much time spent attempting to convince his editors to let him draw the way that he wanted to draw instead of being dictated to. Something that explains much about why he then left the comics industry for a time to follow other pursuits in Hollywood.
Revived Plastic Man
Between 2004 and 2006, Baker worked on a comic book series called just Plastic Man, which revived the character for new fans in a new era. Like its name states, the series focused on Patrick O’Brian, who was convinced to turn from his former life of crime to become a hero with his newfound powers by the kindness of the monks who found him when he was wounded, as well as the people around him. Plastic Man was a huge critical success, seeing as how it won Baker five of his eight Eisner Awards.
Likes Telling “Unpopular Truths”
Baker has stated that he has an interest in telling what he called “unpopular truths” in his stories, which is meant to counter a common trend of people choosing their comfort over their personal betterment. As a result, he created a comic book series called Nat Turner that told the tale of the man who led a slave rebellion in the state of Virginia in spite of the fact that he figured that there would be no real commercial value to doing so.
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