James O'Barr

James O'Barr (2009)

James O'Barr (born January 1, 1960 in Detroit ) is an American comic artist. His best-known work is the graphic novel The Crow (The Crow).

biography

James O'Barr grew up in difficult circumstances in various homes and foster families in the Detroit area . At the age of 17, he moved in with his girlfriend Bethany. To teach himself to draw, he studied Renaissance sculpture and photography. Will Eisner is one of his role models . Authors such as George Bataille , Edgar Allan Poe and Anton Artaud were also among his sources of inspiration.

After his girlfriend was killed by a drunk driver, O'Barr joined the United States Marine Corps to come to terms with the traumatic experience. While stationed in Berlin , he began work on the comic novel The Crow in 1981, which was first published in 1989 by Caliber Press . The book tells the story of a man (Eric Draven) who, one year after the murder of him and his girlfriend, returns as an almost invincible undead to seek revenge on the murderers. O'Barr hoped to compensate for his negative emotions by working on The Crow , but he did not succeed: "Writing The Crow didn't help," says O'Barr, "I thought it would be cathartic, but I felt more self-destructive than ever. "

The Crow is inspired by the music of Joy Division and The Cure . Peter Murphy from Bauhaus , Iggy Pop and - for Dravens' bizarre make-up - the “three faces of drama” (masks of British theater): pain, irony and despair served as models for the appearance of Eric Draven .

O'Barr managed to create a cult with this comic. This was followed by the film of the same name (1994) with Brandon Lee and a TV series with Mark Dacascos . The comic book writer became friends with Brandon Lee and his fiancé. After the first film was published, the stories about the “crow” were continued by other authors.

Web links

• James O'Barr on Crow-mania.de
• James O'Barr on "TheCrow.info"
• James O'Barr on "A Boy And His Bird"
• James O'Barr in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Film adaptations

• The Crow - The Crow in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Crow: City of Angels in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Crow: Salvation in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Crow: Stairway to Heaven in the Internet Movie Database (TV series)
• The Crow: Wicked Prayer in the Internet Movie Database (English)