CLARK HAAS
Obscure Comic Artists No. 2
CLARK HAAS
Clark Schiller Haas, Jr. nasce il 21 luglio 1919 a Omaha, Nebraska, da Clark Schiller Haas, Sr. e Mabel Hall. Gli Haas abitano al 1140 di Turner Boulevard a Omaha.
Tra i primi piloti di jet, durante il Secondo Conflitto Mondiale Haas è attivo in Florida come istruttore civile per l’aviazione USA prima di lavorare professionalmente nel campo del fumetto e del cartooning.
Ancora in Florida, conosce Lyman Young, per il quale tra 1945 e il 1947 disegna anonimamente strisce e tavole di Tim Tyler’s Luck (Cino e Franco), poi (ancora anonimamente) illustra e forse anche sceneggia la tavola settimanale Buz Sawyer Featuring His Pal Rosco Sweeney Sunday per Roy Crane dal 1947 fino al 1959. Tra il 1948 e il 1952 realizza una propria strip, Sunnyside, distribuita settimanalmente dalla Western Newspaper Union.
Tra il 1949 e il 1951 realizza pure fumetti per editori di comic books quali Eastern Color, Marvel, Standard e ACG, occupandosi tra l’altro delle serie Kathy e Howdy Hail.
Trasferitosi stabilmente in California, con Edwin Gillette e Dick Brown fonda i Cambria Animation Studios nel 1957. Gillette ha sviluppato la tecnica di animazione Syncro-Vox, che sovrappone le labbra dei doppiatori a quelle dei personaggi animati. Tale tecnica viene usata per le prime tre serie in animazione limitata realizzate da Cambria, ovvero Clutch Cargo (1959-60), Space Angel (1962) e Captain Fathom (1965). Lo staff artistico di Cambria comprende gli sceneggiatori Cecil Beard, Homer Brightman, Dave DeTiege, Nick George, Jack Kinney, Jack Miller e Charles Shows; I direttori artistici Hi Mankin, Gray Morrow e Sal Trapani; il character designer Alex Toth; il supervisore al design Doug Wildey; gli animatori Bob Maxfield, Joe Messerli, Dan Noonan, Chic Otterstrom, Bill e Kay Wright e Warren Tufts (il quale fornisce anche la voce a Captain Fathom); i layout men Lee Mishkin e Sparky Moore; e gli scenografi Bill Butler and Bob Inman. Una speciale storia a fumetti con Clutch Cargo realizzata da Haas appare su Jack and Jill nel gennaio 1961.
L’ultima serie animate prodotta da Cambria prima che lo studio chiuda i battenti nel 1965 è The New Three Stooges. Ancora nel 1965, Haas sceneggia un episodio della serie animata televisiva The Addams Family per Hanna-Barbera.
Torna all’animazione nel 1972, lavorando a intermittenza nel Reparto Sceneggiature degli studi Hanna-Barbera e Fred Calvert Productions a serie TV quali Speed Buggy, Super Friends, Valley of the Dinosaurs e The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. Per la Filmation Associates lavora a sceneggiature e layouts, tra il 1975 e il 1977, per Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, The Space Sentinels e altre serie animate per la TV.
Haas scompare a Los Angeles il 18 gennaio 1978. Riposa nel Saint Alphonsus Catholic Cemetery, a Fairfield, Solano County, California.
Clark Schiller Haas, Jr. was born on July 21, 1919 in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Clark Schiller Haas, Sr. and Mabel Hall. The Haas family lived at 1140 Turner Boulevard in Omaha.
Haas was a pioneer jet pilot who worked in Florida during the War years as a civilian instructor for the U.S. Army Air Force before turning to comics and cartoons.
After meeting Lyman Young, he ghosted the newspaper strip Tim Tyler’s Luck from 1945-47, then anonymously drew and possibly wrote the Buz Sawyer Featuring His Pal Rosco Sweeney Sunday page for Roy Crane from 1947-59. From 1948-52 he had his own strip, Sunnyside, released weekly by Western Newspaper Union.
From 1949-51 he also freelanced story and art to comic book publishers, including Eastern Color, Marvel, Standard, and ACG, working on Kathy and Howdy Hail among others.
After moving to California, Haas started Cambria Animation Studios in 1957 along with Edwin Gillette and Dick Brown. Gillette developed the Syncro-Vox technique of animation, which superimposed the human lips of the voice actors over the mouths of the animated characters. It was used on the first three limited-animation series produced by Cambria, Clutch Cargo (1959-60), Space Angel (1962), and Captain Fathom (1965). Among Cambria’s employees there were writers Cecil Beard, Homer Brightman, Dave DeTiege, Nick George, Jack Kinney, Jack Miller, and Charles Shows; art directors Hi Mankin, Gray Morrow, and Sal Trapani; character designer Alex Toth; production designer Doug Wildey; animators Bob Maxfield, Joe Messerli, Dan Noonan, Chic Otterstrom, Bill and Kay Wright, and Warren Tufts (who also provided the voice for Captain Fathom); layout men Lee Mishkin and Sparky Moore; background artists Bill Butler and Bob Inman. A special Clutch Cargo comic strip was published in Jack and Jill in January 1961.
The last animated series produced by Cambria before it folded in 1965 was The New Three Stooges. In 1965, Haas wrote one episode of the Addams Family animated TV series for Hanna-Barbera.
He went back to animation in 1972, working intermittently in the Story Department at Hanna-Barbera and Fred Calvert Productions on such series as Speed Buggy, Super Friends, Valley of the Dinosaurs, and The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. For Filmation Associates he worked in Story and Layout, from 1975-77, on Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, The Space Sentinels, and other animated TV series.
Haas died in Los Angeles on January 18, 1978. He was buried in Saint Alphonsus Catholic Cemetery, Fairfield, Solano County, California.
FILMOGRAFIA / FILMOGRAPHY
[NOTE: All dates in this section are day/month/year]
Studio: CAMBRIA
Owner/Producer/Story/Animator/Director
00/03/1959-00/00/1959 Clutch Cargo [TV series, 130 episodes]
06/02/1962-00/00/1964 Space Angel [TV series, 48 episodes]
01/01/1965-00/00/1965 Captain Fathom [TV series, 6 episodes]
20/12/1965-00/00/1966 The New Three Stooges [TV series, 156 episodes]
Studio: HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTIONS
Sceneggiatore / Story
23/04/1965 Progress and the Addams Family [TV Series: The Addams Family]
Direttore della Sceneggiatura / Story Director
08/09/1973 Lost in Space [TV Series: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie]
08/09/1973-22/12/1973 Speed Buggy [TV Series]
08/09/1973-22/12/1973 Super Friends [TV Series, 16 episodes]
Storyboard Editor
07/09/1974-00/00/1974 Valley of the Dinosaurs [TV Series]
Studio: FRED CALVERT PRODUCTIONS
Story Director
30/09/1972 Nanny and the Professor [TV Series: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie]
27/10/1973 The Mini-Munsters [TV Series: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie]
17/11/1973 Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus [TV Series: The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie]
Studio: FILMATION ASSOCIATES
Storyboards
11/09/1976-18/12/1976 Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle [TV series, 16 episodes]
Layouts
06/09/1975-04/09/1975 The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty [TV series]
10/09/1977-19/11/1977 The New Archie/Sabrina Hour [TV series]
00/00/1977-00/00/1977 The Space Sentinels [TV series]
FUMETTOGRAFIA / COMICOGRAPHY
COMIC BOOKS E RIVISTE / COMIC BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
Editore/Publisher: AMERICAN COMICS GROUP (aka CRESTON)
Howdy Hail – Cookie #17-23 (1949-50) [anche testi / also scripts].
Editore/Publisher: CURTIS PUBLISHING CO.
Clutch Cargo – Jack and Jill (02/1961).
Editore/Publisher: EASTERN COLOR
Yipee – Famous Funnies #184 (1949).
Editore/Publisher: MARVEL
The Strange Machine – Marvel Tales #100 (1951).
Editore/Publisher: STANDARD (aka BETTER, NEDOR)
Copertine / Cover art – Buz Sawyer #2 (1948); Buz Sawyer’s Pal, Sweeney #4, 5 (1949); Kathy #1-9 (1949-50).
Kathy – Kathy #1-9 (1949-50).
NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS
Editore/Publisher: KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC.
Buz Sawyer Featuring His Pal Rosco Sweeney Tavole settimanali / Sunday page Sceneggiatura (?), matite e chine / Story (?), pencils and inks 1947-1959.
Tim Tyler’s Luck – Strisce quotidiane / Daily strip: Matite e chine / Pencils and inks Nov 5 1945-Aug 30 1947.
Tim Tyler’s Luck – Tavole settimanali / Sunday page: Matite e chine / Pencils and inks Jan 13 1946-Aug 24 1947.
Editore/Publisher: WESTERN NEWSPAPER UNION
Sunnyside – Strisce settimanali / Weekly strip: Sceneggiatura, matite e chine / Story, pencils and inks [Apr 22] 1948-[Aug 15] 1952.
