Paul Kirchner is an American writer and illustrator who has worked in diverse areas, from comic strips and toy design to advertising and editorial art.
He penciled stories for DC’s horror line and assisted on Little Orphan Annie for Tex Blaisdell, who took over the strip after the death of Harold Gray. In December 1973, Ralph Reese introduced Kirchner to Wally Wood, for whom he worked as assistant for several years. In the mid-1970s, Kirchner wrote and illustrated the surrealistic comic strip Dope Rider for High Times. For Heavy Metal he did an equally surrealistic monthly strip, the bus. These strips were collected in a book published by Ballantine in 1987. A new edition has been released in 2012 by French publisher Tanibis. Paul Kirchner also wrote and illustrated occasional short features for Heavy Metal and Epic Illustrated. Most of them were collected in the book Realms. In 1981, through his brother Thomas Kirchner, a Zen Buddhistmonk, Paul Kirchner met the Zen practitioner and author Janwillem van de Wetering. Together they produced a graphic detective novel, Murder by Remote Control. In 1983–84, Kirchner did the licensing art and in-pack comic books for the Robo Force robot toy line from CBS Toys. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, he wrote and drew comics features for He-Man, GoBots, ThunderCats, G.I. Joe and Power Rangers magazines, published by Telepictures. He illustrated a surreal cartoon for VQ Magazine and the long-running Jack B. Quick feature in Sports Illustrated for Kids. Paul Kirchner stopped doing comics from the mid-90s to early 2010s. Between 2013 and 2015 he drew new episodes of the bus which have been published in various magazines in US and in Europe. He also relaunched Dope Rider for High Times. He is currently doing a comic strip, Hieronymus & Bosch, which is featured in the comics section of the Adult Swim website. He drew a four-page autobiographical story for The Boston Globe 2015 Boomers Issue.
In 1981, he co-designed a line of military action figures, the Eagle Force, for the Mego Corporation. Kirchner freelanced regularly for Tyco Toys, working on the Dino-Riders, Crash Dummies, and Spy-Tech toy lines, for which he wrote the back stories, did design work, wrote and drew in-pack comics and scripted for animation.
Non fiction Books
He illustrated Col. Jeff Cooper's To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth, as well as seven subsequent books for the noted firearms authority and big game hunter. Kirchner wrote three pop-culture books for Rhino Entertainment. The first, Forgotten Fads and Fabulous Flops, inspired an episode of The History Channel's Modern Marvels, "Failed Inventions", in which Kirchner is featured. He has published five books with Paladin Press: The Deadliest Men, Dueling With the Sword and Pistol, Jim Cirillo's Tales of the Stakeout Squad, More of the Deadliest Men Who Ever Lived, and Bowie Knife Fights, Fighters, and Fighting Techniques.
Advertising
From 1996 to 2002, Kirchner held the post of senior art director at Jordan, McGrath, Case & Taylor. Kirchner and his creative partner, writer Andrew Cahill, created a campaign for Zestbody wash featuring football's Craig "Ironhead" Heyward. In 2002, Kirchner returned to freelance illustration, working primarily in advertising.
Personal life
Kirchner lives in Connecticut with his wife, Sandy Rabinowitz, an illustrator specializing in equine art. They have three adult children.
