Peter Kuper (born September 22, 1958) is an American alternative cartoonist and illustrator known for his autobiographical, social, and political observations.
Kuper was born in Summit, New Jersey and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1976. He attended Kent State University in 1976-1977, then moved to New York City in 1977, where he studied at Art Students League and the Pratt Institute (along with his childhood friend and World War 3 Illustrated co-founder Seth Tobocman). In 1970 Kuper and Tobocman published their first fanzine, "Phanzine" and in 1971 published "G.A.S Lite" the official magazine of the Cleveland Graphic Arts Society. In 1972 Kuper traded R. Crumb some old jazz records for the right to publish some artwork from one of Crumb's sketchbooks in a comic titled Melotoons that lasted for two issues. For a short period he acted as studio assistant for cartoonist Howard Chaykin.
Kuper has traveled extensively through Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, much of which he documented in his 1992 book, ComicsTrips: A Journal of Travels Through Africa and Southeast Asia. He lived in Israel in 1969-70. Though permanently based in New York City, Kuper and his wife and daughter resided in the Mexican state of Oaxaca 2006-2008, where he documented an ongoing teachers' strike and other aspects of Mexico in his book Diario de Oaxaca.
Comics
Besides his contributions to the political anthology World War 3 Illustrated, which he co-founded in 1979 with Seth Tobocman, he is currently best known for taking over Spy vs. Spy for Mad magazine; it had passed through various hands after its creator Antonio Prohías retired, but Kuper's version has appeared without interruption since 1997.
Kuper has produced numerous graphic novels which have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish and Greek, including award-winning adaptations of Franz Kafka's Give It Up! and the Metamorphosis.
Kuper's Eye of the Beholder was the first comic strip to ever regularly appear in the New York Times and his autobiography Stop Forgetting to Remember covers the birth of his daughter, 9/11, and other vicissitudes in his life from 1995-2005.His most recent book Diario De Oaxaca is a sketchbook journal of his time in living in Mexico (2006—2008).
Illustration
As an illustrator Kuper has produced covers for Time, Newsweek, Businessweek and The Progressive. He has done hundreds of illustrations for newspapers including The New York Times. Kuper has been co-art director of the political illustration group INX since 1988.
Legal issues
In 1994 Kuper was asked by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to be an expert defense witness in the trial of Florida cartoonist Mike Diana. In 2004 The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund defended Kuper when U.S. Customs seized a shipment containing the Eastern European publication Stripburger which had published Kuper's Richie Rich parody, Richie Bush. After The CBLDF lawyers were brought in to argue that parody was not piracy, custom agents relented.
Teaching
Kuper has taught courses in comics and illustration at Parsons School of Design (2002—2004) and The School of Visual Arts (1986—present).
Influences
One of Kuper's earliest influences was the 1964 nuclear disaster film Fail-Safe, which became a motivation for positive personal achievement by encouraging him to accomplish his goals "before the bomb drops."
Kuper won a journalism award from The Society of Newspaper Designers in 2001.His wordless picture story Sticks and Stones was awarded the 2004 gold medal and his comic "This Is Not A Comic" won a silver medal in 2009 both from the Society of Illustrators.He won another gold medal in the sequential arts category from the Society of Illustrator in 2010.
