Comic book artist Herb Trimpe’s work on The Incredible Hulk defined the look of the character for many and he illustrated Wolverine’s first appearance.
Trimpe was born and raised in Peekskill, New York where he graduated from Lakeland High School. He then went on to graduate from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Early in his career he worked at Dell Comics on Journey to the Centre of the Earth and a selection of Westerns. He enlisted in the US Air Force, working in meteorology, then left to join Marvel Comics. Trimpe started out in production, then as a freelance penciller and inker, he co-created the aviator character The Phantom Eagle, which will be revived this summer.
He is well known and respected for his work on The Incredible Hulk the book that hosted Wolverine’s first appearance. Trimpe drew The Incredible Hulk for seven years from 1968 to 1975 and often co-plotted the book. While working as a publisher at Marvel he drew Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Fantastic Four Unlimited.
In the mid-1990s he went back to college to finish his degree and graduated with a BA in Arts in 1997 and then got a Master’s Degree at SUNY New Platz. After that he went on to teach art for two years at Eldred Central School in Sullivan County, New York. In 2002 he won the prestigious Inkpot Award and The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award for his work as a chaplain at the World Trade Center following the terroristic events of September 11, 2001.
Trimpe co-created brother and sister, Captain Britain and Psylocke. He worked on licensed titles G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and U.S. 1 and independent works such as B.P.R.D. and recently he has been drawing a strip for Savage Dragon.
Trimpe and inker Jack Abel’s final page from Incredible Hulk#180, which features the first brief appearance of Wolverine in the issue’s last panel, established a record for an original page of comic art when it sold for $657,250 at Heritage Auctions on Friday, May 16, 2014.
In 2014, Trimpe illustrated the cover for Hero’s limited edition hardcover version of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. A 40th anniversary tribute to Wolverine’s first appearance, the image featured the Hulk, Wolverine and Wendigo. He passed away a year later in April 2015.
