Nat Gertler is an award-winning writer with experience in books, magazines, web, TV, and comics.

In comics, he has been a writer and an entrepreneur. He has written and spoken extensively about the artform. In addition to his general comics knowledge, he is a specialist in the works of Charles M. Schulz, creator of "Peanuts".

He also works as the publisher of the About Comics line, an editor, and provides freelance comic book services. He is the creator and a star of the podcast sitcom Invisible Zeppelin.

He can be found online on Mastodon as socel.net/@natgertler, as nat.gertler on Facebook, and (rarely now) as @natgertler on Hive, Post, Twitter.)

International Standard Name Identifier: 0000 0000 7141 3946

Nat Gertler is...

• the founder and publisher of About Comics, an independent comics publishing and packaging firm, which has over the course of a quarter century produced a diverse mixture of reprints of works by some of the most respected comics creators and original works.
• the writer of over 100 comic book stories for many publishers.
• the founder of 24 Hour Comics Day, the annual worldwide celebration of comics creation. Each year, over a thousand cartoonists, professional and amateur, gather in locations around the globe and create over 10,000 pages of original art as each tries to create a 24 page comic (normally months of work) in 24 straight hours.
• co-author (with Steve Lieber) of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel, an acclaimed volume which went through more than ten printings across two editions.
• an Eisner Award-winning writer about comics (for Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects), an Eisner Award-nominated comics creator (category: Talent Deserving Wider Recognition) and an Eisner Award-nominated comics editor (for 24 Hour Comics Day Highlights 2005)
• a guest speaker on comics creation at University of California - Santa Barbara, California Lutheran University, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and various other schools.
• a former cartoonist-in-residence at the Charles M. Schulz Museum (Santa Rosa, CA), February 2008.

• Nat has written hundreds of stories for publishers big and small
• His stories have been published by DC, Image, IDW, Archie, and others
• His published work includes superhero, horror, science fiction, humor, funny animal, and straight drama
• The first of Nat's Eisner Award nominations was for writing (Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, 1999)

PUBLISHED COMICS

3-D Zone

• 3-D Heavy Metal Monsters 1, "The Endless Thrash", art by Chris Swanberg.

About Comics

• 96, art by Nat Gertler
• The Factor 1-4, art by Joe Staton, Matt Feazell, Carla Speed McNeil, Rusty Haller,and others.
• Licensable Bear^TM issues 1-4, art by Mark Lewis, Rusty Haller, Tone Rodriguez, and others.
• Many Happy Returns one-shot
  • "Licensable Bear^TM Goes to a Comic Shop", "Licensable Bear^TM Rolls Out", and "Licensable Bear^TM Satisfies a Customer", art by Rusty Haller.
  • "Licensable Bear^TM Defends Himself", art by Ryan Estrada.
• Raoul Berglin one-shot. Art by Jim MacQuarrie.
• Wild About Comics one-shot, art by Rusty Haller.

Archie Comics

• Flintstones
  • Issue 17, "Star-Crossed", art by Carzon.
  • Issue 18, "Strip Strike", art by White.
  • Published outside US: "Baby on Board"
  • Published outside US: "Fireman Fred"
  • Published outside US: "Raiders of the Last Rock"
• Yogi Bear 1, "Bear Truth", artist unknown. Archie Comics

Accent Comics

• Burrito 4, "Burrito-ito", art by Nat Gertler.

Boom! Studios

• Peanuts volume 2, Kaboom imprint
  • Issue 7, "Bank Notes", art by Stephanie Gladden and Justin Thompson.
  • Issue 8, "Missing Peace", art by Vicki Scott and Paige Braddock.
  • Issue 9, "Write & Wrong", co-written by Alexander E. Fajardo, art by Stephanie Gladden and Paige Braddock.
  • Issue 10, "Twinkle Thinkle", art by Jeff Shultz.
  • Issue 12, "Movie Time", art by Andy Hirsch.
  • Issue 15, "Joe Stockcar", art by Andy Hirsch; and "Press Here", art by Jeff Shultz.
  • Issue 16, "New Shoe Zoom", art by Robert Pope.
  • Issue 18, "Steep Grade Ahead", art by Robert Pope; and "In the Shadows", art by Stephanie Gladden and Justin Thompson.

Caliber Press

• Negative Burn
  • Issue 29, art by Adam Rex and Paul Whitehead.
  • issue 30, art by Janine Johnston.
  • issue 31, art by Alex Grecian.

DC Comics

• Blood Syndicate 18, "Silent Vigil", art by Humberto Ramos. Milestone

Entity Comics

• Young Zen Giant Sized 1, "City of Death", art by Nigel Tully & Kevin Mackenzie.
• Zen Intergalactic Ninja Video Warrior one-shot, art by Raff Ienco.

First Comics

• GrimJack 57, "Munden's Bar: The Visit", art by George Booker.

Fol

• Fol 8, "Degeneration", art by Steve Lieber, translated by Faruk Ulay (Turkish)

Hamilton Comics

• Dread of Night
  • Issue 1, "Upgrade", art by Howard Bender
  • Issue 2, "Monsters 101", art by Batton Lash
• Eek! The Cat 3, "Invasion of the Martian Space Bunnies from Venus", art by Rusty Haller.
• Grave Tales
  • Issue 1, "Wanna-be", art by Batton Lash .
  • Issue 2, "Deadly Developments", art by Sparky Moore.
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers volume 2
  • Issue 1, "Unstoppable Force", art by Sparky Moore
  • Issue 3, "Gray Skies", art by Sparky Moore

Heroic Publishing

• Liberty Comics issue 2, "Licensable Bear^TM Corrects the Press", art by Rusty Haller

Image Comics

• Big Bang 8, "Mister U.S.: Fifty Forgotten Years", art by Mark Lewis.
• Ultiman Giant-Sized Annual 1, "The Cavity Crusade", art by Mark Lewis.

Kitchen Sink Press

• Images of Omaha 1, "Believe It Or Don't...", art by Mike Bannon.

Now Comics

• Speed Racer 21-22, "The Last Lap", art by Mike Ebert.
• Speed Racer Classics volume 1 (English script, chapters 2-4).

Parody Press

• Death & Taxes one-shot, art by Tatsuya Ishida.
• Headbanger one-shot, art by Thad Rhodes & Mike Bannon.
• Mightily Murdered Power Ringers one-shot, written under pseudonym "Nigel Ng", art by Tatsuya Ishida.
• Monkey Business
  • Issue 1, "I'm Alone", art by Joe Paradise.
  • Issue 2, "Wonderful Life II: Attack of the Robonator", art by John Stinsman.
  • Issue 2, "A Shirty Story", art by Bill Maus.
  • Issue 3, "Dramaticula", art by Ed Quimby.
• Quantum Creep one-shot, art by Ted Slampyak.
• Silly Surfer one-shot, art by John Hathwaway.

Slave Labor Comics

• Everwind 4, "The Creme-Filled Conspiracy", art by Steve Peters.

TSR

• Intruder
  • Issues 7-8, "Mamma's Boy", art by Joe Staton.
  • Issue 9, "Crumbs", art by Darick Robertson.
• R.I.P.
  • Issue 3, "Power User", art by Simon Coleby.
  • Issue 5, "11 Stories", art by Jeff Newman.
  • Issues 7-8, "Junkyard Dogs", art by Kent Burles.

Vortex

• The Daytona 500 Story one-shot, co-written by J.J. Gertler, art by Herb Trimpe.
• Legends of NASCAR
  • Issue 10, "Talladega", co-written by J.J. Gertler, art by Dan Spiegle .
  • Issue 12, "Richard Petty Salutes His Fans", art by Mike Esposito.
• NASCAR Adventures 3, "Darlington"-co-written by JJ Gertler, art by Michael Barsky.
• NASCAR Christmas Special, "Blitzen's on the Frizz", art by Paul Abrams.

Warp Graphics

• ElfQuest: New Blood
  • Issue 1, "A Troll's Tale", art by Ken Mitchroney.
  • Issue 6, "The Voluntary Chain", art by Paul Bonanno.
• ElfQuest: New Blood Summer Special, "How not to write ElfQuest", art by Brian Buniak.

Also, scripts for Comic Zone, for international distribution by Hanna-Barbera (Flintstones, Jetsons), unreleased works for DC Comics, Malibu Graphics, Parody Press, and Platinum Press. Some works listed above have been reprinted by different publishers, including About Comics, DC Comics, and IDW.

• Host of the AAUGH Blog Podcast, a weekly podcast focusing on Peanuts books, 60 episodes, 2017-2019.
• Author of The Peanuts Collection: Treasures from the World's Most Beloved Comic Strip, published by Little, Brown in October 2010. $35 interactive slipcased hardcover, print run of 70,000, coverage on The Today Show, and a Christian Science Monitor "top pick".
• Author of Classic Peanuts: Great Moments, published by Sterling Publishing in September 2014.
• Author of The Snoopy Treasures: an Illustrated Celebration of the World Famous Beagle, Thunder Bay Press, November 2015. Winner of the 2016 Ben Franklin Gold Award in the category of Coffee Table Books from the Independent Book Publishers Association.
• Author of Be More Snoopy, DK Publishing, September 2020 and Be More Charlie Brown, DK Publishing, June 2022.
• Co-author of Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects (with Benjamin L. Clark; The Schulz Museum, November, 2022), winner of the 2024 Eisner Award in the category Best Comics-Related Book.
• Publisher of six books of Charles M. Schulz's non-Peanuts cartoons (It's Only a Game, Schulz's Youth, Bridge Mix, Spares, The Zipper On My Bible is Stuck, and God's Children) and the Schulz-illustrated Dear President Johnson.
• Lead curator of The Complete Peanuts volume 26, a collection of Peanuts material that Schulz created outside the newspaper strip, fall 2016. (Fantagraphics Books)
• Conceived and prepared the book Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking (Fantagraphics Books)
• Contributor of articles on Peanuts to American Heritage, Comics Buyer's Guide, and Hogan's Alley.
• Writer on Peanuts comic book published by Boom! Studios, various stories in issues 7-10, 12, 15-16, and 18.
• Dialogue writer for unreleased Peanuts video game from Infogrames.
• Writer of The AAUGH Blog, a news and opinion source for Peanuts book collectors since January, 2000, and compiler of the AAUGH.com Collector's Guide to Peanuts Books.
• Speaker at The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, Santa Rosa, California, during their opening month, and Cartoonist In Residence at the museum in February 2008.
• "Talking head" on the DVD extras for editions of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown; You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown; and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown.
• "Talking head" on the TV documentary Peanuts: The Global Phenomenon.
• Moderated the 50th Anniversary Peanuts panel in the big room of the San Diego Comic-Con.
• Credited for providing assistance or input on various volumes of The Complete Peanuts (Fantagraphics Books), Chip Kidd’s Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz (Pantheon), and The Peanuts Book (DK Publishing)
• Cited for Peanuts insight by Investor's Business Daily, Associated Press, KPCC's Airtime, and Snopes.com.

Nat is the author or co-author of about two dozen how-to and non-fiction books, including various volumes in the popular Complete Idiot’s Guide series.

He also created a brief Internet sensation in May, 2005 when he reverse-engineered Amazon.com’s powerful image processing system, and posted a guide to tricking Amazon into creating interesting product images through the use of ornate URLs.

Nat’s guide was featured on major blogs like BoingBoing, cited in programming texts, and even used within Amazon's offices.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Complete Idiot's Guide series (published variously by Que Books and Alpha Books)

• Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel (co-author)
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel: Second Edition (co-author)
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Millions on the Internet (co-author)
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Microsoft FrontPage (co-author)
• Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet (co-author)
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Paint Shop Pro
• Complete Idiot's Guide to PowerPoint 97
• Complete Idiot's Guide to PowerPoint 2000

The Easy series (published by Que Books)

• Easy Microsoft Network
• Easy PCs: Fifth edition (all new, retains no material from previous editions)
• Easy PCs: Sixth edition
• Easy Works for Windows 95

The Illustrated series (published by Que Books)

• Computers Illustrated
• Multimedia Illustrated

The Project series (published by Delmar/Thompson Learning; created series format and wrote all volumes in series)

• Project Dreamweaver MX
• Project Flash
• Project Flash MX
• Project Illustrator
• Project Photoshop
• Project Photoshop 7
• Project QuarkXPress 5

Other books

• Netscape Navigator 6-in-1 (co-author) - Que Books
• The Peanuts Collection: Treasures from the World's Most Beloved Comic Strip - Little, Brown, and Company
• Classic Peanuts: Great Moments - Sterling Innovation
• The Snoopy Treasures: an Illustrated Celebration of the World Famous Beagle - Thunder Bay Press
• Using PowerPoint 97: second edition - Que Books
• Ghosting: two books as uncredited co-author

Articles

• "Quarterly Planet"/"Irregular Planet" - column in every issue of Hogan's Alley for more than a decade.
• Articles for Techcitement, Refer-It.com, Comics Buyer's Guide, Wizard Magazine, Comic Relief Revue, Breaking In, Comics Career Newsletter, & others
• Introductions for The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History Illustrated, Everybody Gets It Wrong! And Other Stories, Malaysian 24 Hour Comics Day.

Television

• "Freedom of Screech", animated TV episode, Stunt Dawgs, DiC Entertainment

Original prose short stories

• "Lexica", The Crunge (1996 edition). Bill Vaughn
• "Restin' Piece", Fear the Fever: Hot Blood 7. Pocket Books
• "Mercenary Blues", Zen Intergalactic Ninja Novella issue 2. Entity
• "The Neighborhood", Offworld 1.
• "Rockin' On Home", Shock Rock II. Pocket Books
• "Flesh Legend", Tattoo Magazine issue 58. Paisano Publications

All of the above-listed prose stories are collected in the book Reality-Adjacent.

• "Categorical Thinking", The Binge-Watching Cure. Claren Books
• "Ho Ho Holmes", Baker Street Irregulars: The Game is Afoot. Diversion Publishing

Adaptive work

• Pitt trading card text. 36 cards ("Battlecards" subset). Adapted from comic book. Intrepid
• Translation editor of the works of Faruk Ulay:
  • 32 Busts: Lies Written For Thirty-two Photographs, limited edition hardcover short story collection.
  • "Counterpoint 1, 2", Private Arts
  • "By the Seaside", The Blue Moon Review

Praise for the works of Nat Gertler:

“...some selections are moving and profound, others are witty and/or intellectually stimulating...” — School Library Journal

“Happiness is a Christmas afternoon spent browsing these treasures.” — Chicago Sun-Times

“...the best book to give anybody at any occasion.” — Acclaim Magazine

“I love it.” — Washington City Paper

"...a gold mine..." — Christian Science Monitor

Interviews

• KCLU (Southern California NPR affiliate), October 25, 2021
• Ventura County Star, December 5, 2015
• Phoenix New Times, December 3, 2012
• The Jewish Journal, April 25, 2012
• The Gatekeeper's Post, July 2011
• WizardWorld TV, May 2011
• Oh Comely magazine, January/February 2011
• "AirTalk with Larry Mantle", Southern California Public Radio (KPCC and other stations), January 31, 2011
• Mr. Media Radio, December 17, 2010
• Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources, October 18, 2010
• "Dresser After Dark" (radio, syndicated), December 2, 2008
• Comicon.com's The Pulse, November 24, 2008
• ComicMix, November 8, 2008
• The Thousand Oaks Acorn, May 24, 2007
• Sequential Tart, 2005
• Comic Book Resources, May 11, 2004
• Sequential Tart, May 1999
• Camden County (NJ) Courier-Post

In print

In print, but about outdated software

Out of print, but available used

Born at an early age, Nat turned quickly to reading (the earliest book he can recall is a Peanuts comic strip collection, which certainly portends and may be the root cause of much that is to come) and writing (his first story? “Fat Nat sat on a cat, and Lassie saw a rat. Boo!”) His earlier years were spent in Cinnaminson, NJ; Simsbury, CT; and Riverton, NJ, where he stayed long enough to consider it his hometown. There with the help of supportive parents and teachers, he sped through school, skipping 4th grade, and was soon shuttling between the grade school and the high school for math and science classes. On his bar mitzvah, his first home computer arrived, a Commodore PET for which he and his family had paid extra to get the full 8 kilobytes or RAM. At age 14, he went off to attend Simon’s Rock of Bard College, where he obtained his BA four years later.

While comic strips and humorous kiddie comics like Little Archie and Richie Rich had made up a portion of his regular reading in his early years, it was in college that he got exposed to - and fell in love with - the full array of what American comics had to offer, at a time when the field was going through a marked creative growth. A chance encounter with Marvel Two-in-One artist Ron Wilson on a bus made him realize that comics really could be a career.

Following college, Nat went to work for New Jersey’s Avant-Garde Computing, writing in his spare time. He broke into comics with scripts for GrimJack and Speed Racer. Leaving Avant-Garde after several years and far too many lines of Z-80 assembly language code, Nat came across Que Publishing, a computer book publisher who was looking for comic book writers to create visually-oriented computer books. Computers Illustrated would be his first of many reader-friendly computer books.

Moving to the greater Los Angeles area, Nat continued to work in both comics and computer books. Around this time, he also became a commercial sperm donor, primarily for female couples. His efforts helped in generating around twenty offspring.

While being frequently published by a variety of publishers, Nat desired to spend more of his effort on original creations rather than spending time pitching concepts for the Power Rangers and Yogi Bear. To this end, he founded the publishing line About Comics; the first issue About published, The Factor issue 0, would bring Nat his first Eisner Award nomination. About would eventually publish not only Nat’s work, but both new and reprint work by over a hundred talented creators, and expand well beyond comics.

Meanwhile, Nat’s lifelong affection for the Peanuts comic strip had fed a collecting urge for the books, which in turn lead to Nat creating collector’s guides to Peanuts books and distributing them online. This all came to Nat launching AAUGH.com, an information and catalogue site for Peanuts book fans. The site’s blog did much to launch what Nat calls his "Professional Peanuts Nerd" career, writing and conceiving books about Peanuts for other publishers and writing new Peanuts stories for the comic books, among other efforts. His book The Snoopy Treasures (Thunder Bay Press, 2015) won the Independent Book Publishers Association Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Best Coffee Table Book, and Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects (The Schulz Museum, 2022), which he co-wrote with Schulz Museum curator Benjamin L. Clark, won the Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book in 2023.

Nat lives in Camarillo, California with his wife Dr. Lara Gertler and their two kids.

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