Jim Ottaviani considers himself a graphic novelist that specializes in using the comic book medium to tell stories about historic scientific figures. He is also currently a librarian at the University of Michigan.

     At the Snap 2006 Comic Arts Festival, Ottaviani revealed the origin story which led him to become a graphic novelist, saying that, after years of acquiring knowledge about scientists and their lives, he believed that the stories would work great visually. Ottaviani believes that prose would only engage the reader on the verbal level and pictures would only engage the reader visually, but a skillful synthesis of the two, provides more of an opportunity to engage the reader fully. Ottaviani says it's important to never waste the pictures, as in, the words should compliment the story and not tell too much so that the pictures are ignored. Ottaviani cleverly crafts what the story is going to communicate to the reader. Ottaviani told The Daily Texan, "I think a lot of people are totally wrong about comics. There is defenitely a lot that comes into play... I mean I might sit there are write an 800-page script for a 200-page graphic novel.

 Career

Ottaviani has a background in science, having earned a Master's in Nuclear Engineering in 1987 and worked at a nuclear power plant for several years before his interests in historical scientific figures prompted him to return to school and pursue a Master's of Information and Library Science. He began his career as a comic book writer after being influenced by Richard Rhodes' book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, which won the Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction in 1988. After reading the book, upon a discussion with artist Steve Lieber, the two decided to write a comic about the famous mysterious meeting between Bohr and Heisenberg.

Works

Ottaviani is considered a pioneer of scientific comics, in that the protagonist character is often a historic scientist. The graphic novelist publishes under G.T. Labs (where Spider-Man was bit by a spider and transformed). Ottaviani's graphic novels have told stories about Galilleo, Isaac Newton, Niehs Bohr and Feynman. Writing within a very specific niche genre, the purpose and inspiration to write about these historic figures is a question. In 2011, at a visit by Ottaviani to The University of Texas at Austin, Ottaviani said his admiration for Feynman inspired him to create his latest graphic novel. He expressed to The Daily Texan, "I think, though, that part of what made Feynman great was his curiousity... The desire to learn and experience more made him great."

Bibliography

Feynman by Leland Myrick and Jim Ottaviani(2011)

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon by Jim Ottaviani(2009)

Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow And The Science Of Loveby Jim Ottaviani(2007)

Levitation: Physics And Psychology In The Service Of Deception by Jim Ottaviani (2007)

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizardsby Jim Ottaviani(2005)

Quantum Entanglement,Spooky Action At a Distance,Teleportation and You(Including a Brief but Helpful Section on Why,Perhaps,You Should Not Try This At Home) by Jim Ottaviani(2003)

Dignifying Science: Stories About Women Scientists by Jim Ottaviani(2003)

Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the political science of the atomic bomb by Jim Ottaviani (2001)

Not Available Scienceby Jim Ottaviani(1998)

Two-Fisted Science Presents Vannikov the Reflectorby Jim Ottaviani(1997)

References

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaRo4w8eYVQ

2. http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2011/10/03/comic-author-jim-ottaviani-speaks-about-physicist-richard-feynman

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-cQeesCevM