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Brent Anderson (comics)

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Brent Anderson
A photo of Brent Anderson in 2018.
Anderson in 2018
BornBrent Eric Anderson[1]
(1955-06-15) June 15, 1955 (age 69)
San Jose, California, U.S.
Area(s)Penciller, Artist
Notable works
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
Astro City
AwardsInkpot Award, 1985
Harvey Award, 1996, 1997
Eisner Award, 1996–1998
http://www.BrentAndersonArt.com

Brent Anderson (born June 15, 1955[2]) is an American comics artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.

Early life

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In junior high school, Brent Anderson discovered the pantheon of characters in Marvel Comics. The first Marvel comic he read was Fantastic Four #69, "By Ben Betrayed" (Dec. 1967),[3] "They were a family who had super-powers and helped each other out. I wanted to be part of a family like that," he says.[4] Anderson began writing and drawing his own comics on school binder paper, creating a pantheon of his own that included "Radium the Robot" and "The Chameleon".[4] After doing fanzine illustrations, Anderson's first professional comics work appeared in the mid-1970s in independent/underground publications such as All-Slug, Tesserae, and Venture.[5]

Career

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Anderson was one of several artists to draw the comics adaptation of Xanadu in Marvel Super Special #17 (Summer 1980).[6] In 1981, Ka-Zar The Savage, written by Bruce Jones, became Anderson's first regular series.[7] The X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel followed,[8] as well as artwork on a number of Marvel Comics series, including the heroic space-opera Strikeforce: Morituri. During this period, Anderson was active doing artwork for independent publishers Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics,[7] including the innovative cinematic comic Somerset Holmes.[9]

In 1995, Anderson co-created with writer Kurt Busiek and cover artist Alex Ross, the award-winning Astro City. Other work included J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars: Untouchable spin-off series written by Fiona Avery covering the life story of special assassin Laurel Darkhaven.[7] Work continues on a 200-plus page graphic novel, Jar of Ashes, written by Shirley Johnston. Anderson worked with writer Marv Wolfman on a one-shot featuring Green Lantern and Plastic Man entitled Green Lantern/Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception, released in December 2010.[10] A Phantom Stranger ongoing series written by Dan DiDio and drawn by Anderson began in September 2012.[11] In June 2013, Busiek and Anderson relaunched their Astro City series as part of DC's Vertigo line.[12][13] The ongoing Astro City series concluded as of issue #52 in 2018.[14]

In April 2022, Anderson was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[15][16] Anderson and Kurt Busiek teamed up to contribute a new Astro City story to the anthology, which will harbor themes relevant to the events in Ukraine.[17]

Art style

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Anderson's work fits into the category of "realism" defined by Neal Adams, one of Anderson's many artistic influences.[3] Anderson's work is known for its focus on character. "My greatest joy in drawing comics comes when I've added nuance to a character with just the right expression and illustrated a scene that captures the perfect moment of mood. When the characters come to life I feel alive. That's why I've dedicated my professional life to creating comics."[4]

Awards

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  • Inkpot Award, 1985[5]
  • Eisner Award[5]
    • Best New Series, 1996
    • Best Single Issue, 1996, 1997, 1998
    • Best Continuing Series, 1997, 1998
    • Best Serial Story, 1998
  • Harvey Award[5]
    • Best New Series, 1996
    • Best Single Issue or Story, 1996
    • Best Graphic Album, previously released work, 1997
  • Don Thompson Award[5]
    • Best Achievement by Penciler, 1996
    • Favorite Single Creative Team (with Kurt Busiek), 1998

Bibliography

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DC Comics

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Vertigo

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  • Astro City vol. 3 #1–11, 13–16, 18–21, 23–24, 26, 29–30, 32–34, 37–38, 41, 43, 45–46, 49–52 (2013–2018)

Wildstorm

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  • Astro City vol. 2 #16–22 (1999–2000)
  • Astro City: A Visitor’s Guide #1 (2004)
  • Astro City: Local Heroes #1–5 (2003–2004)
  • Astro City: The Dark Age Book One #1–4 (2005)
  • Astro City: The Dark Age Book Two #1–4 (2007)
  • Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #1–4 (2009)
  • Astro City: The Dark Age Book Four #1–4 (2010)
  • Astro City: Supersonic
  • Astro City: Samaritan (2006)
  • Astro City: Beautie #1 (2008)
  • Astro City: Astra #1–2 (2009)
  • Astro City: Silver Agent #1–2 (2010)
  • Astro City/Arrowsmith #1 (2004)
  • Astro City Special #1 (2004)

Eclipse Comics

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Image Comics

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  • Kurt Busiek's Astro City #1–6 (1995–1996)
  • Kurt Busiek's Astro City vol. 2 #1/2, #1–15 (1996–1998)

Marvel Comics

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Now Comics

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Pacific Comics

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Slave Labor Graphics

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  • Spin World #1–4 (1997–1998)

References

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  1. ^ Per the cover of Marvel Graphic Novel #5: X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982)
  2. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Guerrero, Tony (July 1, 2008). "Comic Vine Interview with Brent Anderson". Comic Vine. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Anderson, Brent (n.d.). "Bio". Brentandersonart.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e Bails, Jerry (2006). "Anderson, Brent". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  6. ^ Friedt, Stephan (July 2016). "Marvel at the Movies - The House of Ideas' Hollywood Adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s". Back Issue! (89). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 64. The interior [art] was a group effort with over a dozen people credited with different aspects of the artwork (including layouts by Rich Buckler and Jimmy Janes, and finished pencils by Michael Nasser [Netzer], Brent Anderson, Joe Brozowski, Al Milgrom, and Bill Sienkiewicz).
  7. ^ a b c Brent Anderson at the Grand Comics Database
  8. ^ "Brent Anderson". Lambiek Comiclopedia. August 14, 2009. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  9. ^ Schweier, Philip (August 2016). "Somerset Holmes". Back Issue! (90). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 48–55.
  10. ^ Segura, Alex (September 16, 2010). "First Look: Green Lantern/Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception". DC Comics. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013.
  11. ^ Rogers, Vaneta (June 8, 2012). "DC Adds Four to New 52, Including DiDio's Phantom Stranger". Newsarama. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012. Written by [Dan] DiDio with art by Brent Anderson, The Phantom Stranger will spin out of the character's recent appearances in Justice League and DC's Free Comic Book Day story.
  12. ^ Ching, Albert (April 1, 2013). "Astro City Moves to Vertigo with New Series in June". Newsarama. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013.
  13. ^ Truitt, Brian (June 3, 2013). "Busiek takes fans on another trip through Astro City". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  14. ^ Arrant, Chris (January 22, 2018). "Astro City Ongoing Ends in April, With Plans for OGN Future". Newsarama. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  15. ^ Kaplan, Rebecca O. (April 18, 2022). "ZOOP launches benefit anthology COMICS FOR UKRAINE: SUNFLOWER SEEDS". The Beat. Archived from the original on April 18, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Brooke, David (April 18, 2022). "'Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds' to benefit Ukrainian refugees". AIPT. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  17. ^ Kit, Borys (April 20, 2022). "Comic Book Creators Team for Ukraine Relief Effort Anthology 'Sunflower Seed'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 20, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
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Preceded by
n/a
 Ka-Zar the Savage artist
1981–1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
n/a
 Strikeforce: Morituri artist
1986–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
n/a
 Phantom Stranger vol. 4 artist
2012–2013 		Succeeded by
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