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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.

Quick Facts Born, Area(s) ...
Brent Anderson
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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
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Early life

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

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

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

  • 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

DC Comics

Vertigo

  • 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

  • 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

Image Comics

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

Marvel Comics

Now Comics

Pacific Comics

Slave Labor Graphics

  • Spin World #1–4 (1997–1998)

References

External links

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