J. Scott Campbell

Last updated
J. Scott Campbell
J. Scott Campbell by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Campbell at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con
BornJeffery Scott Campbell
(1973-04-12) April 12, 1973 (age 51)
East Tawas, Michigan, U.S.
Area(s)Writer, Penciller
Pseudonym(s)J. Scott Campbell
Jeff Scott
Notable works
 Gen13
Danger Girl

Jeffery Scott Campbell (born April 12, 1973) is an American comic book artist. He was initially known professionally as Jeffery Scott, but is best known as J. Scott Campbell. He rose to fame as an artist for Wildstorm Comics, though he has since done work for Marvel Comics (most notably as a cover artist on The Amazing Spider-Man ), and the video game industry.

Contents

Early life

Jeffery Scott Campbell was born in East Tawas, Michigan, though he has no memories of that city, as his family moved when he was very young to Denver, Colorado, which he regards as his home. [1] [2] He has a younger sister, who is a digital architect who fills out the orders for Campbell's e-commerce website, and a younger brother who is a musician. [1]

As a child, Campbell was interested in cartoons, rather than comics. He first became interested in comics when, as a teenager, he visited a friend's house, where his friend showed him Uncanny X-Men Annual #10, which featured artwork by Arthur Adams, [3] whose style would greatly influence Campbell's own. [4] [5] Campbell, explains, "I immediately went nuts over the book. That book had such detail. The art was fantastic. It just started me going. It just turned me around. All of a sudden I wanted to do this, and I felt I could." Campbell began collecting, purchasing books based on the art, not the title, which he says made his collecting habits somewhat difficult at times. [3]

In 1989, Campbell, then age fifteen, entered for and won an "Invent the Ultimate Video Game" contest featured in the issue 6 of Nintendo's official magazine, Nintendo Power , whereby submitted contest entries were to consist of drawings and concepts for a video game. Color drawings from "Lockarm," the videogame idea he pitched, were published in the magazine as the winning entry. [6]

Career

Wildstorm / DC Comics

Campbell (left) was greatly influenced by Arthur Adams (right), seen here during an appearance at Campbell's booth at the 2017 New York Comic Con. 10.8.17JScottCampbellArthurAdamsByLuigiNovi6.jpg
Campbell (left) was greatly influenced by Arthur Adams (right), seen here during an appearance at Campbell's booth at the 2017 New York Comic Con.

After graduating from high school in Aurora, Colorado, Campbell began doing freelance commercial art jobs. As Campbell prepared to show his samples at the 1993 San Diego Comic Con, the series WildC.A.T.S premiered by Jim Lee's publishing studio, Wildstorm Productions (then called Homage Studios). One issue advertised a talent search for which readers could submit artwork, so Campbell put together a package that included a four-page WildC.A.T.S story and sent it in. A week and a half later, Jim Lee telephoned Campbell and asked him if he would move to San Diego to work for him. Initially working under the professional name Jeffery Scott, Campbell's first comics work was two pinups for the Homage Studios Swimsuit Special in 1993. His subsequent work for Wildstorm includes spot illustrations in WildC.A.T.S Sourcebook . [3] [7] and Stormwatch #0. [3]

Campbell went on to co-create the teen superhero team Gen13 , which debuted in Deathmate Black (September 1993), before going on to star in their own five-issue miniseries in January 1994. The series was initially co-written by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee, but Campbell became a co-writer with issue #3. The team was eventually given their own regular ongoing series, which debuted in March 1995. [3] Campbell was co-writer on the series until issue #18, and was the regular artist, leaving the book after issue #20 (June 1997).

In 1998, Campbell, together with fellow comics artists Joe Madureira and Humberto Ramos, founded the Cliffhanger imprint as part of Wildstorm Productions. He launched his comic series Danger Girl through this imprint. The story, which followed the adventures of a group of female secret agents, made the most of Campbell's talents drawing well-endowed women and dramatic action sequences.

The Danger Girl series has since generated a video game for the Sony PlayStation, as well as several comic spinoffs in the forms of limited series and one-shots that were drawn by different artists in the American comics industry. Most of these spin-offs featured story outlines from Campbell himself.

In August 2005, Campbell published Wildsiderz , which he co-created with his Danger Girl writing partner Andy Hartnell.

In February 2006, the 200th issue of Nintendo Power included a poster featuring prominent Nintendo characters drawn by Campbell in his unique art style, along with an interview whereby Campbell recalled his memories of the "Invent the Ultimate Video Game" Contest.[ dead link ] [8]

That same year, Campbell provided a variant incentive cover for Justice League of America (vol. 2) #0, the first issue of Brad Meltzer's run on the title.

In 2007, Campbell illustrated the covers to the Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash six-issue limited series.

Marvel Comics

Campbell at the 2017 New York Comic Con 10.8.17JScottCampbellByLuigiNovi.jpg
Campbell at the 2017 New York Comic Con

At the WizardWorld 2006 Comic Convention held in Los Angeles, Marvel Comics announced that Campbell signed an exclusive contract with the company, and to work on a Spider-Man series with writer Jeph Loeb. [9] Between 2001 and 2013 Campbell did numerous covers for The Amazing Spider-Man , including issues 30 - 35 in 2001, 50 - 52 and 500 in 2003, and seven issues done sporadically from issues 601 in 2009 and 700 in 2013. His cover to issue #30 was used as the cover of the 2003 trade paperback that collected issues 30 and 31.

In October 2016, Marvel Comics and New York-based retailer Midtown Comics jointly decided to pull from circulation Campbell's variant cover of the first issue of The Invincible Iron Man , produced exclusively for that store, after previews of the cover were criticized for sexualizing the depicted character, 15-year-old Riri Williams. [10] [11] The cover depicted the character, a teenaged MIT engineering student who reverse engineered one of Iron Man's armored suits to wear herself, in a midriff-baring crop top, in contrast to the more modest way in which artist Stefano Caselli depicted the character in the book's interior art. Campbell called the decision "unfortunate," explained that his rendition of the character was intended to depict "a sassy, coming-of-age young woman". He regarded the reaction to the cover as a "faux controversy", saying, "I gave her a sassy 'attitude'...'sexualizing' was not intended. This reaction is odd." Brian Michael Bendis, the writer on the series, was pleased with the decision to pull the cover, saying that while he liked the face Campbell had drawn on Riri when he viewed the art as a work in progress, he disliked the completed art, saying, "Specialty covers are not in my purview and it was being produced separately from the work of the people involved in making the comic. Not to pass the buck but that’s the fact. If I had seen a sketch or something I would have voiced similar concerns. I am certain the next version will be amazing." [12]

Technique and materials

Campbell sketching 10.15.11J.ScottCampbellByLuigiNovi2.jpg
Campbell sketching

Campbell does his pencil with a lead holder, and Sanford Turquoise H lead, which he uses for its softness and darkness, and for its ability to provide a "sketchy" feel, with a minimal amount of powdery lead smearing. He uses this lead because it strikes a balance between too hard, and therefore not dark enough on the page, and too soft, and therefore prone to smearing and crumbling. Campbell avoids its closest competitor because he finds it too waxy. [13] Campbell has also used HB lead and F lead. [13] [14] He maintains sharpness of the lead with a Berol Turquoise sharpener, changing them every four to six months, which he finds is the duration of their grinding ability. [13] Campbell uses a combination of Magic Rub erasers, eraser sticks, and since he began to ink his work digitally, a Sakura electric eraser. He often sharpens the eraser to a cornered edge in order to render fine detailed work. [15]

Related Research Articles

Wildstorm Productions is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1998. Until it was shut down in 2010, the Wildstorm imprint remained editorially separate from DC Comics, with its main studio located in California. The imprint took its name from a portmanteau of the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch.

A penciller is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors and lettering in the book, under the supervision of an editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Frank (comics)</span> British comics artist

Gary Frank is a British comics artist, notable for pencilling on Midnight Nation and Supreme Power, both written by J. Michael Straczynski. He has also worked with author Peter David on The Incredible Hulk and Supergirl. He had a creator-owned series, Kin, which he wrote himself, published by Top Cow Productions in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Lee</span> Korean American artist

Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey Award, Inkpot Award and three Wizard Fan Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Phillips</span> British comic book artist, born 1965

Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist, best known for his collaborations with Ed Brubaker on comics including Sleeper, Incognito, the Criminal series of comics, Fatale, The Fade Out, and Kill or Be Killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Adams (comics)</span> American comic book artist

Arthur Adams is an American comic book artist and writer. He first broke into the American comic book industry with the 1985 Marvel Comics miniseries Longshot. His subsequent interior comics work includes a number of Marvel's major books, including The Uncanny X-Men, Excalibur, X-Factor, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Ultimate Comics: X, as well as books by various other publishers, such as Action Comics, Vampirella, The Rocketeer, and The Authority. Adams has also illustrated books featuring characters for which he has a personal love, such as Godzilla, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Gumby, the latter of which garnered him a 1988 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue.

<i>Battle Chasers</i> American fantasy comic book series

Battle Chasers is an American fantasy comic book series by Joe Madureira, launched in April 1998. It was characterized by scheduling problems, with an average of about six months between issues, including a delay of 16 months for issue #7. Madureira produced a total of nine issues in four years, a pace for which he was criticized, before leaving the comic industry to pursue a career as a video game designer. The cliffhanger ending of issue #9 was not resolved for over 20 years; issue #10 was originally scheduled for November 2001, put on indefinite hiatus with Madureira's exit from the industry, and returned only as abstract plans and concept drawings from 2017 to early 2023. Issue #10 was published in June 2023 and continued the plot after a two-page recap.

Cliffhanger was an imprint of Wildstorm, publishing creator-owned comic books. It was founded in 1998 by Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell and Humberto Ramos, when Wildstorm was still part of Image Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travis Charest</span> Canadian-American comics creator

Travis Charest is a Canadian comic book penciller, inker and painter, known for his work on such books as Darkstars, WildC.A.T.s, Grifter/Shi, WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Golden Age and The Metabarons. He is known for his detailed line work and muted color palette, and is a much sought-after cover artist, having done extensive cover work for many other books, such as various Star Wars series from Dark Horse Comics. His work has influenced artists such as Chrissie Zullo, Shelby Robertson, and David Marquez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humberto Ramos</span> Mexican comic book penciller (born 1970)

Humberto Ramos is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as Impulse, Runaways, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and his creator-owned series Crimson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Ha</span> American comics artist and writer

Gene Ha is an American comics artist and writer best known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Top 10: The Forty-Niners, with Alan Moore and Zander Cannon, for America's Best Comics, the Batman graphic novel Fortunate Son, with Gerard Jones, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, among others. He has also drawn Global Frequency and has drawn covers for Wizard and Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Nowlan</span> American comics artist (born 1958)

Kevin Nowlan is an American comics artist who works as a penciler, inker, colorist, and letterer. He has been called "one of the few artists who can be called 'artists's artist'", a master of the various disciplines of comic production, from "design to draftsmanship to dramatics".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cully Hamner</span> American comic book artist (born 1969)

Cully Hamner is an American comic book artist, known for his work on such books as Green Lantern: Mosaic, Blue Beetle, Black Lightning: Year One, and Detective Comics. He is the co-creator and illustrator of the 2003 graphic novel Red, which was adapted into a 2010 feature film of the same name starring Bruce Willis, as well as a 2013 sequel. He is also the co-creator of Jaime Reyes, the DC Comics character at the center of the 2023 feature film Blue Beetle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Sharp</span> British comic book artist

Liam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer, publisher, and co-founder/CCO of Madefire Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leinil Francis Yu</span> Filipino comic book artist (born 1977)

Leinil Francis Yu is a Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the American market through Wildstorm Productions.

Lee Garbett is a British comic book artist born in the West Midlands. He has worked on British comics. As of February 2011, he is working freelance after a period of exclusivity with DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Hughes</span> American comics artist and illustrator (born 1967)

Adam Hughes is an American comics artist and illustrator best known to American comic book readers for his renderings of pinup-style female characters, and his cover work on titles such as Wonder Woman and Catwoman. He is known as one of comics' foremost cheesecake artists, and one of the best known and most distinctive comic book cover artists. Throughout his career Hughes has provided illustration work for companies such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. Pictures, Playboy magazine, Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy Productions, and Sideshow Collectibles. He is also a fixture at comics conventions where his commissioned sketches command long lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Lee (comics)</span> Canadian comic book artist

Alvin Lee is a Canadian comic book artist known for his manga-styled art. Lee is the co-creator, along with writer Gail Simone of the character Agent X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown Comics</span> Comic book shops

Midtown Comics is a New York City comic book retailer with three shops in Manhattan and an e-commerce website. The largest comic book store in the United States, the company opened its first store in the Times Square area in 1997. Its second was opened on Lexington Avenue in 2004, and is known as the Grand Central store for its proximity to Grand Central Terminal. Its downtown store was opened on Fulton Street in the Financial District in November 2010, and its Astoria, Queens outlet store opened in March 2020. It also used to operate a boutique inside Manhattan's Times Square Toys R Us.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironheart (character)</span> Comic book superhero

Ironheart is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato, the character first appeared in Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3 #7.

References

  1. 1 2 Chiu, Bobby (January 18, 2011). "J. Scott Campbell Interview 02 of 06". YouTube. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  2. ↑ Campbell, J. Scott (June 23, 2024). "(Untitled)". Instagram. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wizard #41 (January 1995). pp 125 - 126.
  4. ↑ Cooke, Jon B. "The Art of Arthur Adams". Reprinted from Comic Book Artist #17, November 15, 2001
  5. ↑ Cronin, Brian (March 13, 2020). "Look Back: Gen 13 #1 Exploded the Variant Cover Game with 13 Total Covers!". CBR.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Jeffery Scott Campbell Unlocks His Imagination". Nintendo Power . Vol. 1, no. 6. 1989. p. 95.
  7. ↑ Mariotte, Jeff; Choi, Brandon; Lee, Jim (w), Scott, Jeffery (p); Garner, Alex (i). WildC.A.T.S Sourcebook . September 1993. Wildstorm Productions. pp. 11, 17, 19, 26 and 30.
  8. ↑ "Go Behind the Scenes with Comic Genius and Nintendo Super Fan J. Scott Campbell". Nintendo Power. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
  9. ↑ "J. Scott Campbell signs exclusive with Marvel". Newsarama . 2006-03-17. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  10. ↑ Couto, Anthony (October 20, 2016). "Marvel Pulls J. Scott Campbell's Riri Williams Iron Man Cover". CBR.com. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  11. ↑ Jusino, Teresa (October 19, 2016). "Dear Marvel: Stop Sexualizing Female Teenage Characters Like Riri Williams. Love, Everyone". The Mary Sue. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  12. ↑ Flood, Alison (October 21, 2016). "Marvel pulls Iron Man cover after accusations of 'sexualising' teenage girl". The Guardian . Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Campbell, J. Scott (March 4, 2008). "Pencils". DeviantArt. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  14. ↑ Campbell, J. Scott (September 15, 2015). "Untitled". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  15. ↑ Campbell, J. Scott (March 4, 2008). "Drawing Supplies Erasers". DeviantArt. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.