| Kelley Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones in March 2018 | |
| Born | July 23, 1962 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Penciller, Inker |
Notable works | Batman Batman & Dracula: Red Rain The Sandman |
| Awards | Inkpot Award 2014 |
Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962) [1] is an American comics artist best known for his work on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on The Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman.
Kelley Jones was born in Sacramento, California and grew up in Citrus Heights. He began reading comic books when "My brother came home one day, with a stack of comics (from school)...He had in there Marvel Collectors' Item Classics and Marvel's Greatest Comics, something along those lines, and they were reprints of the '61, '62, '63 period. They knocked me OUT!" [2] In 1979, Jones met artist Marshall Rogers at a San Francisco comics convention. After reviewing Jones' artwork, Rogers praised it and told him "You will make a great Batman artist someday. If you keep doing this, I can see you doing a great Batman!" [3] [4]
Kelley Jones entered the comics industry as an inker for Marvel Comics with his first published work appearing in Micronauts #52 (May 1983). [5] He penciled issue #59 (Aug. 1984) and when the series was relaunched as Micronauts: The New Voyages in October 1984, he continued penciling the series through most of its 20-issue run. [6] At DC Comics, Jones redesigned Deadman, making the character look thin and skeletal. Deadman's face, formerly drawn to resemble a normal human's head with pale white skin, now looked like a skull. [7] In 1990 and 1991, he drew several issues of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series [8] with contributions to the "Dream Country" and "Season of Mists" story arcs. [9] [10] Jones and inker John Beatty collaborated with writer Doug Moench on a series of Batman tales including Batman: Dark Joker – The Wild and the vampire Batman trilogy beginning with Batman & Dracula: Red Rain . [11] Jones drew the covers for many of the chapters of the "Batman: Knightfall" crossover storyline. [12] He became the penciler of Batman with issue #515 (Feb. 1995) [13] and worked on such story arcs as "Contagion". [14] Moench and Jones co-created the Ogre in Batman #535 (Oct. 1996). [15]
He illustrated The Crusades for Vertigo (2000–2001) and the four-issue mini-series Conan: The Book of Thoth for Dark Horse Comics [16] with writers Kurt Busiek and Len Wein in 2006. Since 1997, Jones has also produced a number of works as a writer-artist for Dark Horse, including several miniseries and one-shots starring his creation The Hammer (1997–1999): the one-shot ZombieWorld: Eat Your Heart Out (1998) and the four-issue miniseries The 13th Son (2005–2006). In 2008, Jones returned to Batman, this time in a twelve-issue series titled Batman: Gotham After Midnight, written by Steve Niles. In 2009, he illustrated the Batman: The Unseen five-issue series, re-teaming with Moench. [5] In 2014, he provided artwork for "The Pale Man", part of "Batman: Endgame" focusing on a group of serial killers and an Arkham nurse who are forced into telling "a story" by the Joker. Jones drew part of the fourth and final issue of the Frankenstein Alive, Alive! limited series for IDW Publishing. The series' original artist, Bernie Wrightson, was unable to complete it due to ill health before his death. [17]
In 2015, Len Wein asked Jones to collaborate on Convergence: Swamp Thing and its success led to the two of them working together on a Swamp Thing miniseries, The Dead Don't Die. That series was also a success and an additional series was commissioned. The project was halted due to Wein's death.
Jones later illustrated Lobo vs. Roadrunner, followed by 2018's Justice League America Annual. He returned to working on Batman in 2018, illustrating Batman: Kings of Fear, a six-part miniseries. [18]
In 2019, Kelley Jones unveils having worked on illustrations for the new Creepshow series as well as his 12-page comic book adaptation of "The Raft", [19] that Marvel asked him to work on for accompanying the release of the Creepshow 2 movie, in 1987. [20] [21]
Kelley Jones was nominated for both a Harvey Award and an Eisner Award for his work on Deadman: Love after Death and again in 1990 for Batman: Red Rain. The latter work won him a Diamond Gem Award for best artist in 1990.
Jones won an Eisner in 1991 for best run for The Sandman arc "Season of Mist".
Jones won the best artist at both the Rondo Awards and from MTV in 2008 for his work on Batman: Gotham after Midnight. [22]
Jones was presented with an Inkpot Award in 2014. [23]
The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or monster incarnations in various different storylines. The character first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century. The character then returned in a solo series, set in the contemporary world and in the general DC continuity. The character is a swamp monster that resembles an anthropomorphic mound of vegetable matter, and fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats, his archnemesis being the sorcerer Anton Arcane.
Bernard Albert Wrightson was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel Frankenstein illustration work, and for his other horror comics and illustrations, which feature his trademark intricate pen and brushwork.
Vertigo Comics was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables.
Leonard Norman Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men. Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
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Douglas Moench is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Mask, Harvey Bullock, Electric Warrior, and Six from Sirius. He is also known for his critically acclaimed eight-year run on Master of Kung Fu.
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Michael Zulli was an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator. Best known for his work on the Sandman.
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Stan Woch is an American comics artist who has worked on comic strips and comic books.
Bruce Eliot Jones whose pen names include Philip Roland and Bruce Elliot, is an American comic book writer, novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter whose work included writing Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk from 2001 to 2005.
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José Luis García-López is a Spanish-Argentine comics artist who works in the United States, particularly in a long-running relationship with DC Comics. In addition to his storytelling art, he has been responsible for producing the official reference art for characters in the DC Comics Style Guide, as used in licensed merchandise.
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The character the Swamp Thing has appeared in seven American comic book series to date, including several specials, and has crossed over into other DC Comics titles. The series found immense popularity upon its 1970s debut and during the mid-late 1980s under Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben. These eras were met with high critical praise and numerous awards. However, over the years, the Swamp Thing comics have suffered from low sales, which have resulted in numerous series cancellations and revivals.
Where all previous artists had shown the character looking exactly the same as he had in life as Boston Brand, Jones' depiction took a distinct turn at Albuquerque as his Deadman looked like a human skeleton wrapped in the familiar costume.
The Sandman saw a variety of artists grace its pages. Sam Kieth drew the first few issues, followed by Mike Dringenberg, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, and Shawn McManus, among others.
Writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones introduced a pair of new villains into Batman's world with the Ogre and the Ape.
Jones turned to completing the fourth issue of IDW Publishing's Frankenstein, Alive, Alive! The miniseries by Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson — calling back to Bernie Wrightson's 1983 Frankenstein adaptation — was unfinished at the time of Wrightson's death last year, but before he passed, he asked his friend Jones to finish it.
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