Rob Guillory | |
---|---|
Born | Lafayette, Louisiana | June 2, 1982
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Artist |
Notable works | Chew , Farmhand |
Awards | Eisner Award, [1] Harvey Award [2] [3] |
http://www.robguillory.com |
Robert Guillory (born June 2, 1982) is an American comic book artist known for his art on Chew , published by Image Comics. He currently writes and draws Farmhand published by Image Comics and writes Mosely published by Boom! Studios.
Guillory was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. [4] [5] He made his first comics on construction paper at the age of four. [6]
He attended University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he studied computer animation and drew for the college newspaper. [6]
Rob Guillory first came to prominence as the illustrator of Chew , written by John Layman. Guillory handled pencils, inks, and colors, garnering him the 2010 Harvey Award for best new talent; [2] Guillory would illustrate the story arcs Taster's Choice , International Flavor , Just Desserts , Flambé , Major League Chew , Space Cakes , Bad Apples , Family Recipes , Chicken Tenders , Blood Puddin' , The Last Suppers , Sour Grapes , and Outer Darkness/Chew over the course of the series.
Chew also won the 2010 Harvey Award for best new series, [3] Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2010, [7] the Eisner Award for Best Ongoing Series in 2011, [8] and was nominated for, but did not win, two 2010 Eagle Awards (Favourite New Comicbook and Favourite American Colour Comicbook). [9]
Instead of pursuing more work-for-hire jobs after Chew ended in 2016, Guillory opted to launch a new creator-owned science fiction series Farmhand at Image Comics." [10] The series, written, penciled and inked by Guillory with colors by Taylor Wells, tells the story of a "body farmer" who grows human organs.
Guillory began working on Farmhand in December 2016, about a month after the conclusion of Chew. [5] At the time, Guillory was best known for his artwork on Chew, but prior to starting that series he had written his own material. [11] He asked many writer/artist professionals what their routines were like so he could refine his own process. [12] Guillory says he writes detailed full scripts "as if I was writing for a different artist." [10] While he fine-tuned the project, only a few close friends knew about it. [12] When he first mentioned the concept to Layman, Layman cautioned against doing it so soon to avoid being typecast as "the guy who does really weird stories". [11] He did not let anyone at Image Comics know about it until mid 2017. [12]
Farmhand debuted to mostly positive reviews. The first issue averaged 8.6 out of 10 according to review aggregator Comic Book Roundup, and the series overall averaged 8.5 after five issues. [13] Guillory said the initial response he received from readers was surprise; they had expected the story to be pure humor and were shocked to discover the characters had real depth. [14]
In April 2022, Guillory 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] Guillory and John Layman teamed up to contribute a new Chew story to the anthology. [17]
Guillory launched an additional creator-owned title, Mosley from Boom! Studios in January 2023. [18] The science fiction/fantasy series is illustrated by Sam Lotfi and was Guillory's debut as a writer but not artist on a title. [19]
Guillory lives in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he was born and raised. [4] [5] He is married and has three children. [5] [10]