Shawn Martinbrough

Last updated
Shawn Martinbrough
Shawn Martinbrough.jpg
Martinbrough in 2018
Bornc. 1972 (age 5152) [1]
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Area(s) Penciller, Artist, Inker
Notable works
Thief of Thieves
Angeltown
Detective Comics
Collaborators John Paul Leon
Robert Kirkman
Spouse(s)
Ayanna Ross
(m. 2017)
www.shawnmartinbrough.com

Shawn C. Martinbrough is an American comic book artist. The long-time artist for Robert Kirkman's Thief of Thieves , Martinbrough is known for his film noir-influenced drawing style. [2]

Contents

Biography

Growing up in the Bronx, [1] Martinbrough's early influences included Alex Toth, Frank Miller, and David Mazzucchelli. [2]

Martinbrough graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 1989. [3] He then attended the School of Visual Arts. [4] Martinbrough got his first professional work — a painted illustration for Marvel Comics — while still a student at SVA. [2]

Early in his career, Martinbrough worked for minority-led publishing imprint Milestone Media, primarily as an inker. In 1993, he inked over John Paul Leon on early issues of the Milestone property Static . He followed that by inking virtually the entire run of DC/Milestone's Shadow Cabinet , again over Leon's pencils. Martinbrough and Leon teamed up again for DC's 1997 reboot of Challengers of the Unknown , with Martinbrough inking issues 1-9 (and inking covers through issue #17).

Martinbrough was given his first ongoing penciling duties starting with the DC Comics series The Creeper , in 1997–1998.

In 2000–2001, Martinbrough and writer Greg Rucka were the creative team of Detective Comics (starting with issue #742 [March 2000]). [5] During their run, they created the Sasha Bordeaux character in issue #751 (Dec. 2000), [6] as well as the villains Kyle Abbot and Able Crown. Rucka and Martinbrough's run was collected in Batman: New Gotham, Volumes 1 and 2.

Following his stint on Detective Comics, in 2002 Martinbrough signed on with Marvel Comics to illustrate writer Geoff Johns' four-issues limited series Morlocks .

In 2005, Martinbrough and writer Gary Phillips produced Angeltown , a five-issue limited series published by Vertigo Comics. The story is told in the blaxploitation idiom, with nods to the detective stories of Chester Himes and Walter Mosley. [7] In 2011, the series was reprinted by Moonstone Books as Angeltown: The Nate Hollis Investigations.

In 2007, Watson-Guptill Publications and The Nielsen Company published Martinbrough's How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling.

In 2009, Martinbrough teamed with writers Mike Benson and Adam Glass on the four-issue limited series Luke Cage Noir .

Since 2012, Martinbrough has been the artist of the monthly series Thief of Thieves , co-written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment. Kirkman chose Martinbrough because of his "cinematic flair" and ability to "portray characters realistically." [8]

In 2018, New York's Society of Illustrators held the exhibition "Shawn Martinbrough: Storyteller". [9]

In 2024, Martinbrough provided the art for Neil Gaiman and Marc Bernardin's multi-volume comic adaptation of Gaiman's novel, Anansi Boys . Published by Dark Horse Comics, the first volume of Anansi Boys will run for eight issues. [10]

Personal life

Martinbrough and his wife Ayanna Ross were married in April 2017. [1] They live in Alexandria, Virginia. [2]

Awards

2010 Glyph Comics Awards Fan Award for Best Comic for Luke Cage Noir [11]

Bibliography

Comics

As artist unless otherwise noted.

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Wagner</span> American comics artist and writer (born 1961)

Matt Wagner is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.

<i>Detective Comics</i> Title used for two American comic book series

Detective Comics is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011, is best known for introducing the superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaus Janson</span> Artist

Klaus Janson is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and colorist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Kubert</span> American comic artist and writer (born 1962)

Andrew Kubert is an American comics artist, letterer, and writer. He is the son of Joe Kubert and brother of Adam Kubert, both of whom are also artists, and the uncle of comics editor Katie Kubert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Rucka</span> American writer

Gregory Rucka is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series Whiteout, Queen & Country, Stumptown and Lazarus, as well as lengthy runs on such titles as Detective Comics, Wonder Woman and Gotham Central for DC Comics, and Elektra, Wolverine and The Punisher for Marvel. He has written a substantial amount of supplemental material for a number of DC Comics' line-wide and inter-title crossovers, including "No Man's Land", "Infinite Crisis" and "New Krypton".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Quitely</span> Scottish artist

Vincent Patrick Deighan, better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The Authority and Jupiter's Legacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Buckingham (comic book artist)</span> British comic book artist

Mark Buckingham is a British comic book artist. He is best known for his work on Marvelman and Fables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Allred</span> American comic book artist and writer

Michael Dalton "Mike" Allred is an American comic book artist and writer. He is most well known for his independent comics creation Madman and for co-creating and drawing the comic book series iZombie. His work often draws upon pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Zulli</span> American artist

Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator.

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

Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a Scottish cartoonist, best known for his work in 2000 AD, The Losers, and more recently Batman and Wolverine. He is also known for Wytches by Image Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Diggle</span> British comic book writer

Andrew Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of the weekly anthology series 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on Adam Strange and Green Arrow for DC Comics as well as his creator-owned series The Losers and a run on Hellblazer for DC's Vertigo imprint, and for his stints on Thunderbolts and Daredevil at Marvel. Other credits include Gamekeeper for Virgin Comics, written by Diggle on the basis of a concept created by Guy Ritchie, a three-year run on Robert Kirkman's Thief of Thieves at Image, several short arcs written for IDW Publishing's Doctor Who series and two James Bond mini-series for Dynamite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Moore (artist)</span> American comic-book artist

Tony Moore is an American comic-book artist whose work consists mainly of genre pieces, most notably in horror and science fiction, with titles such as Fear Agent, The Exterminators, and the first six issues of The Walking Dead. He also co-created the Invincible Universe character Brit.

James H. Williams III, usually credited as J. H. Williams III, is an American comics artist and penciller. He is known for his work on titles such as Chase, Promethea, Desolation Jones,Batwoman, and The Sandman: Overture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denys Cowan</span> Producer, comics artist

Denys B. Cowan is an American comics artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelley Jones</span> American comics artist (born 1962)

Kelley Jones is an American comics artist best known for his work on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on The Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Leialoha</span> American comic artist

Steve Leialoha is an American comics artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comics and later DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Lieber</span> American illustrator

Steve Lieber is an American comic book illustrator known for his work on books such as Detective Comics and Hawkman, and the critically acclaimed miniseries Whiteout, which was adapted into a 2009 feature film starring Kate Beckinsale. His other works include the Eisner Award-winning sequel Whiteout: Melt, and the thrillers Shooters and Underground. With writer Nat Gertler, he co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leandro Fernández (artist)</span> Argentine comic book artist

Leandro Fernández is an Argentine comic book artist, known for his work on various Marvel, Image, and Vertigo comic book titles.

Brett Lewis is an American comic book writer and editor, best known for his post-superheroic series The Winter Men with artist John Paul Leon, as well as the Eisner-nominated short story "Mars to Stay" with art by Cliff Chiang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Bernardin</span> American journalist, public speaker, TV and comic book writer, and podcaster

Marc Bernardin is an American journalist, public speaker, TV and comic book writer, and podcaster. He has served as film editor for the Los Angeles Times and senior editor for The Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly. He has written for GQ, Wired, Details, Vulture, Playboy, andEmpire. He has been a staff writer for Castle Rock, Treadstone and Carnival Row, and is currently a supervising producer on Star Trek: Picard.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Strauss, Alix. "VOWS: Still in Love With Comic Books, and Now With Her, Too," New York Times (April 21, 2017).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Younger, Briana. "Washington, DC: Shawn Martinbrough," Visual Arts Journal: School of Visual Arts Magazine (Fall 2017), p. 34.
  3. Alumni Notes (Alumni & Friends of Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Spring 2018), p. 11.
  4. "SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS ALUMNI BLACK PANTHER PANEL," ShawnMartinbrough.com (Sept. 18, 2008).
  5. Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 246: "Greg Rucka was handed the reins of Detective Comics, alongside artist Shawn Martinbrough...To visually distinguish the title from other Batman books, Martinbrough employed a minimal color palette, using shades of only one or two colors per issue."
  6. Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 252: "Greg Rucka and artist Shawn Martinbrough debuted a major new character and love interest into the life of Batman: Sasha Bordeaux."
  7. Irvine, Alex (2008), "Angeltown", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 25, ISBN   978-0-7566-4122-1, OCLC   213309015
  8. Dietsch, TJ (2012-02-08). "Kirkman on 'Thief of Thieves,' '"Walking Dead' & Writer's Rooms". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
  9. "Shawn Martinbrough: Storyteller," Society of Illustrators official website. Accessed Nov. 8, 2018.
  10. "Neil Gaiman teams up with Marc Bernardin and Shawn Martinbrough to adapt "Anansi Boys" into comics". Dark Horse Comics. February 21, 2024.
  11. The 2010 Glyph Comics Awards Winners  » PopCultureShock [usurped]
  12. Ekstrom, Steve (May 22, 2009). "Benson & Glass on 'Luke Cage: Noir'". Newsarama . Retrieved 2009-05-22.

Sources consulted

Preceded by
N/A
Shadow Cabinet inker
1994-1995
Succeeded by
N/A
Preceded by
N/A
Challengers of the Unknown inker
1997
Succeeded by
Preceded by
N/A
The Creeper penciler
1997–1998
Succeeded by
N/A
Preceded by Detective Comics artist
2001-2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by
N/A
Thief of Thieves artist
2001-present
Succeeded by
ongoing