| Brent Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Anderson in 2018 | |
| Born | Brent Eric Anderson[1] (1955-06-15)June 15, 1955 (age 70) San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Area | Penciller, Artist |
Notable works | X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Astro City |
| Awards | Inkpot Award, 1985 Harvey Award, 1996, 1997 Eisner Award, 1996–1998 |
| http://www.BrentAndersonArt.com | |
Brent Anderson (born June 15, 1955[2]) is an Americancomics artist known for his work onX-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book seriesAstro City.
In junior high school, Brent Anderson discovered the pantheon of characters inMarvel Comics. The first Marvel comic he read wasFantastic 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 doingfanzine illustrations, Anderson's first professional comics work appeared in the mid-1970s in independent/underground publications such asAll-Slug,Tesserae, andVenture.[5]
Anderson was one of several artists to draw the comics adaptation ofXanadu inMarvel Super Special #17 (Summer 1980).[6] In 1981,Ka-Zar The Savage, written byBruce Jones, became Anderson's first regular series.[7] TheX-Men: God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel followed,[8] as well as artwork on a number of Marvel Comics series, including the heroic space-operaStrikeforce: Morituri. During this period, Anderson was active doing artwork for independent publishersPacific Comics andEclipse Comics,[7] including the innovative cinematic comicSomerset Holmes.[9]
In 1995, Anderson co-created with writerKurt Busiek and cover artistAlex Ross, the award-winningAstro City. Other work includedJ. Michael Straczynski'sRising Stars: Untouchable spin-off series written byFiona Avery covering the life story of special assassin Laurel Darkhaven.[7] Work continues on a 200-plus page graphic novel,Jar of Ashes, written byShirley Johnston. Anderson worked with writerMarv Wolfman on a one-shot featuringGreen Lantern andPlastic Man entitledGreen Lantern/Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception, released in December 2010.[10] APhantom Stranger ongoing series written byDan DiDio and drawn by Anderson began in September 2012.[11] In June 2013, Busiek and Anderson relaunched theirAstro City series as part of DC'sVertigo line.[12][13] The ongoingAstro 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 toOperation USA's benefit anthology book,Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded byIDW Publishing Special Projects EditorScott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[15][16] Anderson andKurt Busiek teamed up to contribute a newAstro City story to the anthology, which will harbor themes relevant to the events in Ukraine.[17]
Anderson's work fits into the category of "realism" defined byNeal 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]
The interior [art] was a group effort with over a dozen people credited with different aspects of the artwork (including layouts byRich Buckler andJimmy Janes, and finished pencils byMichael Nasser [Netzer], Brent Anderson, Joe Brozowski,Al Milgrom, andBill Sienkiewicz).
Written by [Dan] DiDio with art by Brent Anderson,The Phantom Stranger will spin out of the character's recent appearances inJustice League and DC's Free Comic Book Day story.
| Preceded by n/a | Ka-Zar the Savage artist 1981–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Strikeforce: Morituri artist 1986–1988 | Succeeded by Huw Thomas |
| Preceded by n/a | Phantom Stranger vol. 4 artist 2012–2013 | Succeeded by |
