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| John Beatty | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Beatty atGalaxyCon Richmond in 2024 | |
| Born | (1961-05-06)May 6, 1961 (age 64) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area | Inker |
| Children | Jacob Beatty |
| http://johnbeattyart.com | |
John R. Beatty (born May 6, 1961, inWhitesburg, Kentucky) is an American illustrator who has worked forMarvel Comics andDC Comics, primarily as aninker.
Beatty was born inLetcher County, Kentucky; he lived there for less than a year when his family moved toHolly Hill, Florida, a small city located betweenDaytona Beach andOrmond Beach.
As a child, I discovered and fell in love with the comic stripsDennis the Menace andPeanuts. It wasn't until later that Beatty discoveredsuperhero comic books when a friend who lived up the street sold him a box of comics for $20.00.[citation needed] Beatty's goal was to become a comic book artist.
By the time he was 15 years old, Beatty had made his first "professional sell," as Camelot Publishing hired him to do cartoons for computer instruction manuals. This gig turned into after-school employment during Beatty's high school years. He graduated from Mainland Senior High School in 1979.
Not long after he discovered the world offanzines, Beatty wrote and drew a short comic story starring the hero "Crime Smasher," which was printed in Tim Corrigan'sSuper Hero Comics.Jerry Ordway had a story published in the same issue, and Ordway was also starting up his self-published comic book, titledOK Comics! Soon Beatty and Ordway began communicating through the mail. Beatty also connected with artistMike Zeck, through the "pro-zine"Rocket's Blast Comicollector. Zeck encouraged Beatty, and even sent xeroxed pencils of his work to Beatty, so he could ink samples for practice and critiques.
Beatty had, for a couple of years, been going toOrlandoCon, an annual comic book convention held inOrlando, Florida. Beatty and his long-time friend Craig Zablo (creator of Stallonezone, aSylvester Stallonefansite), would go to OrlandoCon and make a weekend of it. On this particular occasion,[when?] Beatty took some art samples to show professional attendees, comics artists such asPat Broderick andBob McLeod (who were living on the west coast of Florida in Tampa).[citation needed] This was also the con where Beatty metAC Comics publisher and artistBill Black. Beatty showed samples to Black and was offered ink work on the spot; he would get to ink Black's pencils at a rate of $7.00 per page.[citation needed]
Beatty's career began to take shape: Bob McLeod tagged him to start doing some assistant work, such as filling in blacks and erasing pages; he also occasionally drew backgrounds for McLeod's pages.[citation needed]
It was now 1980. Beatty went to the annualMiamiCon and showedMarvel Comics' editor-in-chiefJim Shooter new samples of his work. (Shooter had reviewed Beatty's work the previous year and said Beatty was not quite ready.) Shooter looked over Beatty's art and said: "If you can come up to New York, I'll give you a paid tryout to work on."[citation needed] In July 1980, Beatty made the journey, and with the help of Mike Zeck got some gigs from both Marvel and DC.[citation needed]
Beatty spent twenty years inking titles such asCaptain America,The Punisher,Secret Wars,The Nam,The Adventures of Superman,Batman,JLA, and many more.
Beatty has also worked for theDC ComicsLicensing Department, wherestyle guide art is created. This art is used for many things, including package design, clothing, and other licensed products that DC supplies its vendors.[citation needed]
Comics work includes:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
