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| Chris Bachalo | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1965-08-23)August 23, 1965 (age 60) Portage la Prairie,Manitoba, Canada |
| Area | Artist |
| http://www.chrisbachalo.net | |
Chris Bachalo (/bəˈtʃæloʊ/;[1] born August 23, 1965) is a Canadiancomic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints onDC Comics'Shade, the Changing Man and Neil Gaiman's twoDeath series. Chris has also illustrated several ofMarvel Comics'X-Men-related series, includingGeneration X (which he co-created),X-Men,Uncanny X-Men, andUltimate X-Men. Beginning in April 2000 Chris illustrated hiscreator-owned seriesSteampunk.
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Bachalo was born inCanada but was raised in SouthernCalifornia. He has told interviewers that, as a child, he wanted to be a carpenter until he discovered he was allergic to dust. He attended theCalifornia State University atLong Beach, where he majored in graphic art and illustrated a fewunderground comics.
After graduation, Bachalo sought work in the mainstream comic book industry. His first published assignment wasThe Sandman #12 (Jan. 1990),[2] part of the "Doll's House" story arc,[3] for DC Comics. Although before working on that issue, DC had already hired him as the regular artist forShade, the Changing Man, an older property revived as an adult-oriented series by writerPeter Milligan.
Bachalo's early work shows strong influence fromSam Kieth,Bill Sienkiewicz, andMichael Golden. As his style developed, however, Bachalo's work became more idiosyncratic. His early 1990s style isminimalist with strong, thick lines, quirky characters and little concern for realism. Bachalo did not shy away from detailed landscapes but showed a rare penchant for pages with many small panels.
In 1993, writerNeil Gaiman selected Bachalo for the SandmanminiseriesDeath: The High Cost of Living, starring the Sandman's older sister. At the time,Sandman was one of the most popular and acclaimed series in the industry and the miniseries helped boost Bachalo's visibility. The creative pair also reunited forDeath: The Time of Your Life in 1996.
After working at Marvel (below), Bachalo briefly returned to DC in 1999 forThe Witching Hour miniseries with writerJeph Loeb forVertigo.
While at DC Comics, Bachalo illustrated the first issue ofX-Men Unlimited, which Marvel published as an anthology X-Men comic book. Based on the success and fanfare fromX-Men Unlimited #1, in 1994, Bachalo ended his stint onShade and began working for Marvel Comics. He then illustrated the first three issues ofGhost Rider 2099, one of in a line of series reinventing popular Marvel characters in the year 2099.
However, he was soon assigned to create a new junior team of X-Men withUncanny X-Men writerScott Lobdell. The group Lobdell and Bachalo created,Generation X, was purposely bizarre and idiosyncratic because the two wanted to avoid the recent trend in superhero teams, where each team member represented a recognizablestock character.
Generation X became a hit with the series'namesake due to Lobdell's realistically cynical and emotionally immature teen characters and Bachalo's atypical artwork. Bachalo illustrated the series through much of its first three years, taking a break in late 1995 and early 1996 to illustrate the second Death miniseries,Death: The Time of Your Life.
During his time onGeneration X, Bachalo's artwork underwent a change. Heavily influenced byJoe Madureira, Bachalo's characters became more cartoony andmanga-like, with large eyes, heads and hands. He gravitated towards extremes inanatomy, drawing characters that were previously portrayed as bulky, short, or thin as even more so.
In 1997, Bachalo leftGeneration X forUncanny X-Men, arguably the comic book industry's most popular title, remaining until the end of 1998.
In 2000, Bachalo launchedSteampunk, a comic book series inspired by thegenre of fiction of the same name, which emulates earlyscience fiction and in analternate version of the early 1900s. The series is written byJoe Kelly and is part of Image Comics' imprint for creator-owned series,Cliffhanger. The series was criticized for Bachalo's overly detailed pencils, small panels and muddy dark coloring, which sometimes made it difficult to discern what was happening. Similarly, Joe Kelly's writing was not as straightforward as a mass audience typically preferred. Contrarily, the book's supporters praised it for those same reasons, as well as for the sheer imagination of the characters and story. The series, intended to be 25 issues, ended prematurely after the second story arc in issue #12. It is currently available in two reprintedtrade paperbacks,Steampunk: Manimatron (ISBN 1-56389-762-8) andSteampunk: Drama Obscura (ISBN 1-4012-0047-8).
When Richard Friend inks Chris Bachalo's pencils, the piece is signed "Chrisendo", aportmanteau of the names "Chris", "Friend", and "Bachalo".
In the early 2000s, Bachalo completed occasional work on various X-Men series, includingUltimate X-Men,Ultimate War,Grant Morrison'sNew X-Men (collected inNew X-Men vol. 5:Assault on Weapon Plus) and thesequel to theAge of Apocalypse crossover.
Bachalo was also the artist onCaptain America for 6 issues (#21–26, running December 2003–May 2004cover dates) pencilling a divisive run written byRobert Morales. In an attempt to humanize Steve Rogers, the pair managed to split fans' opinions fairly resoundingly,[citation needed] with both creators leaving the title — Morales ten issues short of his intended contract for the series.[4]
In 2005, he drew a cover forRunaways that featuredKarolina Dean.
From 2006 to 2008, Bachalo was the artist for theX-Men title along with new writerMike Carey after completing his final story arc forUncanny X-Men (#472–474). He was often filled-in for by artistHumberto Ramos, however.
Bachalo has also pencilled (and coloured) a number of cards for theVs. collectible card game. These have been renditions of both Marvel and DC characters.
On top of his continuing work for Marvel, Bachalo finished issue #7 ofComicraft'sElephantmen, an issue 4 years in the making. The issue was done entirely in double-page spreads and marks his reunion withSteampunk writer Joe Kelly. The issue's story, "Captain Stoneheart and the Truth Fairy" also represents Bachalo's first work outside Marvel and DC since his fill-in issue of Witchblade.
Bachalo has also been one of the four artists who was originally part of the Spider-Man relaunchBrand New Day, along with Phil Jimenez, Steve McNiven and Salvador Larroca.
Starting withNew Avengers #51, Bachalo provided variant covers for the creative team ofBrian Michael Bendis andBilly Tan for the "Who will be the next Sorcerer Supreme?" storyline. From 2011 to 2012, he teamed up for multiple issues withJason Aaron on hisWolverine and the X-Men. From 2013 to 2015 he returned to work with Bendis on Volume 3 ofUncanny X-Men. In 2016, he teamed up again with Jason Aaron onDoctor Strange's first solo title in 10 years,Way of the Weird.
Antonio Fabela is a regular colorist of Bachalo's work.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Preceded by | X-Men (vol. 2) artist 2006-2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Uncanny X-Men artist 1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Captain America artist 2004 | Succeeded by |
