Brent Anderson (comics)

In junior high school, Brent Anderson discovered the pantheon of characters in Marvel Comics. The first Marvel comic he read was Fantastic 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 doing fanzine illustrations, Anderson's first professional comics work appeared in the mid-1970s in independent/underground publications such as All-Slug, Tesserae, and Venture.^[5]

Anderson was one of several artists to draw the comics adaptation of Xanadu in Marvel Super Special #17 (Summer 1980).^[6] In 1981, Ka-Zar The Savage, written by Bruce Jones, became Anderson's first regular series.^[7] The X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel followed,^[8] as well as artwork on a number of Marvel Comics series, including the heroic space-opera Strikeforce: Morituri. During this period, Anderson was active doing artwork for independent publishers Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics,^[7] including the innovative cinematic comic Somerset Holmes.^[9]

In 1995, Anderson co-created with writer Kurt Busiek and cover artist Alex Ross, the award-winning Astro City. Other work included J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars: Untouchable spin-off series written by Fiona Avery covering the life story of special assassin Laurel Darkhaven.^[7] Work continues on a 200-plus page graphic novel, Jar of Ashes, written by Shirley Johnston. Anderson worked with writer Marv Wolfman on a one-shot featuring Green Lantern and Plastic Man entitled Green Lantern/Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception, released in December 2010.^[10] A Phantom Stranger ongoing series written by Dan DiDio and drawn by Anderson began in September 2012.^[11] In June 2013, Busiek and Anderson relaunched their Astro City series as part of DC's Vertigo line.^[12][13] The ongoing Astro 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 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] Anderson and Kurt Busiek teamed up to contribute a new Astro 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 by Neal 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]

• Inkpot Award, 1985^[5]
• Eisner Award^[5]
  • Best New Series, 1996
  • Best Single Issue, 1996, 1997, 1998
  • Best Continuing Series, 1997, 1998
  • Best Serial Story, 1998
• Harvey Award^[5]
  • Best New Series, 1996
  • Best Single Issue or Story, 1996
  • Best Graphic Album, previously released work, 1997
• Don Thompson Award^[5]
  • Best Achievement by Penciler, 1996
  • Favorite Single Creative Team (with Kurt Busiek), 1998