Frank Quitely

Infobox Comics creator

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imagesize = 150
caption =
birthname = Vincent Deighan
birthdate = January 18, 1968
location = Glasgow, Scotland
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = Scottish
area = Penciller, Inker
alias =


notable works =
awards =

Frank Quitely (born January 18, 1968) is the professional pseudonym of Scottish comic book artist Vincent Deighan. The name is a spoonerism of the phrase 'quite frankly'. He was born in Glasgow, where he still lives. He is currently known for his unique style of drawing in mainstream comics.

Biography

Quitely first worked upon the Scottish underground comics title, "Electric Soup", in 1990. He wrote and drew "The Greens", a parody of The Broons strip published by D.C Thompson. It is at this point that he adopted the pseudonym of Frank Quitely, as he claims that he didn't want his family to see his work, worried that they may have found it upsetting. Initially "Electric Soup" was only distributed locally in Glasgow, then it was picked up by John Brown Publishing for widespread national UK distribution.

This brought Quitely's work to the attention of "Judge Dredd Megazine" editor David Bishop. He was given work on "Shimura", written by Robbie Morrison, and "Missionary Man", by Gordon Rennie, quickly rising to prominence and being voted among the fans' favourite five artists in an end-of-year survey. By 1994 he had started work in various stories in Paradox Press's series of "Big Book Of" graphic novels, as well as work for "Dark Horse Presents" for Dark Horse Comics.

His big break into American comics was "Flex Mentallo", a "Doom Patrol" spin-off written by fellow Glaswegian Grant Morrison for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, in 1996. Quitely's work proved very popular, and this launched him onto more work for Vertigo. Initially he was put to work on strips for anthology titles such as "Weird War Tales", and drew four issues of Jamie Delano's "2020 Visions", as well as various covers for DC. He later drew his first full length graphic novel, "Batman: The Scottish Connection", with writer Alan Grant.

The year 2000 saw Quitely and Morrison collaborate again, on "JLA:Earth 2". Once again, the graphic novel was met with a hugely positive critical response, and later that year Quitely took over from Bryan Hitch as artist on "The Authority", with Mark Millar as writer. This run proved to be highly controversial, and Quitely's art suffered censorship by DC due mainly to the violent content of Millar's stories. In addition, the title was hampered by delays, due in part to Quitely's slow drawing speed and the time he took off to draw the final issue of Morrison's "The Invisibles". [ [http://www.sequart.com/authorityMILLAR.htm The Continuity Pages: The Authority > Mark Millar The Authority Era (2000-2002) ] ]

".

Since leaving "New X-Men", Quitely has drawn the mini series "We3" in 2004, again in collaboration with Morrison. More than any other series in his career to date, this book was almost unanimously acclaimed by critics for its art and storytelling, [ [http://www.thexaxis.com/capsules/31Oct04.htm 31 October 2004 ] ] and further cemented Quitely's reputation. He shared the 2005 Best Penciller/Inker Eisner Award in a tie with artist John Cassaday for his work on the book. He has also written and drawn new installments of "The Greens" for the Scottish underground comic "Northern Lightz", and in 2005 Morrison and Quitely designed a series of tarot cards for "Intensive Care", the latest album by popstar Robbie Williams.

In December 2004, Quitely signed to a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics, where he is currently illustrating "All Star Superman". The twelve issue series, yet another collaboration with Morrison, began publication in November 2005, and has once again attracted near-unanimous praise. [ [http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/allstarsuperman1.htm All Star Superman #1 ] ] The series won Eisner Awards for Best New Series in 2006 and Best Continuing Series in 2007. At the Baltimore Comic Convention, it was announced that Morrison will continue with a variety of artists on the book. Meanwhile, he has continued to draw covers for Vertigo, for series including "Bite Club",Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = Bite Club | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 30-31 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015] "Books of Magick : Life During Wartime" and the recent "American Virgin".Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = American Virgin | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 22-24 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015]

Artistic style

Quitely's work is considered unconventional for superhero comics, featuring minimalist settings, open lines, and atypical character designs. He is often praised by critics for his attention to detail and sense of pacing, layout, and kinetic motion.

Quitely's pencil work is sometimes "digitally inked", with a darkening of the linework carried out in the digital realm in programs such as Photoshop rather than the more traditional use of actual Indian ink applied directly over the artwork. This technique was used to "ink" some of Quitely's art in his "New X-Men" run, and in the entirety of the "WE3" and "All Star Superman" arc [ [http://www.barbelith.com/topic/22644/from/490 Barbelith Underground > Comic Books > All-Star Superman ] ] [ [http://www.barbelith.com/topic/22644/from/630 Barbelith Underground > Comic Books > All-Star Superman ] ] [ [http://www.barbelith.com/topic/22644/from/665 Barbelith Underground > Comic Books > All-Star Superman ] ] [See the above 3 links to the Barbelith forum where colorist Jamie Grant discusses digitally inking Quitely's art] .

Selected works

*"American Virgin" (DC/Vertigo, covers #1-3 only, 2006)
*"All Star Superman (DC, with Grant Morrison, 2005- )
*"Bite Club" (DC/Vertigo, covers only, 2004-)
*"" (DC/Vertigo, covers only, 2004-2005)
*"WE3" (DC/Vertigo, with Grant Morrison, 2004-2005)
*"" (DC/Vertigo, with Neil Gaiman, 2003)
*"" (Marvel, with Grant Morrison, 2001-03)
*"The Invisibles" vol. 3, #1 [Note : the final issue; the series' third and final volume was numbered in reverse order] (DC/Vertigo, with Grant Morrison, 2000)
*"The Authority" (DC/Wildstorm, with Mark Millar, 2000-2001)
*"" (DC, with Grant Morrison, 2000)
*"The Kingdom: Offspring" (DC, with Mark Waid, 1998)
*"Batman: The Scottish Connection" (DC, with Alan Grant)
*"Flex Mentallo" (DC/Vertigo, with Grant Morrison, 1996)
*"Inaba" (in "Judge Dredd Megazine" vol.3 #26, 1996)
*"Missionary Man" (serialised in "Judge Dredd Megazine", with Gordon Rennie)
*"Shimura" (in "Judge Dredd Megazine" vol.2 #37-39, 1993)
*"Daredevil" #65 (Marvel, one page only, 2004)
*"The Greens" (in "Electric Soup", 1990)

Awards

*2005: Won Best Penciller/Inker Eisner Award for "We3" in a tie with artist John Cassaday
*2006: Won Best New Series for "All-Star Superman" with Grant Morrison
*2007: Won Best Continuing Series for "All-Star Superman" with Grant Morrison

References

External links

* [http://www.cincity2000.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1486 All-Star Superman: A Retrospective]
* [http://www.dccomics.com/features/endlessnights/quitely.html Vertigo profile]
* [http://www.2000adonline.com/index.php3?zone=droid&page=profiles&choice=frankq 2000 AD profile]
* [http://www.silverbulletcomics.com/news/story.php?a=811 Frank Quitely Profile Interview]
* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2294 Morrison and Quitely's designs for the Robbie Williams album "Intensive Care".]
* [http://sidebar.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=298085 An Audio Interview with Frank Quitely by SiDEBAR (Part I)]
* [http://sidebar.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=298137 An Audio Interview with Frank Quitely by SiDEBAR (Part II]
* [http://www.dangerousink.co.uk/issue2/quitely_interview.html 2007 Interview with Frank Quitely from Dangerous Ink]