Jackson Guice

Infobox Comics creator

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imagesize = 150
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birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1961|06|27
location = Chattanooga, Tennessee
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nationality = American
area = Penciller
alias = Butch Guice
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Jackson "Butch" Guice is an American comic book artist.

Biography

Jackson Guice "(credited earlier in his career as" Butch Guice")" was born on June 27 1961 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.comicbookdb|type=creator|id=502|title=Jackson Guice. Accessed March 21, 2008] Growing up in the 1960s, Guice was fond of the films of Ray Harryhausen, "the legendary stop-motion animator and filmmaker," whose influence can be seen in some of Guice's future work, most notably the Humanoids project "Olympus". [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7581 Scaling "Olympus" with Butch Guice] , Newsarama, December 29, 2003. Accessed March 22, 2008]

Early work & "Micronauts"

His first credited comics work was on issue #48 the toy-spin-off title "Micronauts" (Dec 1982), although he had previously ghosted for Pat Broderick on "Rom Annual 1982". He notes that " [b] oth were breaking points for me getting into comics"."Marvel’s Toy Story: Rom's Sal Buscema and Micronauts' Jackson Guice": A "Pro2Pro" Interview by Dan Johnson, for "BACK ISSUE #16", December 13, 2005 mirrored at: [http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=005155 Comicon.com] . Accessed March 21, 2008]

Prior to his work appearing in Marvel's Mego-licenced "Micronauts" title (which was one of Marvel's first three "direct sales" titles), Guice "had been doing a little bit of fanzine work", and "designing patches and emblems for a small company in North Carolina." On the strength of his fanzine work, (and, Guice believes, at the behest of "Rom Annual" writer Bill Mantlo) Marvel-editor Al Milgrom offered him a tryout on "Micronauts". Guice recalls that, immediately after accepting he:

"went out roller skating that night [and] fell and broke the elbow on my drawing arm. Thankfully when they put the cast on, they had the arm bent, so it was more a case of drawing from the shoulder. It was quite a baptism of fire to start off my career."

1980s Marvel

His tryout successful, Guice continued penciling "Micronauts" until its cancellation with #58. He doesn't recall there being any effort made to tie the comic to the toys, and by the time he came on-board, writer Bill Mantlo "was essentially wrapping up his run." In July 1983, "The Butch Guice Portfolio" appeared in the pages of "Marvel Fanfare" #9, and during the early 1980s Guice contributed to the 1983 "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe", Chris Claremont and Bill Mantlo's "X-Men and the Micronauts" 4-issue miniseries as well as occasional issues of a number of different titles, many featuring the Micronauts. Also in 1984, he drew the Marvel Comics adaptation of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (adapted by David Michelinie), before inking Paul Chadwick's pencils (from Archie Goodwin's scripts) in the pages of "Dazzler".

X-Factor

In 1986, he penciled and inked the first seven issues of "The Dramatic Return of the Original X-Men" in Bob Layton's "X-Factor", while concurrently contributing pencils (under Kyle Baker's inks) to ten issues of "The New Mutants". In mid-1987, he was credited with inks to "Brian" Guice"s pencils for five issues of Adventure Publications' "Adventurers", which was written and edited by Scott Behnke.

Mike Baron and Misc.

Also in 1987, Guice collaborated on several different titles with writer Mike Baron, including issues of First Comics' "Badger", "Nexus" and "The Chronicles of Corum" (where he pencilled two issues, taking over from Mike Mignola; both were inked by Kelley Jones). Guice also worked with Baron on a couple of projects for DC Comics. He penciled "Teen Titans Spotlight" #7 and #8, before gaining more popularity among DC readers with his work on the relaunched, post-"Crisis on Infinite Earths" "The Flash" #1, again written by Baron (and inked by Larry Mahlstedt for editor Mike Gold). This second "Flash" series featured Wally West in the iconic suit, after the demise of Barry Allen in the pages of the 1986 Wolfman/Perez DCU-spanning "Crisis", and Guice drew ten of the first eleven issues.

Miscellaneous

At the start of 1987, Guice contributed to the "Southern Knights" series, published by Comics Interview Publications, and in 1988/89, he produced a series of covers for the Quality Comics/Fleetway 2000 AD reprint-title "2000AD Showcase", while also penciling the Layton/Michelinie "Iron Man" title for Marvel. He then took over from Richard Case on "Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme" between issues #5 and 24 (with two fill-in issues by Jim Valentino and Gene Colan respectively). In 1990 he drew the launch of the Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright-written "Deathlok".

He also produced covers for odd issues of various products, including Marvel's comics adaptation of "Robocop 2" and Epic Comics' "Wild Cards" as well as a series for "Alpha Flight" between #91-99. In 1991, he took over from Herb Trimpe penciling "Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." for writer D. G. Chichester for Marvel, before moving back to DC for a long run on one of their flagship Superman titles.

DC and Dark Horse

uperman and "Action Comics"

Between April 1992 and July 1995, Guice (with writers Roger Stern and David Michelinie) produced artwork for over thirty issues of "Action Comics". Taking over from Bob McLeod, Guice started on #676 and continued until #711, with just two gaps - issues #682 (pencils by Dusty Abell) and #699 (pencils by Norman Felchle). Guice also produced a #0 issue as an origin-retelling tie-in to DC's 1994 'event': Zero Hour.

Spinning out of the 'Death of Superman' event, Guice provided inks for June Brigman's pencils on the first four issues of the third "Supergirl" series (by writer Roger Stern), and also contributed to other Superman titles, including "Metropolis S.C.U." throughout the mid-1990s.

Dark Horse

While drawing "Action Comics", he also worked with writer James Robinson on Dark Horse's "" three-issue miniseries (Sep-Oct 1992), and with Chris Claremont on the first four issues of Dark Horse's "Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species" (Jul '93 - Jan '94). He also produced covers (with series artist Paul Gulacy) for the DC/Dark Horse crossover "Batman Versus Predator II: Bloodmatch" (1994).

Valiant Comics

Towards the end of 1995, Guice made the move to Valiant Comics, becoming the regular penciller on six of the last eight issues, written by John Ostrander, of "Eternal Warrior" (and providing cover art for all eight, between #43-50), also contributing art to an issue of "Bloodshot" and producing two covers for "Solar, Man of the Atom" (with issues-penciller Tom Grindberg). In 1996, he provided interior artwork for an issue of "Magnus, Robot Fighter" (written by Keith Giffen) and two issues each of "Turok, Dinosaur Hunter" (written by Tim Truman) and "X-O Manowar" (written by Bob Layton).

liders

In November 1996, Guice penciled part of the Acclaim comic "Sliders: Narcotica", based on the TV series "Sliders" and written by the show's star Jerry O'Connell. Having Guice on art chorse, even though he was ultimately unable to finish the book (it was completed by Dennis Callero), was:

"a personal treat for Jerry [O'Connell] as "Butch" Guice (as he used to be called during his successful run at Marvel Comics) was a favorite of his during his comic-reading years." [Interview with Jerry O'Connell, printed in the back of "Sliders: Narcotica" and available [http://earthprime.com/comics/Interview-with-Jerry-OConnell-8-Bonus.html online] . Accessed March 21, 2008]

DC and Marvel

Leaving "Sliders" and Valiant behind, Guice returned to the DC and Marvel Universes when he illustrated the four-issue "" mini-series follow-up to the cross-company "DC Versus Marvel/Marvel Versus DC" event, from December 1996 to February 1997. This ably showcasing his talents at rendering both Marvel, DC (and the hybrid Amalgam) characters. He was also, in early 1997, one of many artists to contribute to the landmark marriage of Superman and Lois Lane prestige-format comic "Superman: The Wedding Album".

In May 1997, Guice launched "Resurrection Man" with writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, pencilling all 27 issues and inking most of them, too. He also produced the special #1,000,000 issue for the DC One Million event, while producing artwork for occasional special issues of various comics for both DC and Marvel. "Resurrection Man" was cancelled in August 1999, and in March 2000, Guice became the regular penciller and inker on Chuck Dixon's "Birds of Prey". Starting with #15, Guice stayed until #34, with a couple of gaps where fill-in artists took over (one such was #18, where Guice actually continued to ink, although over Dick Giordano's fill-in pencils). For a year and a half Guice devoted his time to "Birds of Prey", although he also found time to provide art for the Dixon-scripted "Robin & Oracle" story in "Batman: Gotham City Secret Files and Origins" and (alongside John Romita Sr. and John Stanisci) for the (Jim Krueger and Alex Ross-originated) "Universe X" "Spidey" special, from Marvel. [The first printing of the "Universe X: Spidey" issue caused controversy and was withdrawn and pulped after inker Al Milgrom inked an unwise statement onto the background of one panel.]

CrossGen

After October 2001's 34th issue of "Birds of Prey", Guice left the title - and DC - to move to Tampa, Florida and work for new company CrossGen, which was providing attractive deals to artists and writers from all companies in order to try to enter the comics market at the highest level (Guice's "Birds of Prey" collaborator, writer Chuck Dixon, would also join CrossGen within the year). Guice was brought in to launch "Ruse" with writer Mark Waid, and the comic launched in November, 2001 towards the end of CrossGen's second year of operation and second wave of titles. Guice's pencils were complemented by Mike Perkins' inks and the highly-renowned coloring of Laura DePuy. Effectively a Victorian steampunk detective story, although set on an analogue of Earth in the far-distant future, and part of CrossGen's 'Sigilverse', allowing one of the series' main characters to display the magical powers that that allows for.

While working for CrossGen, Guice also provided fill-in art and covers for individual issues of their other titles, including "Crux" and "Route 666". He continued as the penciller of "Ruse" until the comic was cancelled with #26 in January 2004 as an attempt by CrossGen to shed titles in the wake of their filing for bankruptcy. Guice pencilled 20 of the 26 issues, with fill-in art from Jeff Johnson and (mainly) Paul Ryan, and Waid handed over to writer Scott Beatty after the first dozen issues.

Guice resigned from CrossGen "just prior to the layoffs" and before the remaining staff were released from "exclusivity status".

Humanoids

Writer Geoff Johns, "one of Humanoids' biggest supporters from the very beginning of [their] US publishing program," completed an exclusive contract with DC in 2003 and pitched a story with Kris Grimminger (with whom he had collaborated on DC/WildStorm's "The Possessed") featuring "every great monster from Greek mythology, from Medusa to the Stymphalian Birds."Johns finished the scripts before a new DC contract began, and Humanoids editor Paul Benjamin began the search "throughout the world for a great artist who would appeal to both an American and a European audience. Butch was always on our mind for the book, but he was busy drawing Ruse for CrossGen. We began talking to Butch once he became available and Olympus was a perfect fit."

He said of Humanoids and "Olympus":

"I've been interested in working with Paul Benjamin and Humanoids for several years now... [their] approach to their material, both in quality and design of product as well as the extensive worldwide market they've cultivated with a variety of genres, held enormous interest for me. After my resignation from the CrossGen staff, I contacted Paul and we started talking about possibilities. Once I read the two scripts for Olympus, I knew it was exactly the type of thing I would enjoy drawing. Having it be written by Geoff and Kris was a very pleasurable bonus."

Although intended as two volumes, to date, only the first has seen print. This is likely due to the lapsing of Humanoids US-distribution deal with DC [One reviewer wrote that "Olympus" Vol. 1 "looks to be one of the final books of the DC/Humanoids partnership..." Shaun Manning, [http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/111761105555397.htm reviewing] for Comics Bulletin, June 1, 2005. Accessed March 22, 2008] , as Guice said in December of 2003, while working on Volume One that that book "wraps in March [2004] ", which him then "scheduled to start work on volume two almost immediately".

JLA and Aquaman

After CrossGen's sudden downfall, Guice worked with writer Warren Ellis on a six-issue story-arc entitled "New Maps of Hell" for DC's "JLA: Classified" title, which was designed specifically to feature rotating creative teams telling stand-alone stories. A month after this, Guice was part of the "One Year Later" revamp of Aquaman, in Kurt Busiek's "", debuting with #40 of the previous "Aquaman" title. Guice stayed for eight issues, and Busiek said of his artist colleague:

"Aside from being a terrific artist and strong storyteller, Butch can really make you believe in the exotic fantasy worlds of the Atlantic oceanscape. And he draws a great King Shark -- and a creepy Dweller, to boot. And cool warriors, gorgeous women, strange creatures and more. He's the perfect guy for this book, and I've wanted to work with him for years." [ [http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Aquaman/swordofatlantis.htm Kurt Busiek talks Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis] , Newsarama, December 9, 2005. Accessed March 21, 2008]

Marvel

Shortly after leaving "Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis", Guice provided rotating art duties for the Christos Gage-written "The Invincible Iron Man", with issue #19-20's World War Hulk tie-in issue, in August-September 2007, and then (after two issues by Roberto De La Torre), returning for another two, before starting as inker on "Captain America" for #32-34, and then taking over full duties as of #35.

Currently

Guice is pencilling a miniseries taking place in the Ultimate Universe, entitled "Ultimate Origins"," written by Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis wrote of Guice "I've been a fan of his for years and years, and when I saw what he was doing in "Iron Man" [with Gage] ... I had to have him." [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=116896 Heroes Con/WW Philly '07: Brian Bendis on "Ultimate Origin"] , Newsarama, June 16, 2007. Accessed March 22, 2008]

He's also the penciler on the Wildstorm mini-series "Storming Paradise", written by Chuck Dixon.

elected works

*New Mutants vol. 1 #40-42, 44-48, 50
*Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story (DC Comics graphic novel, 1998) (as inker)

References

External links

* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7823 Preview of "Olympus"] , Newsarama
* [http://www3.sympatico.ca/jrstuart/ The Art of RUSE- Art & Interview]