We're practically outing ourselves as closet Canadaphiles, but like love, great art knows no boundaries and neither do we. This afternoon, the DC Comics Artist Series proudly returns to feature the vibrantly playful work of J. Bone.
J.Bone is a Toronto based illustrator and comic book artist. A skilled writer, penciller, inker, colorist, and letter, Bone's one of the few comics artists today whose talents would enable him to create an entire comic book by himself. But to do would require an extraordinary amount of time, and Bone's extraordinarily prolific. In his sixteen-plus years as a comics professional, Bone's contributed to dozens of works, including Alison Dare for Oni Press, Michael Allred's Madman and The Atomics, and Jingle Belle for Dark Horse Comics.
But Bone's most prominent contributions belong to his DC Comics resume. As a friend and frequent collaborator of Darwyn Cooke (whom we showcased in our first Series), Bone's stand-out talents have launched such series as The Spirit (2007) and Justice League: The New Frontier, on which Bone contributed both to Cooke's comics as well as the DC Universe Animated film.
Yet the work that best bears his signature may be better recognized by young comics fans rather than appreciating adults. Bone's name has become almost synonymous with DC's young readers imprint, Johnny DC, recently rebranded by the publisher as DC Kids. Having contributed his skills as a cover artist to nearly every DC Kids comic on the stands, Bone recently celebrated his second anniversary as cover artist and series illustrator on Super Friends, one of DC Kids' best-selling books and the inspiration for Fisher-Price's line of Super Friends toys.
A very playful B'Wana Beast sprinting across the top of our blog, we follow with two different portrayals of Bone's Wonder Woman; together, three works that highlight Bone's individual skills as illustrator, colorist, penciller, and inker (as well as the many contributions he makes is support of artistic endeavors and worthwhile causes, including 2008's Wonder Woman Day.) But we'll soon discover that Bone's artistry extends far beyond superheroes, too. Surprises await as DC Comics Artist Series featuring the art of J. Bone continues!
Wonder Woman: New Frontier
Pencils: D. Cooke / Colors: J. Bone [via]
Wonder Woman Day (2008)
By J. Bone [via]
If you'd like to get a jump on us and check out even more of Bone's super hero work, Comic Vine provides a great overview of his cover art HERE while Comic Book Database offers a complete listing of Bone's comic book accomplishments HERE. And for a more personal exploration of his professional palette, J. Bone's Blah, Blah, Blog! is HERE.
