Bill Sienkiewicz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bill Sienkiewicz | |
|---|---|
Sienkiewicz at the Big Apple Con, November 15, 2008. |
|
| Born | Boleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz[1] May 3, 1958 Blakely, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Inker |
| Notable works | Stray Toasters Elektra: Assassin New Mutants |
| Awards | full list |
| Official website | |
Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch][2] (born May 3, 1958,[1][3]) is an Eisner Award-winning American artist best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin. Sienkiewicz often utilizes oil painting, collage, mimeograph and other forms generally uncommon in comic books.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and career
Sienkiewicz was born May 3, 1958 in Blakely, Pennsylvania.[1] He moved with his family to Hainesville, New Jersey, when he was five years old.[4] There he attended elementary and secondary school. He later attended the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in Newark, New Jersey.[1]
Sienkiewicz began drawing "when [he] was about four or five",[4] and continued doing and learning about art throughout his childhood. His early comic-book influences include artist Curt Swan Superman comics, and artist Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four.[4] After art school, Sienkiewicz brought a portfolio of his work to DC Comics' art director Vince Colletta. The artist recalled in 1985...
| “ | They didn't have any work for me, but that didn't bother me. I just figured that if comics didn't work out I'd have done advertising or illustration. Vinnie called [renowned comics and advertising artist] Neal Adams, who put me in touch with [Marvel Comics editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter. Soon after that I was drawing Moon Knight (in The Hulk [black-and-white comics] magazine".[4] | ” |
Sienkiewicz broke into the comics business at age 19[5] with an art style heavily influenced by Neal Adams' work.
[edit] Later career
Sienkiewicz continued as artist of the Moon Knight color comics series, starting with the first issue (November 1980). Four years later, after a stint as artist on the Fantastic Four, he became the artist on Marvel's X-Men spin-off New Mutants, beginning with issue #18 (August 1984), producing cover paintings and character designs. From this period on, Sienkiewicz's art evolved into a much more expressionistic style, and he began experimenting with paint, collage, and mixed media. He illustrated New Mutants from 1984–1985.
Sienkiewicz produced covers for a range of Marvel titles, including Rom, Dazzler, The Mighty Thor, Return of the Jedi and The Transformers, and drew the comic adaptation of Dune.
Sienkiewicz's own first writing credit was for the painted story "Slow Dancer" in Epic Illustrated magazine in 1986. Sienkiewicz both wrote and illustrated the 1988 miniseries Stray Toasters, an idiosyncratic work published by Epic about a criminal psychologist investigating a series of murders.
He illustrated the 1986-87 eight-issue miniseries Elektra: Assassin written by Frank Miller. After which, he collaborated with writer Andrew Helfer on the first six issues of DC Comics The Shadow series. In 1988, he contributed to the Brought to Light graphic novel with writer Alan Moore. In 1990, Sienkiewicz and Moore published the first two issues of the uncompleted series Big Numbers. Sienkiewicz painted the Classics Illustrated adaptation of the novel Moby-Dick.
In 2007, he pencilled 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow. In 2008, Sienkiewicz illustrated a story for The Nightmare Factory - Volume 2 graphic novel.
[edit] Other work
In addition to his work in comics, Sienkiewicz has also worked in numerous other media. In 1995, he illustrated the Martin I. Green biography of Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix. The following year he provided the artwork for the Bruce Cockburn album The Charity of Night, and went on to provide album covers for RZA's Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998) and EPMD's Business as Usual (1990).
He once again collaborated with Green in 1998, to produce a children's book, Santa, My Life & Times". His artwork has been published in magazines including Entertainment Weekly and Spin Magazine.
In 1989, Sienkiewicz painted the art for the "Friendly Dictators" card set published by Eclipse Comics which portrayed various foreign leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko, Ferdinand Marcos, and Anastasio Somoza.
In 2004, Sienkiewicz contributed to card art for VS System, a collectible card game published by Upper Deck Entertainment.
In 2006, Sienkiewicz designed the layout and art for The Venture Bros. season one DVD set. He also designed the cover art for the season three DVD and Blu-ray set. Still in 2006, Sienkiewicz teamed with Neal Adams to create art for former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Their artwork was utilized as video projections for live performances of Waters' "Leaving Beirut."
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] DC Comics
- Aquaman #52
- Batman #400 #533-534
- Batman: Black and White #3
- Batman: GCPD #1-4
- Nightwing Huntress #1-4
- Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins
- Dark Knight Dynasty TPB
- DC 1st (One-Shot) Batgirl/The Joker
- Detective Comics #709
- Dreams Nightmares #1 Pin-Up
- Endless Gallery Pin-Up
- Green Arrow #109
- Green Lantern: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan
- Heroes Against Hunger Pin Up
- Rogues Gallery Pin-Up
- Sandman: Endless Nights Trade Paperback
- The Shadow #1-6
- Superman #400 Pin-Up
- Superman Vol 2 #173
- Superman: Day of Doom #1-4
- The Superman Gallery (One-Shot) Superman #400 Stuff
[edit] Covers only
- Question #1-19 #21-23, Annual #1.
- Teen Titans Spotlight #10
- Detective Comics #741, #772-773, #775
- All-Flash #1 (variant cover)
- Batman: Cacophony #1 (1:25 variant cover)
- Batman: The Widening Gyre #1
[edit] Marvel Comics
- Alias #7 (pages 10 & 18) #8 (pages 1, 9, 10)
- The Avengers Annual #16
- Bizarre Adventures #31
- Black Widow #1-6
- Black Widow Volume 1 (Paperback with six numbers)
- Blade: Vampire Hunter #3
- Captain America: Red, White & Blue (one story only)
- Daredevil: Love and War
- Deathlok Vol. 2 #11
- Dune Movie adaptation, Marvel Comics Super Special # 36
- Elektra: Assassin #1-8
- Epic Illustrated #34 (Only "Slow Dancer")
- Excalibur #27
- Fantastic Four #219, #221-231
- Galactus The Devourer #1-6
- Gambit #3, #4
- Generation X Annual 1995
- Heroes for Hope starring X-Men
- The Hulk Magazine, #13-15 #17-18 #20 (Moon Knight interiors)
- Marvel Fanfare #38, #42
- Marvel Preview #18, #21
- The Marvel Saga #8
- Moon Knight#1-15, #17-20, #22-26, #28-30, #33
- Moon Knight Special Edition #1-3 (Moon Knight interiors)
- New Mutants #18-31, #35-38
- New X-Men #127, #131, One-Shot
- Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #220-#229 (inking only)
- Return of the Jedi #1-4 first page, pinups, and Super Special (TPB)
- Spider-Girl #0
- Spider-Man 2099 #42
- Stray Toasters #1-4, TPB
- Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #6-8
- Uncanny X-Men #159 (reprinted as X-Men Classic #63), # 287, #288, #314, Annual #6
- X-Men: The Wedding Album One-Shot
- What If? #34
- Wolverine: Inner Fury
- Wolverine #10-16
- X-Man #9
- X-Men Unlimited #43
- X-Men Vs. Dracula One-Shot
[edit] Covers only
- Amazing High Adventure #1
- The Beauty and the Beast #1-4
- The Black Panther #14
- The Brotherhood #1-3
- Clive Barker's Hellraiser #10
- The Comet Man #1-#6
- Daredevil #197, #204, #207, #338
- The Dark Phoenix Saga Trade Paperback
- Dazzler #8-9, #15-16, #18, #27-35, #42, Marvel Graphic Novel #12 Dazzler: The Movie
- The Defenders #123
- Doom 2099 #35
- Elektra Vol 2 #23-#27
- Elektra: The Hand #1-5
- Excalibur #83
- The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #26
- Fury #1-#6
- Ghost Rider #58
- God Loves, Man Kills X-Men. Only the 1994 Trade Paperback edition.
- The Incredible Hulk #295 -#297, #301, #312
- The Iron Manual Trade Paperback
- King Conan #11
- Kull The Conqueror #2
- Marc Spector: Moon Knight #26-31, 34
- Marvel Graphic Novel #8 (Super Boxers)
- The Marvel Masterpieces Collection 2 #3
- Marvel Spotlight Vol 2 #6
- The Mighty Thor #332-333
- The New Defenders #125, #131, #135
- New Mutants #17
- Nick Fury versus S.H.I.E.L.D. #2
- The Official Marvel Index To The X-Men Vol 2 #3
- The Power of Iron Man TPB
- The Punisher Vol 2 #93
- The Punisher Holiday Special #2
- Return of the Jedi #1-4, Super Special TPB
- Rom #46-47, #52-54, #68, #71, Annual 2-3
- The Savage Sword of Conan #116
- Spider-Girl Annual '99
- Spider-Woman #16
- Starriors #1-4
- Star Wars #92, 101
- The Transformers #1
- Thor Vol 2 #75
- Uncanny X-Men #195, 252
- What If? #43-47
- Wonder Man #1
- X-Calibre #3
- X-Men Unlimited #3
[edit] Other publishers
- 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow
- The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #2, published by Dark Horse
- Big Numbers #1-2, and several pages of number 3 (unpublished)
- Brought to Light
- The Nightmare Factory - Volume 2 graphic novel, published by Fox Atomic Comics
- Classics Illustrated #4 - Moby-Dick (Berkley Publishing)
- Total Eclipse #1-5 (cover only)
[edit] Other work
- Santa, My Life & Times
- Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix
- Bill Sienkiewicz Sketchbook (Fantagraphics)
- Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Guide to Camarilla & Sabbat covers
[edit] Media
- The Venture Bros. Seasons 1 and 3, published by Warner Home Video
- Bruce Cockburn's album The Charity of Night
- RZA's album Bobby Digital in Stereo
- EPMD's album Business as Usual
- Entertainment Weekly, various covers
- Spin Magazine, various covers
- Roger Waters' Leaving Beirut
- Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith
[edit] Trading Cards
- VS System, various sets
- Big Budget Circus (Eclipse Enterprises)
- Friendly Dictators (Eclipse Enterprises)
- Coup D’Etat (Eclipse Enterprises)
- Rock Bottom Awards (Eclipse Enterprises)
- Marvel Masterpieces, Series 2 and Series 3, assorted cards
[edit] Awards
- 1981: Eagle Award, Best New Artist[6]
- 1981: Inkpot Award
- 1982: Eagle Award, Best Artist[6]
- 1983: Eagle Award, Best Artist[6]
- 1986: Yellow Kid Award, Lucca, Italy, for "bridging the gap between American and European artistic sensibilities"[6][7]
- 1986: The Gran Guigiri Award, Lucca, Italy[6][7]
- 1987: Eagle Award, Favourite Artist (penciller)
- 1987: Kirby Award Best Artist for Elektra: Assassin
- 1988: March of Dimes Award, for charity work[6]
- 1989: Haxtur Award Best Cover, for Question #10
- 1991: Alpe de Huiz Award, Grenoble, France[6]
- 1992: Adamson Award, for Daredevil, and graphic experiments
- 2004: Eisner Award Best Anthology, for contributions to The Sandman: Endless Nights
Sienkiewicz was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, in 1995 and 1996, for his production and character design on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Sienkiewicz bio at Lambiek.net's Comiclopedia.
- ^ Letters page, Fantastic Four #227 (February 1981).
- ^ Comics Buyer's Guide #1485; May 3, 2002; Page 29
- ^ a b c d Marvel Age' #53 (July 1985): "The Marvel Age Interview: Bill Sienkiewicz", pp. 20-22
- ^ Shooter, Jim. "Introduction," Moon Knight Special Edition Vol. 1, No. 1 (November 1983).
- ^ a b c d e f g wordsandpictures.org. "Bill Sienkiewicz-Awards, Exhibits". http://www.wordsandpictures.org/Elektra/elektra19.html.
- ^ a b Immagine-Centro Studi Iconografici. "17° SALONE, 1986" (in Italian). http://www.immaginecentrostudi.org/saloni/salone17.asp.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Lambiek Comiclopedia: Bill Sienkiewicz
- Comic Book Resources (July 17, 2001): Bill Sienkiewicz interview
- The Man Without Fear (January 2000): Bill Sienkiewicz interview
| Preceded by John Byrne |
Fantastic Four artist 1980–1981 |
Succeeded by John Byrne |
| Preceded by Sal Buscema |
New Mutants artist 1984–1985 |
Succeeded by Steve Leialoha |
| Preceded by Scott Hanna |
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man inker 1995 |
Succeeded by Al Milgrom |