Stephen R. Bissette
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Stephen R. Bissette (also known as Steve Bissette), is an American comics artist and publisher best known for working with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on the DC comic Swamp Thing in the 1980s.
Career
Shortly after the publication of his first work, Abyss (1976), Bissette enrolled in the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. Before his first year was completed, his work was being pubished professionally in the pages of Sojourn, Sgt. Rock, and Heavy Metal. In 1978, Bissette was among the Kubert School's very first graduating class, along with classmates Rick Veitch, Tom Yeates, and others.
His early work appeared in the pages of Heavy Metal, Epic, Bizarre Adventures, Scholastic Magazines' Weird Worlds and Bananas (illustrating stories written by Goosebumps founder and author R. L. Stine), and he worked with Rick Veitch on the graphic novelization of Steven Spielberg's motion picture 1941 (Simon and Schuster, 1979).
Bissette is best known for his multiple award-winning collaboration with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on DC Comics' Saga of the Swamp Thing (1983-87). He subsequently worked with Moore, Veitch, Totleben, and others on the Image Comics' series 1963, their final creative collaborative effort.
He later published the horror anthology Taboo, the original home of Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell and Tim Lucas' Throat Sprockets (illustrated by Mike Hoffman and David Lloyd). He created Tyrant, a comic book biography of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which lasted only four issues, and worked on the miniseries 1963 with Moore, Totleben, and Rick Veitch. From 1963, Bissette owns the characters Hypernaut, N-Man, and the Fury. He contributed five covers for a comic book series about another swamp monster, Bog Swamp Demon.
Scott McCloud's 24-Hour Comic project began as a dare to Bissette in 1990. Each created a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The 24-Hour Comics involved into a challenge taken up by hundreds of hopeful contributors with several published collections, and inspired other time-limited creative projects.
No longer active in mainstream comics, he teaches courses in Comic Art History, Drawing, and Film at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. Since the Spring of 2005, he has also edited and published Green Mountain Cinema, a trade paperback journal devoted to the independent cinema scene in his home state of Vermont.
The Stephen R. Bissette Collection at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas houses Bissette's works and memorabilia.[1]
Awards
His work with Alan Moore and John Totleben earned the 1985 Jack Kirby Award for Best Single Issue for Swamp Thing Annual #2, and the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Jack Kirby Awards for Best Continuing Series for Swamp Thing. His work with John Totleben earned them the 1985 Jack Kirby Award for Best Art Team for Swamp Thing.
He was nominated for the Squiddy Award for Favorite Artist of the 1980s. His work with Alan Moore and John Totleben earned a nomination for the 1985 Jack Kirby Award for Best Single Issue for Swamp Thing #34. His work with John Totleben earned them nominations for the 1986 and 1987 Jack Kirby Awards for Best Art Team for their work on Swamp Thing. His work with Alan Moore earned them a nomination for the 1986 Jack Kirby Award for Best Writer/Artist (Single or Team).
External links
- [2] Comic Book Awards Almanac
- [3] www.srbissette.com
- Roots of the Swamp Thing - An extremely detailed timiline chronicling all the events of Steve Bissette's Swamp Thing, Hellblazer (starring Bissette's John Constantine character) and related titles in chronological order