Gary Frank (comics)

For the American actor, see Gary Frank (actor).

Gary Frank
Gary Frank at a convention in 2008.
Nationality	British
Area(s)	Penciller
Notable works	Action Comics The Avengers Gen¹³ The Incredible Hulk Supreme Power Superman: Secret Origin

Gary Frank (born 1969) is a British comic book artist, notable for pencilling on Midnight Nation and Supreme Power, both written by J. Michael Straczynski. He has also worked with author Peter David on The Incredible Hulk and Supergirl. He had a creator-owned series, Kin, which he wrote himself, published by Top Cow in 2000.

Writer Geoff Johns, who has collaborated with Frank, has opined that Frank's rendition of Superman is the best of his generation, and that the only other artist in the same league with Frank in this regard is Curt Swan.

Career

Gary Frank began his professional career at Marvel UK in 1992, as artist on Motormouth & Killpower. It was on that series that he began a long-running collaboration with inker Cam Smith, who would continue to ink Frank's work for many years. In 1992, Frank was recruited by Marvel Comics to illustrate covers for The Incredible Hulk, beginning with issue #400. Shortly thereafter, he was hired as the series' ongoing artist (replacing Jan Duursema) beginning with issue #403 in 1993 and ending with #425 in 1995. Frank is widely considered the last of the "four great artists" (following Todd McFarlane, Jeff Purves, and Dale Keown) who have worked on the series during writer Peter David's award-winning, 12-year run on the book.

During his initial time at Marvel, Frank also contributed covers, interiors, and pin-up illustrations for various series, such as X-Men Unlimited, the Sabretooth Special, X-Men Classic, X-Men Prime, and Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, among others. He also provided covers for Acclaim Comics' Ninjak and Harris Comics' Vampirella.

In 1996, Frank moved to DC Comics, where he worked on various loose assignments that included a Birds of Prey one-shot and covers for the mini-series and one-shots that followed, and the DC/Marvel Amalgam one-shot, Bullets and Bracelets. The same year, Frank and Smith were hired as the art team on DC's new Supergirl ongoing series, which re-teamed Frank with writer Peter David. Frank's run as penciller ended with issue #9 in 1997, although he continued to provide covers for the series until issue #21.

In 1997, Frank and Smith moved to Image Comics, where they, along with writer John Arcudi, were hired as the new creative team on the popular Wildstorm title Gen¹³, beginning with the epilogue story in issue #25. Their run on the series was praised for its dark, realistic style, in both writing and art; however, the drastic change in tone and style alienated many longtime fans who had grown accustomed to the more fantastical and cartoonish approach of the highly successful Brandon Choi/J. Scott Campbell run. Nevertheless, the Arcudi/Frank/Smith tenure on the series lasted two years, until issue #41 in 1999.

(It was during this run, in 1998, that Wildstorm head Jim Lee moved his studio and all its properties to DC Comics. Therefore, issues #25-36 were published by Image and issues #37-41 were published by DC/Wildstorm.)

In 2000, Frank worked on various loose assignments for both DC and Marvel, including issue #7 of Tom Strong (under DC's America's Best Comics imprint), and writing and penciling a 2-page X-Men story in X-Men: Millennial Visions (the last time he would work with Cam Smith), while working on his first creator-owned series. Kin, a six-issue miniseries created, written, and penciled by Frank, was published under Image's Top Cow imprint. The story tells of a secret government agency named S.I.A. who discovers that a race of neanderthal men exists in the mountains of Alaska and proceed to eliminate them in order to obtain their technology, which developed differently from that of the rest of the world. The book's protagonist, S.I.A. agent Trey McAloon, is opposed to the agency's plans and confronts them about it, while the book's other main character, Alaskan Park Ranger Elizabeth Leaky, establishes contact with one of the neanderthals.

The miniseries' conclusion was an open-ended one, with questions left unanswered, but, as of yet, no sequel or continuation of the story has been announced. The trade paperback collection of Kin (entitled Kin: Descent of Man) includes six pages of additional story that were not featured in the original issues.

On May 10, 2007, having worked several years on a Marvel exclusive contract, Frank signed a new one with DC Comics. He most recently served as the regular series artist on Action Comics with writer Geoff Johns. After the New Krypton story arc, Action Comics became a title headlined by Kryptonian heroes Nightwing and Flamebird. As a result of this, the creative team on Action Comics changed.

Frank and Johns will still be working with Superman, however, in a six-issue mini-series entitled Superman: Secret Origin. The story features what Johns and DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio are calling a "definitive" telling of the origin story of Superman, dealing with his life in Smallville, his first adventure with the Legion of Super-Heroes as Superboy, and his arrival in Metropolis and at the Daily Planet. Frank and Johns will also collaborate on an out-of-continuity original graphic novel starring Batman titled Batman: Earth One. The novel is the first in a series of graphic novel scheduled in 2010 that is a redefining of Batman.

Bibliography

Comics work includes:

DC Comics

• Action Comics #858-863, 866-870 (2007–2008)
• Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty (1997)
• Batman: Earth One (2011)
• Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1 (1996)
• Bullets and Bracelets #1 (Amalgam Comics, 1996)
• The Flash #1 (Tangent Comics, 1997)
• Gen¹³ #25-41 (Wildstorm, 1997–1999)
• JLA #15 (1998)
• Just Imagine Stan Lee With Gary Frank Creating Shazam (2002)
• Supergirl (vol. 4) #1-9 (1996–1997)
• Superman: New Krypton Special #1 (2008)
• Superman: Secret Origin #1-6 (2009–2010)
• Tom Strong #7 (America's Best Comics, 2000)
• Wonder Woman Annual (vol. 3) #1 (2007)

Marvel

• The Avengers #61, 62 (2003)
• Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #82, 83 (1995)
• The Incredible Hulk #403-410, 413-418 420-423, 425, 437 (cover only) (1993–1995)
• The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #106-107, 108-110 (covers only) (2007)
• Motormouth #1-4, 6 (1992)
• Sabretooth Special #1 (1995)
• Saga of Squadron Supreme #1 (2006)
• Supreme Power #1-18 (2003)
• Squadron Supreme #1-5, 7 (2006)
• Uncanny X-Men '95 (1995)
• X-Men Prime (1994)

Top Cow

• Kin #1-6 (2000)
• Midnight Nation #1-12 (2000–2001)

References

• Gary Frank at the Grand Comics Database
• Gary Frank at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Gary Frank at Lambiek's Comiclopedia
• Gary Frank at 2000 AD online