Kelley Jones

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Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962 in Sacramento, CA) is a comic book artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench and on Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman. Kelley Jones, along with inker John Beatty, first collaborated with writer Doug Moench on a series of non-continuity Batman tales including Batman: Dark Joker the Wild and the vampire Batman saga beginning with Batman and Dracula: Red Rain. Both of these comics were very dark and moody, even for a Batman comic, crossing the line at times from superhero comic into horror. Batman fans were mixed as to the Jones' run on the regular Batman book (1995-1998), some praising his bleak and grim portrayal of Batman and others feeling that his style was too radical. Going for style and mood over realism, Jones' was known for drawing Batman's ears incredibly long, giving him a demonic look.

In addition to his stint on Batman, Jones also illustrated the Season of Mists story arc for Sandman, his style lending itself well to a story in which the main character must travel to Hell to free a former lover. Jones is also well known for revamping the character Deadman in the late 80's, redesigning him to look thin and skeletal. His face, formerly drawn to resemble a normal human's head with pale white skin, now looked like a skull. More recently, Jones has drawn the series The Crusades for Vertigo (2000-2001), and the four-issue mini-series Conan: The Book of Thoth for Dark Horse Comics (2006; script by Kurt Busiek and Len Wein).

Since 1997, he has also produced a number of works as a writer-artist for Dark Horse, including several miniseries and one-shots starring his creation, The Hammer (1997-1999), the one-shot ZombieWorld: Eat Your Heart Out (1998; later included in the 2005 trade paperback ZombieWorld: Winter's Dregs), and the four-issue miniseries The 13th Son (2005-2006). He is currently working on illustrating the graphic novel adaptation of The Messengers for Dark Horse comics.