Clayton Henry

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Clayton Henry is a growing talent in the comic business. He got his first break in the business by providing the art on the ill fated Nine Rings Of Wu-Tang and Area 52 before disappearing from the world of comics briefly. Now making a triumphant return with his Marvel works including Exiles, Alpha Flight, New X-Men :Hellions, X-men: Apocalypse (comics) vs. Dracula, and currently Uncanny X-Men.

[edit] Biography

Born in Mandeville, Jamaica, Henry moved to the U.S. when he was three. His father, an artist himself amazed Clayton with a picture of a car he saw him draw. He began drawing at 4 and at age 9 he was drawn into the world of comics with a copy of Uncanny X-Men #201. He attended art schools from 4th grade through 12th grade and much of college.After a brief stint in independent comics with the aforementioned Wu-Tang and Area 52 comics Henry spent his time just making ends meet. After several rejection letters Clayton shopped his work around the convention circuit where ironically he was hired by the very same company that had recently rejected him, Marvel. Soon he was given a spot on X-Men Unlimited. This eventually led to him being placed on the "Unnatural Instincts" storyline of Exiles. This body of work landed him on what would be his first shortcoming at Marvel, the third relaunch of Alpha Flight . The series was canceled after 12 issues due to lackluster sales but his art was still well liked at the House of Ideas. Soon he was placed on several other X-Men related projects, including New X-Men :Hellions , and X-Men:Apocalypse (comics) vs. Dracula . He is currently assisting Chris Bachalo with finishing up the "Supernovas" storyline and is doing art for Uncanny X-Men.

[edit] Art Style

Henry's art style is reminiscent of Ed McGuiness and Joe Madureira. Where as Joe Madureira was the pioneer of introducing the anime style to American comics, and Ed Mcguiness' style reminds readers of the DC Animated style with a large anime influence, Henry's style is almost a mix of the two, drawing influence from anime's exaggerated facial expressions and over the top action, and the simplicity of form that Bruce Timm's animated style displayed so prominently throughout all the different series. His art style is fitting for any genre be it fantasy, as he showed with Nine Rings of the Wu-Tang or superhero action like his work on X-men. This stylized look is always accompanied by terrific and well detailed backgrounds and scenery. His artwork always exudes a kinetic energy that grabs the reader and takes them on a rollercoaster ride of excitement even when not much is happening. And his character designs are always fresh, yet still have the classic feel that reminds you who the character is. Clayton Henry has cemented himself a place as an artist to watch.