Gordon Purcell
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Gordon Purcell (born 1959 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is an American comic book artist, perhaps best known for his Star Trek work, in particular his photorealistic renditions of the actors who play that franchise’s characters, as well as those of similarly licensed books, such as X-Files, Xena, Lost in Space, Godzilla, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Barb Wire, and The Terminator.
Purcell grew up reading Marvel Comics and DC Comics, his love of drawing sparked by watching cartoons of Spider-Man and Batman. The first comic book he read was a Disney comic book, one of many he read as a child. Gordon graduated from the University of Minnesota with Bachelor's degrees in Studio arts and Theater, and has remarked that with the emphasis on costume design and directing in comics, the theater probably helped him more.
Purcell has worked on numerous comic books, including Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Soulsearchers and Company, Flare, Flash, The Fantastic Four, Superman, Wonder Man, Hulk vs. Nova, Moon Knight, What If…?, Race Warriors, Kolchak: the Night Stalker and Elvira.
Purcell claims not to have a favorite company to work for, but is attracted to projects based on the editor and other creators involved with them. He cites his work on Silver Sable as a project he particularly enjoyed, saying he feels that the book was “really going somewhere” by the end of his run. Purcell also cites his work on Gammarauders, stating that having to ink his own pencils taught him a lot about what information he needed to give to his future inkers. Purcell also cites his Star Trek work because he was allowed to visit the sets of those shows, which were among his favorites. Among his favorite characters today include Thing, Robin, Teen Titans, the Metal Men, JLA, The Avengers and Metamorpho.
[edit] Appearances
Purcell appeared on the October 19, 2005 episode of the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. Having had only two hours of sleep, he won $50,000.00, deciding to quit when he could not answer the question of which U.S. state signed a 1790 treaty under the threat of being declared a foreign nation. (The answer was Rhode Island.)
[edit] Trivia
Purcell is married and the father of a son. He enjoys going to the movies and is in two fantasy football teams with other comic book professionals.
