Arthur Suydam

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Arthur Suydam
Birth name Arthur Suydam
Born May 18, 1953
Nationality USA
Notable works Marvel Zombies

Arthur Suydam (1953 - ) is an American comic book artist and musician. Most recently, his "zombified" versions of classic Marvel Comics issues have attracted lots of attention.

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[edit] Biography

Arthur Suydam was born on May 18, 1953 and raised by a family of artists, who helped him develop his talents when he was recognized early on as a prodigy. By the time he was fourteen he had won awards for his drawings. At age eighteen he was working in the field of illustrated writing. Suydam is also skilled in music, and worked as the tour music director for The Comets after Bill Haley's death. Following the Comets' tour he did a stint with The Platters. He was then hired by film producer Bill Delia to serve as music director and composer for Thomas Berger's The Feud, where he had a chance to work with Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Billy Joel, and the Rolling Stones.

As he moved back into writing and illustrating, he attempted to bring to the world of comics a fusion of sequential art with classical painting. He was in favor of bringing comics to a more mature audience by giving them a more artistic feel and literary value.

[edit] Artistic work

Suydam has contributed work to many publications, including Heavy Metal, House of Secrets, House of Mystery, Penthouse Comix, Epic Illustrated and National Lampoon, as well as international sci-fi and comic anthologies. His own projects include Arthur Suydam: The Art of the Barbarian, Skin Deep, The Alien Encounters Poster Book, Visions: The Art of Arthur Suydam, Mudwogs, Mudwogs II, Bedtime Stories for the Incarcerated, Libby in the Lost World and The Adventures of Cholly and Flytrap (recently serialized by Image Comics, and soon to be released as an animated feature through Paranoid Delusions).

He was the Artist Guest of Honor at Dragon Con and received lifetime achievement awards from both the University of Maryland and the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain. He has been inducted into the Society of Illustrators in New York, and in 2005 was honored with the Spectrum Gold Medal for for Institutional Art/artistic excellence.

Arthur Suydam is perhaps best known as a comic creator, who has contributed to such titles as Batman, Conan, Tarzan, Predator, Aliens and Death Dealer. Recently, his work has primarily been on covers, including for Marvel Zombies, Ghost Rider, Hellstorm, Moon Knight and Wolverine for Marvel Comics, as well as covers for the much-anticipated crossover of Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness and Raise the Dead for Dynamite Entertainment.

He has also created the box art for the game Touch the Dead, and provided the cover art to the Mickey Spillane (with Max Allan Collins) novel Dead Street.

[edit] Marvel Comics homage covers

The cover of each issue of the Marvel Zombies related book is a homage cover of a famous cover from Marvel history, featuring zombie versions of the characters.

  • Marvel Zombies collection, 1st printing -- Secret Wars #1, by Mike Zeck.
  • Marvel Zombies collection, 2nd printing -- Amazing Spider-Man #316, by Todd McFarlane.
  • Marvel Zombies collection, 3rd printing -- Fantastic Four #49, by Jack Kirby.
  • Marvel Zombies collection, 4th printing -- Avengers #1, by Jack Kirby.
  • Marvel Zombies collection, 5th printing -- Mary Jane #2, by Takeshi Miyazawa.
  • Marvel Zombies collection, 6th printing is a homage to Iron Man #128, by Bob Layton.
  • Ultimate Fantastic Four #30 (variant cover) -- Fantastic Four #1, by Jack Kirby.
  • Ultimate Fantastic Four #31 (variant cover) -- Fantastic Four #51, by Jack Kirby.
  • Ultimate Fantastic Four #32 (variant cover), is a homage to Fantastic Four #8, by Jack Kirby.
  • Marvel Zombies: Dead Days -- X-Men #1, by Jim Lee.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #1, 1st printing -- X-Men #141, by John Byrne.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #1, 2nd printing -- |X-Men #137, by John Byrne.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #1, 3rd printing -- Captain America #1, by Jack Kirby.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #2 -- X-Men #268, by Jim Lee.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #3, 1st printing -- Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, by Dick Giordano.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #3, 2nd printing -- The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel, by Jim Starlin.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #4 -- Captain America #100, by Syd Shores.
  • Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #5 -- Wolverine #1 (1982), by Frank Miller.
  • Black Panther #27 -- Fantastic Four #3, by Jack Kirby.
  • Black Panther #28 -- Fantastic Four #116, by John Buscema.
  • Black Panther #29 -- Avengers #87, by John Buscema.
  • Black Panther #30 -- Fantastic Four #4, by Jack Kirby.
  • Marvel Zombies Poster Book is a homage to Secret Wars #8 by Mike Zeck.
  • Marvel Zombies 2 #1 i -- the variant cover of Civil War #1, by Michael Turner.
  • Marvel Zombies 2 #2 i-- Marvel Comics #1, by Frank Paul.
  • Marvel Zombies 2 #3 -- Tales of Suspense #39 by Don Heck.
  • Marvel Zombies 2 #4 -- Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #4, by Jim Steranko.
  • Marvel Zombies 2 #5 -- Silver Surfer #4, by John Buscema.

[edit] Other Marvel Comics covers

  • Fantastic Four #554 Variant
  • Ghost Rider #10
  • Ghost Rider #11
  • Moon Knight #15
  • Wolverine #57
  • Wolverine #58
  • Wolverine #59
  • Wolverine #60
  • Wolverine #61

[edit] Musical work

Also an accomplished singer-songwriter, Suydam’s love of American roots music has led him to perform with Bill Haley’s Comets and The Platters, as well as composing and recording the soundtrack to the critically-acclaimed independent film, The Feud. Suydam’s own band, the Gotham Playboys, has recorded and is currently on tour with Bruce Springsteen. Arthur Suydam lives and works in Manhattan’s East Village.

[edit] References

[edit] External links