Fiona Staples

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Fiona Staples

Staples at the 2011 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo.
Nationality Canadian
Area(s) Penciller, Inker, Colorist
Awards

2011 Joe Shuster Award[1]
2013 Eisner Award[2]
2013 Hugo Award[3]

2013 Harvey Award[4]
Official website

Fiona Staples is a Canadian comic book artist known for her work on books such as North 40, DV8: Gods and Monsters, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Saga. She has been cited as one of the best female artists working in the industry, and one of the best artists overall.[5]

Early life

Books that had a seminal impact upon Staples include The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, Dragon of the Lost Sea series by Laurence Yep, the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, and The Chronicles of Narnia books by C. S. Lewis.[6]

Career

Staples's first published work was "Amphibious Nightmare", a 24-hour comic included in the About Comics anthology 24 Hour Comics Day Highlights 2005.[7] Her first series assignment was 2006's Done to Death, working with writer Andrew Foley for Markosia. She was one of the illustrators of WildStorm's Trick 'r Treat graphic novel, an adaptation of the Michael Dougherty film. She was the penciller and inker of The Secret History of the Authority: Hawksmoor, written by Mike Costa. She also coloured Frazer Irving's art for the 2000 AD story Button Man.

In March 2012 Image Comics published the first issue of Saga, an ongoing series conceived by writer Brian K. Vaughan.[8] Staples was introduced to Vaughan by their mutual friend, writer Steve Niles, with whom Staples worked on Mystery Society.[6] Vaughan, who did not meet Staples in person until just before their panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, explained his selection of Staples by describing his reaction upon first seeing her work, saying, "Her artwork is incredible. [It] doesn't look like anyone else. She is very unique. When I opened up this file I was like, 'This is going to work!'" Staples is co-owner of Saga,[9] and in addition to designing the cast[10] and all the ships and alien races in the story, she provides painted covers, and hand-letters the narration (using her own handwriting), which is the last thing she does after finishing the artwork on a page.[6][11][12] Staples renders the characters in a pen-and-ink style line, while using all-color settings inspired by video games and Japanese animation.[10] At the 2012 Image Expo, Staples described the process by which she produces the art as harkening back to animation cels, in which emphasis is placed on figures and backgrounds.[13] Vaughan has stated that Staple's style has influenced the direction of the story.[9] The organic forms of most of the series' technology, for example, such as the main characters' wooden rocket ship, is derived from Staples' dislike of drawing mechanical objects.[10] To design the series' various planetary settings, Staples looks to the real world for inspiration and then exaggerates some elements of them. Some rooms on the planet Cleave, for example, were inspired by Cambodian architecture.[12]

Critical reception

Staples at Another Dimension Comics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Staples' work on Saga received wide acclaim from numerous reviewers,[14] with Ain't it Cool News characterizing it as "glorious",[15] and P.S. Hayes of Geeks of Doom praising her art as "amazing", saying, "From the gorgeous painted cover all the way through the last page, she delivers in every way that’s artistically possible. It’s got to be tough to be handed a script like this one and try and figure out what to do, but she handles it beautifully. Everything looks like it belongs in the universe. Her backgrounds are elaborate, yet never distracting or too busy and they never take focus off the main characters."[16] Alex Zalben of MTV Geek predicting readers would "fall head over heels in love" with it,[17] and Greg McElhatton of Comic Book Resources positively comparing it to that of Leinil Francis Yu, specifically her use of delicate lines to frame characters with large, bold figures, and her mixture of the familiar and the foreign together in her character designs to create a visually cohesive universe.[18] AICN singled out Staples' handling of grand, sweeping space shots and other genre trappings, as well as her mastery of facial expressions, which AICN felt was perfectly suited to Vaughan's subtle dialogue.[15]

Awards and nominations

Wins

  • 2011 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Cover Artist for Mystery Society #1-5 (IDW), DV8: Gods and Monsters #1-8 (DC/Wildstorm), Superman/Batman #79 (DC Comics), Acts of Violence: An Anthology of Crime Comics (New Reliable Press), Magus #1 (12 Gauge Comics)[19]
  • 2013 Eisner Award for Best New Series for Saga (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[2]
  • 2013 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for Saga (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[2]
  • 2013 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for Saga, Vol. 1 (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[3]
  • 2013 Harvey Award for Best Artist for Saga (Image Comics)[4]
  • 2013 Harvey Award for Best Colourist for Saga (Image Comics)[4]
  • 2013 Harvey Award for Best New Series for Saga (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[4]
  • 2013 Harvey Award for Best Continuing/Limited Series for Saga (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[4]
  • 2013 Harvey Award for Best Issue/Story for Saga (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[4]
  • 2013 British Fantasy Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel for Saga (Image Comics) (with Brian K. Vaughan)[20]

Nominations

  • 2010 Eisner Award for Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team for North 40 (WildStorm)[21]
  • 2011 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Artist for Mystery Society #1-5 (IDW), Northlanders #29 (DC/Vertigo), Fringe: Tales from the Fringe #4 (DC/Wildstorm)[19]
  • 2013 Joe Shuster Award for Cover Artist for Life with Archie #24B (Archie), Dark Horse Presents #10 (Dark Horse), Action Comics #15B, National Comics Madame X #1 (DC Comics), Smoke and Mirrors #1B (IDW), Saga #1-8 (Image Comics)[22]
  • 2013 Joe Shuster Award for Artist for Saga #1-8 (Image Comics)[22]
  • 2013 Harvey Award for Best Cover Artist for Saga (Image Comics)[23]

Bibliography

Interior art

Cover work

Notes

  1. ↑ MacDonald, Heidi (June 20, 2011). "2011 Joe Shuster Award winners announced". The Beat.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hennon, Blake (20 July 2013). "Comic-Con: 'Building Stories,' 'Saga' top Eisners (winners list)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 July 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "2013 Hugo Awards". Hugo Awards. 2013-04-30. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Seifert, Mark. September 2013 "Saga Wins Big At 2013 Harvey Awards, Plus Complete List Of Winners". 
  5. ↑ Salvatore, Brian (July 20, 2012). "Review: Saga #5". Multiversity Comics.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Uzumeri, David (March 14, 2012). "'Saga': Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples Bring a Stellar Sci-Fi Comic Into the World". Comics Alliance.
  7. ↑ Singh, Arune (2006-02-03). "'Done To Death' Lives On At Markosia This Summer". Comic Book Resources. 
  8. ↑ Armitage, Hugh (March 13, 2012). "Brian K Vaughan's 'Saga' launches". Digital Spy.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lewis, Shane (February 26, 2012). "IMAGE EXPO: Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' "Saga" Panel". Comic Book Resources.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Wolk, Douglas (August 5, 2013). "Masters of the Universe. The space story Saga is the comic world's big hit". Time. p. 54.
  11. ↑ Vaughan, Brian K. (w), Staples, Fiona (a). "Chapter One" Saga 1 (March 2012), Image Comics
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Kepler, Adam W. (October 26, 2012). "Graphic Books Best Sellers: Fiona Staples Talks About 'Saga'". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ Allen, Todd (March 12, 2012). "Advance Review: "Saga" By Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples". The Beat.
  14. ↑ Richards, Ron (January 30, 2012). "ADVANCE REVIEW: SAGA #1 (Spoiler Free)". iFanboy.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "AICN COMICS REVIEWS: Brian K. Vaughan’s SAGA! FAIREST! UNCANNY X-MEN! AKA! & MORE!!!". Ain't it Cool News. March 14, 2012.
  16. ↑ Hayes, P.S. (March 13, 2012). "Comic Review: Saga #1". Geeks of Doom.
  17. ↑ Zalben, Alex (March 5, 2012). "The 'Saga' Of Brian K. Vaughan: How He Went From Runaway Kids To Epic Fantasy". MTV Geek.
  18. ↑ McElhatton, Greg (March 13, 2012). "Review: Saga #1". Comic Book Resources.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Boyd, Kevin. June 2011 "2011 Nominees and Winners (winners list)". 
  20. ↑ "Winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2013". British Fantasy Awards. 2013-11-03. 
  21. ↑ MacDonald, Heidi (8 April 2010). April 2010 "2010 Eisner Award nominations announced". The Beat. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Boyd, Kevin. June 2013 "The 2013 Joe Shuster Award Nominees / Les nominés pour le prix Joe Shuster 2013". 
  23. ↑ Cavna, Michael. July 2013 "2013 HARVEY AWARD NOMS: Chris Ware, ‘SAGA’ among top nominees". 

References

External links

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