Arvell Jones

Arvell Jones

Arvell Jones, October 2011
Born Arvell Malcolm Jones
September 5
Nationality American
Area(s) Penciller
Notable works
 All-Star Squadron; Misty Knight

Arvell Jones (whose earliest work is billed Arvell Malcolm Jones) (born September 5)[1] is an American comic book illustrator best known for his work for Marvel Comics, and for DC Comics and its imprint Milestone Media.

Biography

Arvell Jones and his brother Desmond Jones were raised in Detroit, Michigan, and were an active in early comic book fandom.[2] Along with fellow Detroiters and future comics professionals Rich Buckler, Tom Orzechowski, Keith Pollard, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Michael Netzer, and others, Jones worked on the Detroit Triple Fan Fair,[2] one of the earliest comic book conventions, and published the fanzine Fan Informer from 5729 Cadillac Street in Detroit; it lasted through at least issue #30 (1971).[3] Jones in 2006 recalled how he and his compatriots "would take a 13-hour drive and spend the night with Al Milgrom and his roommate, hang at Rich [Buckler]'s, then go see [art director] John Romita at Marvel [Comics], get our butts spanked, and go back to Detroit to work on our samples again."[2]

He broke into the comics industry as art assistant for Buckler, the first of the Detroit group to enter the field professionally.[2] After helping him on Marvel features starring the superhero the Black Panther and the Buckler-created cyborg antihero Deathlok, Jones received his first published credit, for pencil-art assistance, alongside Pollard, on the Buckler-drawn Thor #228 (cover-dated Oct. 1974). He then did pencil "breakdowns"—layouts that break down the plot elements—for all but page one of the 18-page team-up story "The Return of the Living Eraser", starring the Thing and Morbius, the Living Vampire, with veteran artist Dick Giordano providing finished art.[4] This did not see publication for a year, however,[2] eventually running in Marvel Two-in-One #15 (May 1976). Following an illustration for the text story "The Atomic Monster" in the Marvel black-and-white horror-comics magazine Monsters Unleashed #9 (Dec. 1974), Jones made his full comics-art debut as penciler of an 18-page story starring the martial-artist superhero Iron Fist in Marvel Premiere #20 (Jan. 1975). He went on to do the next two Iron Fist stories in that bimonthly series.[4] At DC Comics, Jones worked with writer Gerry Conway on the Super-Team Family title which starred the Atom teaming with various other DC characters.[5] After the cancellation of Super-Team Family, a Supergirl/Doom Patrol team-up drawn by Jones originally scheduled to appear in that series was published in The Superman Family #191-193.[6]

Jones worked on the DC Comics series All-Star Squadron in the mid-1980s, penciling the majority of the issues released between 1985 and 1987. After leaving the comics field for several years to work in television,[7][8] he returned in 1994 to provide pencils on DC Comics/Milestone Media's series Kobalt and Hardware.

Bibliography

DC Comics

Milestone Media

Marvel Comics

References

  1. ↑ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Arvell Jones interview. (February 22, 2006). "Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants: Arvell Jones". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 28, 2012. (Requires scrolldown)
  3. ↑ Lent, John A. (2005). Comic Art of the United States through 2000, Animation and Cartoons: An international Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group (Google eBook). p. 50.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Arvell Jones at the Grand Comics Database
  5. ↑ Johnson, Dan (August 2013). "We Are (Super-Team) Family". Back Issue! (TwoMorrows Publishing) (66): 8–14.
  6. ↑ Wells, John (October 24, 1997), "'Lost' DC: 1976-1980", Comics Buyer's Guide (1249): 128
  7. ↑ Jaworski, Jeff. "Arvell Jones". Comicbook-Art.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Arvell Jones". Lambiek Comiclopedia. May 9, 2008. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012.

External links

Audio/video