Frank Quitely (born 1968) is a
ScottishThe Scots people and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.An ethnic group, historically they emerged from an amalgamation of Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
known for his work in books such as
The Authority,
New X-MenNew X-Men was a superhero comic book series published from by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise. After the end of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men titled New X-Men, the title was used for a new series, New X-Men: Academy X, serving as a continuation of the second volume of New Mutants...
,
WE3We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.-Plot:The story follows the journey of...
,
All-Star Superman, and
Batman and RobinBatman and Robin is an American comic book ongoing series, written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quitely, featuring Batman and Robin. The debut of the series follows the events of Batman R.I.P., Final Crisis, and Battle for the Cowl in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died...
.
Quitely was born
Vincent Deighan in 1968. He first worked upon the Scottish underground comics title
Electric SoupElectric Soup is the title of a Scottish underground comic book series which was first published in 1989, and ran until 1992.The title was an anthology title with its most notable strip being The Greens, which was written and drawn by Frank Quitely...
in 1990. He wrote and drew
The Greens, a parody of
The BroonsThe Broons is a comic strip published in the weekly Scottish newspaper, The Sunday Post. It features the Brown family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street, in the fictional Scottish town of Auchentogle or Auchenshoogle The Broons is a comic strip published in the weekly Scottish...
strip published by
D.C Thompson{Infobox_Company | company_name = D C Thomson & Co. Ltd. | company_logo = {Infobox_Company | company_name = D C Thomson & Co. Ltd. | company_logo = {Infobox_Company | company_name = D C Thomson & Co. Ltd. | company_logo = {Infobox_Company |...
. It was in working on this book that he adopted the pseudonym of
Frank Quitely (a
spoonerismA spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner , Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency...
of "quite frankly"), as he didn't want his family to know it was his work, worried that they may have found it upsetting.
Frank Quitely (born 1968) is a
ScottishThe Scots people and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.An ethnic group, historically they emerged from an amalgamation of Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
known for his work in books such as
The Authority,
New X-MenNew X-Men was a superhero comic book series published from by Marvel Comics within the X-Men franchise. After the end of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men titled New X-Men, the title was used for a new series, New X-Men: Academy X, serving as a continuation of the second volume of New Mutants...
,
WE3We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.-Plot:The story follows the journey of...
,
All-Star Superman, and
Batman and RobinBatman and Robin is an American comic book ongoing series, written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quitely, featuring Batman and Robin. The debut of the series follows the events of Batman R.I.P., Final Crisis, and Battle for the Cowl in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died...
.
Career
Quitely was born
Vincent Deighan in 1968. He first worked upon the Scottish underground comics title
Electric SoupElectric Soup is the title of a Scottish underground comic book series which was first published in 1989, and ran until 1992.The title was an anthology title with its most notable strip being The Greens, which was written and drawn by Frank Quitely...
in 1990. He wrote and drew
The Greens, a parody of
The BroonsThe Broons is a comic strip published in the weekly Scottish newspaper, The Sunday Post. It features the Brown family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street, in the fictional Scottish town of Auchentogle or Auchenshoogle The Broons is a comic strip published in the weekly Scottish...
strip published by
D.C Thompson{Infobox_Company | company_name = D C Thomson & Co. Ltd. | company_logo = {Infobox_Company | company_name = D C Thomson & Co. Ltd. | company_logo = {Infobox_Company | company_name = D C Thomson & Co. Ltd. | company_logo = {Infobox_Company |...
. It was in working on this book that he adopted the pseudonym of
Frank Quitely (a
spoonerismA spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner , Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency...
of "quite frankly"), as he didn't want his family to know it was his work, worried that they may have found it upsetting. He lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
Initially
Electric Soup was only distributed locally in Glasgow, then it was picked up by
John Brown PublishingJohn Brown, previously called John Brown Publishing, is one of the world’s largest customer communication agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company it now offers a broad range of services under a single umbrella - these include divisions for catalogues, digital, customer magazines,...
for widespread national
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
distribution. This brought Quitely's work to the attention of
Judge Dredd MegazineJudge Dredd Megazine is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in October 1990. It is a sister publication to 2000 AD.The Megazine contains both stories set in the world of Judge Dredd, as well as unconnected stories and text pieces, including articles, interviews and reviews.-Stories:Like...
editor
David BishopDavid Bishop is an award-winning screenwriter and author. Born in New Zealand, he was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1995 and the summer of 2000....
. He was given work on
ShimuraShimura is a comic strip in the British science fiction anthology the Judge Dredd Megazine, detailing the exploits of its eponymous hero in Hondo-City, a futuristic version of Tokyo....
, written by
Robbie MorrisonRobbie Morrison is a British comics writer most known for his work in 2000 AD and as the co-creator of popular character Nikolai Dante .-Biography:...
, and
Missionary Man, by
Gordon RennieGordon Rennie is a former music journalist turned comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
, quickly rising to prominence and being voted among the fans' favourite five artists in an end-of-year survey. By 1994 he had started work in various stories in
Paradox PressParadox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like A History of Violence and Road to Perdition...
's series of
Big Book Of graphic novels, as well as work for
Dark Horse PresentsDark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. Volume 2 however, began in July 2007.-Volume one:...
for
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book publisher.Mike Richardson, the owner of several comic book shops in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, began to publish in 1986 with an anthology series called Dark Horse Presents, investing profits from his stores into Dark...
.
His big break into American comics was
Flex MentalloFlex Mentallo is a comic book character who first appeared in 1990 in issue #35 of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol as a member of the audience for Danny the Street's Perpetual Cabaret. Later in the storyline, Flex realises that he is actually "The Man of Muscle Mystery", and tidies his appearance...
, a
Doom PatrolThe Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
spin-off written by fellow Glaswegian
Grant MorrisonGrant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings.-Early years:...
for
DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
' Vertigo imprint, in 1996. Quitely's work proved very popular, and this launched him onto more work for Vertigo. Initially he was put to work on strips for
anthologyAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
titles such as
Weird War TalesWeird War Tales was a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics which ran from September 1971 to June 1983.-Background:...
, and drew four issues of
Jamie DelanoJamie Delano is a British comics writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers. Best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, starring John Constantine.- Biography :...
's
2020 Visions2020 Visions is a science-fiction comic book written by Jamie Delano and drawn by four artists. Originally serialized as a twelve-issue full-color limited series from 1997 to 1998 at the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, it was later collected as a black-and-white volume in a 2004 hardcover from...
, as well as various covers for DC. He later drew his first full length graphic novel,
BatmanThe Batman, originally referred to as the Bat-Man, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger , appearing in publications by DC Comics...
: The Scottish Connection, with writer Alan Grant.
2000 saw Quitely and Morrison collaborate again, on
JLAJLA was a comic book ongoing series featuring the Justice League published by DC Comics from January 1997 to April 2006.-Publication history:...
:Earth 2. Once again, the graphic novel was met with a hugely positive critical response, and later that year Quitely took over from
Bryan HitchBryan Hitch is a British comic book artist. He is the co-creator and artist of The Authority and The Ultimates.His long list of credits include The Sensational She-Hulk, X-Men, Superman and Stormwatch and, for Marvel UK, Action Force, Doctor Who, Mys-Tech Wars and Death's Head.-Comics:Hitch...
as artist on
The Authority, with
Mark MillarMark Millar is an award-winning Scottish comic book writer born in Coatbridge. Now a resident of Glasgow, Millar has been the highest selling British comic-book writer working in America this decade...
as writer. This run proved to be highly controversial, and Quitely's art suffered censorship by DC due mainly to the violent content of Millar's stories. In addition, the title was hampered by delays, due in part to Quitely's slow drawing speed and the time he took off to draw the final issue of Morrison's
The InvisiblesThe Invisibles is a mature readers comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication....
.
Quitely left
The Authority to draw
New X-Men. Quitely also managed to find time to illustrate a
Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
-written story for the hardcover graphic novel,
Sandman: Endless Nights.
Since leaving
New X-Men, Quitely has drawn the mini series
We3We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.-Plot:The story follows the journey of...
in 2004, again in collaboration with Morrison. More than any other series in his career to date, this book was almost unanimously acclaimed by critics for its art and storytelling, and further cemented Quitely's reputation. He shared the 2005 Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Eisner AwardThe Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, commonly shortened to the Eisner Award, is a prize given for creative achievement in American comic books. It is named in honor of the pioneering writer and artist Will Eisner, who was a regular participant in the award ceremony until his death in 2005, and...
in a tie with artist
John CassadayJohn Cassaday is an American comic book artist and writer, born in Fort Worth, Texas and currently residing in New York City. He is known for having a high level of precision and realism in his work....
for his work on the book. That same year, he and Morrison were also nominated for Best Limited Series for that book, and
Quitely additionally was nominated for the Best Cover Artist Eisner for both
We3 and
Bite ClubBite Club is a Vertigo comic book mini series created by writers Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. It is essentially a crime story in which all of the protagonists are vampires living in Miami...
.
He has written and drawn new installments of
The Greens for the Scottish underground comic
Northern Lightz, and in 2005 Morrison and Quitely designed a series of
tarotThe tarot , , is a pack of cards , used from the mid fifteenth century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Italian Tarocchini and French Tarot. The tarot has four suits corresponding to the suits of conventional playing cards...
cards for
Intensive Care, the latest album by popstar
Robbie WilliamsRobert Peter Williams, better known as Robbie Williams is a BRIT Award-winning English British singer-songwriter. His career started in 1989, at the age of 15, as a dancer and singer with the pop band Take That. He left the band in 1995 to launch his solo career...
.
In December 2004, Quitely signed to a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics, where he illustrated
All Star SupermanAll Star Superman is a twelve-issue comic book series featuring Superman that ran from November 2005 to October 2008. The series was written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely, digitally inked by Jamie Grant and published by DC Comics...
. The twelve issue series, yet another collaboration with Morrison, began publication in November 2005, and once again attracted near-unanimous praise. Quitely and Morrison's work on the series won them the Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2006, with Quitely collecting another nomination for Best Penciller/Inker. The series also won Best Continuing Series in 2007 and 2009. .
Quitely has continued to draw covers for Vertigo, for series including
Bite ClubBite Club is a Vertigo comic book mini series created by writers Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. It is essentially a crime story in which all of the protagonists are vampires living in Miami...
,
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime and the recent
American Virgin.
In early 2009, Frank Quitely collaborated with much acclaimed Scottish rock band
The Phantom BandThe Phantom Band is a Glasgow-based band consisting of Duncan Marquiss , Gerry Hart , Andy Wake , Rick Anthony , Damien Tonner and Greg Sinclair...
in designing artwork for a limited edition 7" single for their song "The Howling", which plays on Quitely's interest in occultism and esoterica. This was released as a limited run collector's pressing by Glasgow's Chemikal Underground Records.
He has provided the cover for the debut issue of Scottish underground comic
Wasted.
Quitely is again working with Morrison on the new
Batman and RobinBatman and Robin is an American comic book ongoing series, written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quitely, featuring Batman and Robin. The debut of the series follows the events of Batman R.I.P., Final Crisis, and Battle for the Cowl in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died...
title, which debuted in June 2009 after the "
Battle for the CowlBatman: Battle for the Cowl is a three issue comic book limited series published by DC Comics. Written and penciled by Tony Daniel, the story details the chaos in Gotham City after Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis due to Batman's perceived absence and abandonment by the public...
" storyline.
Covers only
- Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit #1-2 (DC/Vertigo, 2006)
- American Virgin #1-3 (DC/Vertigo, 2006)
- Bite Club #1-6 (DC/Vertigo, 2004)
- Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime is a fantasy comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 2004 and 2005 that was discontinued after fifteen issues....
#1-7, 9 (DC/Vertigo, 2004-2005)
- New X-Men #117-120, 124-125, 127, 132-133. (Marvel, 2001-03)
Awards and nominations
- 2005: Won Best Penciller/Inker Eisner Award for We3
We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.-Plot:The story follows the journey of...
(tied with John CassadayJohn Cassaday is an American comic book artist and writer, born in Fort Worth, Texas and currently residing in New York City. He is known for having a high level of precision and realism in his work....
)
- 2006: Won Best New Series Eisner Award for All-Star Superman with Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings.-Early years:...
- 2007: Won Best Continuing Series Eisner Award for All-Star Superman with Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings.-Early years:...
- 2007: Won Best Artist Harvey Award for All-Star Superman
- 2009: Won Best Continuing Series Eisner Award for All-Star Superman with Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings.-Early years:...
Nominations
- 2005 Best Limited Series Eisner Award for We3
We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.-Plot:The story follows the journey of...
- 2005 Best Cover Artist Eisner Award for We3
We3 is a three-issue American comic book mini-series by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who describe its kinetic style as "Western Manga". It was published in 2004 by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with a trade paperback released in 2005.-Plot:The story follows the journey of...
and Bite ClubBite Club is a Vertigo comic book mini series created by writers Howard Chaykin and David Tischman. It is essentially a crime story in which all of the protagonists are vampires living in Miami...
- 2006 Best Penciller/Inker Eisner Award for All-Star Superman
External links
Interviews