Joe Staton is an American

People of the United States

The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 illustrator and writer of comic books.

Career

Staton started his work with Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...

 in 1971 and gained notability as the artist of the super-hero book E-Man

E-Man

E-Man is a fictional comic book superhero created by writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton for Charlton Comics in 1973. Though the character's original series was short-lived, the lightly humorous hero has become a cult-classic sporadically revived by various independent comics...

. Staton produced art for various comics published by Charlton, Marvel

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 and Warren

Warren Publishing

Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...

 during the 1970s.

Hired initially by Roy Thomas

Roy Thomas

Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...

 to work for Marvel, Staton was then brought by Paul Levitz

Paul Levitz

Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...

 to work on DC Comics' revival of the Justice Society of America

Justice Society of America

The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....

 in All Star Comics

All Star Comics

All Star Comics is a 1940s comic book series from All-American Publications, one of the early companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. With the exception of the first two issues, All Star Comics primarily told stories about the adventures of the...

(and later Adventure Comics

Adventure Comics

Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...

). In these titles he illustrated stories including the origin of the JSA and the death of the Earth-2 Batman

Batman

Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

. Staton also illustrated the solo adventures of two female JSA members created during the JSA revival - drawing Power Girl

Power Girl

Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....

 in Showcase

Showcase (comics)

Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...

and the Huntress

Huntress (Helena Wayne)

The Bronze Age Huntress was Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman of Earth-Two, an alternate universe established in the early 1960s as the world where the Golden Age stories took place...

. During that time, Staton also found time to work on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Legion of Super-Heroes

The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team in the 30th and 31st centuries of the . The team first appears in Adventure Comics #247 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....

, the 1970s revival of the Doom Patrol

Doom Patrol

The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...

 in Showcase, and the Metal Men

Metal Men

The Metal Men are fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The characters first appeared in Showcase #37 and were created by writer Robert Kanigher and penciller Ross Andru...

. In 1979, Staton began a two-and-a-half-year run on Green Lantern

Green Lantern

The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...

, during which he co-created the Omega Men

Omega Men

The Omega Men are a fictional team of extraterrestrial superheroes who have appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Green Lantern #141 , and were created by Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton....

 with writer Marv Wolfman

Marv Wolfman

Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...

.

Staton served as art director for First Comics

First Comics

First Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...

 for three years in the 1980s, returning to DC Comics afterwards for a second run on Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps

Green Lantern Corps

The Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic military/police force appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the planet Oa...

. He also illustrated Guy Gardner

Guy Gardner (comics)

Guy Gardner is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He is a core member of the Green Lantern family of characters, and for a time was also a significant member of the Justice League family of characters.He was created by John Broome and Gil Kane in Green Lantern...

, the Millennium

Millennium (comics)

"Millennium" was a comic book crossover story line that ran through an eight-issue, self-titled, limited series and various other titles cover dated January and February 1988 by DC Comics. The limited series was published weekly, which was a departure for an American series...

 mini-series, The Huntress

Huntress (comics)

The Huntress is a name used by several characters in DC Comics.The Golden Age Huntress is a supervillainess, while the Bronze Age and Modern Age Huntresses are superheroines....

, The New Guardians

New Guardians

New Guardians is a short-lived series published by DC Comics. It was a spin-off from the Millennium event,and ran for twelve issue, from 1988 through 1989, before being canceled. It is also the name of the group of characters who appeared in the series. The characters first appeared in Millennium...

and Superman & Bugs Bunny

Superman & Bugs Bunny

-The DC Superheroes Meet the Looney Tunes!:In Metropolis, Clark Kent and Lois Lane are investigating reports of a mysterious giant plane when they encounter Mr. Mxyzptlk. He causes a 'Czarbucks' coffee shop to grow out of the ground like a plant and then starts 'seeding' the whole city with...

.

As of the late 2000s, he draws DC's Scooby Doo title for younger readers, as well as the more mature-themed Femme Noir for Ape Entertainment. On January 19, 2011, Tribune Media Services

Tribune Media Services

Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...

 announced that Staton and writer Mike Curtis

Mike Curtis (writer)

Mike Curtis is an American writer who scripts the Dick Tracy comic strip with Joe Staton as artist. He has been working professionally in comic books as a writer since the mid-1980s...

 would replace Dick Locher

Dick Locher

Richard Earl Locher , better known as Dick Locher, is a nationally syndicated cartoonist.-Early life and career:Locher was born in Dubuque, Iowa. After high school, he began studying art at the University of Iowa and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. While in Chicago, he became an assistant to Rick...

 as the creative team of the Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...

comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

. The new creative team have worked together on Scooby Doo, Richie Rich

Richie Rich

Richard "Richie" Rich, Jr. is a fictional character that debuted in Harvey Comics' Little Dot #1, cover-dated September 1953. Dubbed "the poor little rich boy", Richie is the only child of fantastically wealthy parents and is the world's richest kid. He lives and works in an expensive mansion and...

, and Casper the Friendly Ghost

Casper the Friendly Ghost

Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...

and started on March 14, 2011. Staton also illustrated Charles Santino's graphic novel

Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 adaptation of Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....

's Anthem

Anthem (novella)

Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics...

.

External links

• Biography on Steve Englehart
  Steve Englehart
  Steve Englehart is an American novelist. In his earlier career he was a comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics, particularly in the 1970s...
  
  .com
• "Joe Staton, Man of Energy! The prolific cartoonist on E-Man, Mauser & Charlton Comics", Comic Book Artist
  Comic Book Artist
  Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
  
  #12, March 2001. WebCitation archive.