Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962) is an American comic book artist who has provided art for several comic books in Dark Horse Comics' Aliens and Predator lines.
Biography
Born in Sacramento, CA in 1962, Jones is known in the comics field for his unique, dark, gothic/horror-styled artwork. He has worked extensively for major and indie comics companies such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and others on established major characters and new works.
He is perhaps best known for his work with DC Comics' Batman from the 1990s till the present, where he has often been paired with writer Doug Moench to present a more horror-oriented Dark Knight.
Jones got his start in mainstream comics working as artist on a number of super-hero and science fiction series at Marvel Comics including the ROM (1984), Micronauts (1984-1986), Comet Man (1987, 1990) series, and the short-livedcomics adaptations of the equally short-lived animated series Air Raiders (1987-1988) and Dino-Riders (1989). He would later illustrate series such as Venom and Magneto for the company.
Like fellow early-Aliens comics contributor Sam Kieth, Jones soon became an early contributor to the critically acclaimed Sandman series from DC/Vertigo Comics in the early 1990s, as his darker art style truly started to develop. Jones illustrated the "Dream Country" and "Season of Mists" story arcs for Sandman in 1989, his style lending itself well to a story in which the main character must travel to Hell to free a former lover.
Jones is also well known for revamping the DC character Deadman starting in 1988 in the pages of Action Comics Weekly and continuing through Deadman graphic novels in 1989, 1992, and 1995, redesigning him to look thin and skeletal. His face, formerly drawn to resemble a normal human's head with pale white skin, now looked like a skull.
Jones' first Batman collaboration with Moench was on a series of tales including Batman: Dark Joker the Wild and the vampire Batman trilogy beginning with Batman and Dracula: Red Rain. Both of these comics were very dark and moody, even for a Batman comic, crossing into horror. Batman fans were mixed as to Jones' run on the regular Batman book (1995–1998), some praising his dark and Gothic portrayal of Batman, and others thinking that his style was too radical. Going for style and mood over realism, Jones is known for drawing the ears on Batman's cowl and Batman's cape incredibly long, giving him a demonic look.
More recently, Jones has drawn the series The Crusades for Vertigo Comics (2000–2001) with fellow A/P/AVP contributor, writer Steven T. Seagle, and the four-issue mini-series Conan: The Book of Thoth for Dark Horse in 2006.
In 1991, Jones had his first foray into creator-owned original works with the 4-part series Monolith for Comico. Since 1997, Jones has also produced a number of works as a writer-artist for Dark Horse, including several miniseries and one-shots starring his creation The Hammer (1997–1999): the one-shot ZombieWorld: "Eat Your Heart Out" (1998; later included in the 2005 trade paperback ZombieWorld: Winter's Dregs), and the four-issue miniseries The 13th Son (2005–2006). He is currently working on illustrating the graphic novel adaptation of The Messengers for Dark Horse.
In 2008. Jones returned to illustrate the character Batman, this time in a twelve-issue series entitled Batman: Gotham After Midnight. In 2009, he again illustrated Batman in a five-issue series entitled Batman: The Unseen, re-teaming with writer Doug Moench.
Credits
Interior artist
Cover artist
Aliens
Predator
External Links
An online review of Jones' unique art style: http://everydayislikewednesday.blogspot.com/2009/01/your-monthly-kelley-jones-batman-update.html