Biography
Jones, along with inker John Beatty, first collaborated with writer Moench on a series of Batman tales including Batman: Dark Joker the Wild and the vampire Batman trilogy beginning with Batman & 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. Jones remained on the title until issue 552.
In addition to his run on Batman, Jones also illustrated the "Dream Country" and "Season of Mists" story arcs for Sandman, 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 character Deadman in the late 80s, 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. More recently, Jones has drawn the series The Crusades for Vertigo Comics (2000–2001), and the four-issue mini-series Conan: The Book of Thoth for Dark Horse Comics with writers Kurt Busiek and Len Wein in 2006.
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, written by Steve Niles. In 2009, he again illustrated Batman in a five-issue series entitled Batman: The Unseen, re-teaming with writer Doug Moench.
Read more about this topic: Kelley Jones
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“A great biography should, like the close of a great drama, leave behind it a feeling of serenity. We collect into a small bunch the flowers, the few flowers, which brought sweetness into a life, and present it as an offering to an accomplished destiny. It is the dying refrain of a completed song, the final verse of a finished poem.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“The best part of a writer’s biography is not the record of his adventures but the story of his style.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, “memoirs to serve for a history,” which is but materials to serve for a mythology.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)