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Frank Quitely

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Frank Quitely
Quitely smiling
Quitely at the New York Comic Con,
14 October 2011
BornVincent Patrick Deighan[1]
1968 (age 55–56)
Rutherglen, Scotland, United Kingdom
NationalityScottish
Area(s)Penciller, Inker
Notable works
All-Star Superman
The Authority
Flex Mentallo
New X-Men
We3
AwardsNational Comics Award (2002)
Eisner Award (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
Harvey Award (2007, 2008, 2009)

Vincent Patrick Deighan (born 1968),[2] better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The Authority and Jupiter's Legacy.

Early life

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Deighan was raised in Rutherglen, although attended St. Bride's High School in East Kilbride (as his father worked there as a PE teacher).[3][4] He studied drawing at the Glasgow School of Art.[5][6][7]

Career

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Deighan worked up the Scottish underground comics title Electric Soup in 1990, writing and drawing The Greens, a parody of The Broons strip published by D. C. Thomson. It was in working on this book that he adopted the pseudonym of "Frank Quitely" (a spoonerism of "quite frankly"), as he did not want his family to know it was his work, worried that they may have found it upsetting.[8]

Initially Electric Soup was only distributed locally in Glasgow, then it was picked up by John Brown Publishing for widespread national UK distribution. This brought Quitely's work to the attention of Judge Dredd Megazine editor David Bishop. He was given work on Shimura, written by Robbie Morrison, and Missionary Man, by Gordon Rennie, quickly rising to prominence. He drew various stories in Paradox Press' series of The Big Book Of graphic novels, as well as work in Dark Horse Presents for Dark Horse Comics.[9]

His first major work in American comics was Flex Mentallo in 1996, a Doom Patrol spin-off written by fellow Glaswegian Grant Morrison for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Initially he worked on strips for anthology titles such as Weird War Tales, and drew three issues of Jamie Delano's 2020 Visions, as well as various covers for DC. He later drew his first full length graphic novel, Batman: The Scottish Connection, with writer Alan Grant[9] in which The Greens make a cameo appearance. Quitely and Grant worked on a one-shot titled Lobo: The Hand-to-Hand Job later retitled as It's a Man's World. Although Quitely did all the pencils, the story was not released.[10]

2000 saw Quitely and Morrison collaborate again, on JLA: Earth 2.[11] The graphic novel was met with positive critical response, and later that year Quitely took over from Bryan Hitch as artist on The Authority, with Mark Millar as writer.[9]

A worm's eye view of several X-Men
New X-Men promo art by Quitely, displaying his ornate line work and expressive faces

Quitely left The Authority to draw New X-Men.[12] Quitely illustrated a Destiny story for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Endless Nights hardcover graphic novel in 2003.[13] After leaving New X-Men, Quitely drew the mini-series We3 in 2004, again in collaboration with Morrison.[14] He shared the 2005 Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team Eisner Award in a tie with artist John Cassaday for his work on the book. That same year, he and Morrison were nominated for Best Limited Series for that book, and Quitely additionally was nominated for the Best Cover Artist Eisner for both We3 and Bite Club.[15] He wrote and drew new instalments of The Greens for the Scottish underground comic Northern Lightz,[16] and in 2005 Morrison and Quitely designed a series of tarot cards for Intensive Care, an album by popstar Robbie Williams.

In December 2004, Quitely signed to a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics, where he illustrated All-Star Superman.[17] The twelve issue series, yet another collaboration with Morrison, began publication in November 2005. 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.[18] The series won Best Continuing Series in 2007 and 2009.[19] In 2008 Quitely illustrated the cover for the debut issue of Scottish underground comic Wasted.

In early 2009, Frank Quitely collaborated with the Scottish rock band The Phantom Band 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.[20] That same year, Quitely again teamed with Morrison, illustrated the first three issues of Batman and Robin title,[21] which debuted in June 2009 after the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline.[22] He provided covers through issue No. 16. Quitely was one of the artists of Batman No. 700 (Aug. 2010).[23]

On 9 April 2011, Quitely was one of 62 comics creators who appeared at the IGN stage at the Kapow! convention in London to set two Guinness World Records, the "Fastest Production of a Comic Book" and "Most Contributors to a Comic Book". With Guinness officials on hand to monitor their progress, writer Mark Millar began work at 9 AM scripting a 20-page black and white Superior comic book, with Quitely and the other artists appearing on stage throughout the day to work on the pencils, inks, and lettering, including Dave Gibbons, John Romita Jr., Jock, Adi Granov,[24] Doug Braithwaite, Ian Churchill, Olivier Coipel, Duncan Fegredo, Simon Furman, David Lafuente, John McCrea, Sean Phillips and Liam Sharp,[25] who all drew a panel each, with regular Superior artist Leinil Yu creating the book's front cover. The book was completed in 11 hours, 19 minutes, and 38 seconds, and was published through Icon on 23 November 2011, with all royalties being donated to Yorkhill Children's Foundation.[24]

That same month, he mentioned during a panel at WonderCon that although he had split his time equally between illustrating covers and interiors, he had recently been devoting more of his time to covers, due to back problems, and the difficulty that presented in meeting his deadlines.[26]

In 2012, Quitely was one of several artists to illustrate a variant cover for Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead No. 100, which was released on 11 July at San Diego Comic-Con.[27]

Quitely was the artist on Jupiter's Legacy, a ten-issue, creator-owned miniseries published by Image Comics that premiered in September 2012. It is written by Mark Millar, who described the project as "his Star Wars", and a cross between The Lord of the Rings and a large-scale superhero crossover, albeit one that did not require the in-depth knowledge normally required of such stories, as it features entirely new characters.[28] On July 17, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given a series order for a television adaptation of Jupiter's Legacy.[29]

Quitely drew the fourth issue of Grant Morrison's The Multiversity limited series which was published in November 2014.[30][31]

In March 2017, an exhibition of his work was displayed at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.[3][4] A few months later, Quitely received an honorary degree as a Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow in recognition of his achievements.[5]

Personal life

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Quitely married his high school sweetheart, Ann Jane Docherty, in 1994.[1][32][33] They live in Rutherglen[33] with their sons Vincent and Joseph,[32][33] and their daughter, Orla.[33] Quitely's son Vincent is also an artist who created art for local St Columbkille's RC Church [de] in 2011 while a pupil at Trinity High School.[34]

Quitely used to design his own hats and clothing.[33] For a long time, he eschewed social media, noting that the Twitter account @Frank_Quitely is unconnected with him.[35] In 2021, Quitely established official accounts on both Twitter and Instagram.[36][37]

Technique and materials

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In a 2014 BBC News interview, Deighan, having developed a reputation for difficulty in meeting deadlines, stated while he did his drawing digitally, it did not reduce the time it took to complete his art, saying, "I have never been on a project where I've thought 'ach, this is rubbish', and not tried hard," he says, "It's not in my nature. The downside of that is that things take a while."[7]

Awards

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Nominations

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Bibliography

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Interior comic work includes:

Covers only

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The final issue; the series' third and final volume was numbered in reverse order.

References

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  1. ^ a b Statutory registers - Marriages - Search results, ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 30 September 2022
  2. ^ "Frank Quitely". Lambiek Comiclopedia. 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b Geddes, Jonathan (2 May 2016). "From Rutherglen to Gotham City: How a Cathkin comic book artist draws the world's biggest superheroes". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b Pollock, David (31 March 2017). "'We don't coast along and knock off at five o'clock, we know you only get better by doing the best you can' – Frank Quitely talks comics". The List. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b "A new degree of success: Comic book artist Frank Quitely honoured by Glasgow University". Evening Times. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  6. ^ Millar, Mark (w), Sprouse, Chris; Wong, Walden (a). Jupiter's Circle, vol. 2, no. 5 (April 2016). Image Comics.
  7. ^ a b Stewart, Helen (17 March 2014). "Frank Quitely: Comic book artist at work". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. ^ Morgan, Brian Damien (29 April 2008). "Quite Frankly, Frank Quitely..." Downthetubes.net. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008.
  9. ^ a b c Frank Quitely at the Grand Comics Database
  10. ^ Diggle, Andy (1997). "She Will Be There When She's Needed". Fusion. Archived from the original on 18 December 2003.
  11. ^ Cowsill, Alan (2010). "2000s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 295. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely brought the Crime Syndicate of America back to DC continuity in JLA: Earth 2.
  12. ^ Manning, Matthew K. (2008). "2000s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 306. ISBN 978-0756641238. X-Men comics...seemed to lack the innovation and creative direction that had given the team such staying power. That all changed when respected writer Grant Morrison and talented artist Frank Quitely took center stage.
  13. ^ Gaiman, Neil (2003). The Sandman: Endless Nights. Vertigo. ISBN 978-1840235357.
  14. ^ Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 314: "Writer Grant Morrison and longtime artistic collaborator Frank Quitely presented one of the year's most touching and original stories in WE3."
  15. ^ a b c d "2005 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013.
  16. ^ "The Den of Geek interview: Frank Quitely". The Den of Geek. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014.
  17. ^ Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 324: "Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely unveiled one of the most original and well-received Superman series for years as they combined high-concept science-fiction elements with classic Silver Age concepts in their All Star Superman series."
  18. ^ a b c "2006 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013.
  19. ^ a b "2007 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014.
  20. ^ "The Phantom Band ~ The Howling (CHEM117)". Chemikal.co.uk. 2009. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014.
  21. ^ Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 338: "Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely teamed up once again to unleash a new Dynamic Duo on Gotham City."
  22. ^ George, Richard (11 March 2009). "Morrison discusses Batman & Robin". IGN. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
  23. ^ Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 342: "Written by Grant Morrison with art by Tony S. Daniel, Andy Kubert, Frank Quitely, [David] Finch, and Richard Friend, this milestone issue of Batman featured an all-star roster of talent."
  24. ^ a b Butler, Tom (14 April 2011). "Kapow! '11: Comic History Rewritten on the IGN Stage". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014.
  25. ^ "Guinness World Records at Kapow! Comic Con". Guinness World Records. 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011.
  26. ^ "WC11: The Art of the Cover". CBR.com. 23 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  27. ^ Logan, Michael (4 June 2012). "Exclusive First Look: The Walking Dead Comic Hits 100". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.
  28. ^ Phegley, Kiel (12 January 2012). "Millarworld Exclusive: Millar & Quitely Create Jupiter's Children". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Archive requires scrolldown
  29. ^ Goldberg, Lesley; Kit, Borys (17 July 2018). "'Jupiter's Legacy' Series, 'Empress' Film Among Mark Millar's First Netflix Slate". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ Rogers, Vaneta (20 November 2014). "Frank Quitely on 'Pax Americana': 'Subsequent Readings Will Reward You'". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014.
  31. ^ Uzumeri, David (10 December 2014). "The Multiversity Annotations, Part 4: Pax Americana – 'Not The Peace of the Grave or the Security of the Slave'". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. The fourth issue of the series, 'Pax Americana' with art by Frank Quitely, colors by Nathan Fairbairn and letters by Rob Leigh, is probably the most widely anticipated of the series, and certainly the most-hyped.
  32. ^ a b Brissenden, Rachelle (Editor) (May 2000). "Voice of Authority", The Authority #13, p 23. WildStorm/DC Comics (La Jolla, California).
  33. ^ a b c d e Morrison, Grant; Quitely, Frank (2004). We3. Vertigo. p. Inside back jacket flap. ISBN 1-4012-0495-3.
  34. ^ "Pupil who painted the sky with stars". Scottish Catholic Observer. 23 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  35. ^ Forsythe, Dana (14 August 2018). "Comics Artist Frank Quitely, in a Rare Interview, Looks Back on His Iconic Career". Syfy. Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  36. ^ "@frankquitely1". Twitter.
  37. ^ "@frankquitelyofficial". Instagram.
  38. ^ "National Comics Awards Results 2003". Down The Tubes. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2003.
  39. ^ "2007 Harvey Awards". Harvey Awards. 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013.
  40. ^ "2008 Harvey Awards". Harvey Awards. 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013.
  41. ^ Doran, Michael (25 July 2009). "SDCC 09: 2009 Eisner Awards Winners". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013.
  42. ^ "2009 Harvey Awards". Harvey Awards. 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013.
  43. ^ a b "2001 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013.
  44. ^ "2002 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014.
  45. ^ Sutherland, Kev F. "NATIONAL COMICS AWARDS 2002: THE 5TH NATIONAL COMICS AWARDS RESULTS," 2000ADonline.org. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved Nov. 30, 2020.
  46. ^ "2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013.
  47. ^ "2010 Harvey Awards". Harvey Awards. 2013. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013.
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