CHRIS
BACHALO
1965
Berühmter Comic-Zeichner
Bachalo was born in Canada but was raised in Southern
California. He has told interviewers that, as a child, he wanted to be
a carpenter until he discovered he was allergic to dust. He attended the
California State University at Long Beach, where he majored in graphic
art and illustrated a few underground comics.
Bachalo’s early work shows strong influence from
Sam Kieth, Bill Sienkiewicz and Michael Golden. As his style developed,
however, Bachalo’s work became more idiosyncratic. His early 1990s style
is minimalist with strong, thick lines, quirky characters and little concern
for realism. Bachalo did not shy away from detailed landscapes but showed
a rare penchant for pages with many small panels.
In 1993, writer Neil Gaiman selected Bachalo for
the Sandman miniseries Death: The High Cost of Living, starring the Sandman’s
older sister. At the time, Sandman was one of the most popular and acclaimed
series in the industry and the miniseries helped boost Bachalo’s visibility.
The creative pair also reunited for Death: The Time of Your Life in 1996.
While at DC Comics, Bachalo illustrated the first
issue of X-Men Unlimited, which Marvel published as an anthology X-Men
comic book. Based on the success and fanfare from X-Men Unlimited #1, in
1994, Bachalo ended his stint on Shade and began working for Marvel Comics.
He then illustrated the first three issues of Ghost Rider 2099, one of
in a line of series reinventing popular Marvel characters in the year 2099.
However, he was soon assigned to create a new
junior team of X-Men with Uncanny X-Men writer Scott Lobdell. The group
Lobdell and Bachalo created, Generation X, was purposely bizarre and idiosyncratic
because the two wanted to avoid the recent trend in superhero teams, where
each team member represented a recognizable stock character.
Generation X became a hit with the series’ namesake
due to Lobdell’s realistically cynical and emotionally immature teen characters
and Bachalo’s atypical artwork. Bachalo illustrated the series through
much of its first three years, taking a break in late 1995 and early 1996
to illustrate the second Death miniseries, Death: The Time of Your Life.
During his time on Generation X, Bachalo’s artwork
underwent a change. Heavily influenced by the popularity of Joe Madureira,
Bachalo's characters became more cartoony and manga-like, with large eyes,
heads and hands. He gravitated towards extremes in anatomy, drawing characters
that were previously portrayed as bulky, short, or thin as even more so.
In 2000, Bachalo launched Steampunk, a comic book
series inspired by the genre of fiction of the same name, which emulates
early science fiction and in an alternate version of the early 1900s.
In the early 2000s, Bachalo completed occasional
work on various X-Men series, including Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate War, Grant
Morrison's New X-Men (collected in New X-Men vol. 5: Assault on Weapon
Plus) and the sequel to the Age of Apocalypse crossover.
Bachalo was also the artist on Captain America
for 6 issues (21–26, running December 2003–May 2004 cover dates) pencilling
a divisive run written by Robert Morales.
On top of his continuing work for Marvel, Bachalo
finished issue #7 of Comicraft's Elephantmen, an issue 4 years in the making.
Bachalo has been announced as one of the four
artists who will work on the Spider-Man event "Brand New Day", along with
Phil Jimenez, Steve McNiven and Salvador Larroca.
Original-signiertes Titelblatt eines Comicheftes
(Format ca 16.5 x 26 cm). Price in Euro 15.-- |
