Chris Bachalo

Chris Bachalo (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' ''Shade, the Changing Man'' and Neil Gaiman's two Death series. Chris has also illustrated several of Marvel Comics' X-Men-related series, including ''Generation X'' (which he co-created), X-Men Vol. 2, ''Uncanny X-Men,'' and ''Ultimate X-Men''. Beginning in April 2000 Chris illustrated his creator-owned series ''Steampunk.''

Biography

Early life

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.

DC

After graduation, Bachalo sought work in the mainstream comic book industry. His first published assignment was ''The Sandman'' #12 (Jan. 1990), part of the "Doll's House" story arc, for DC Comics. Although before working on that issue, DC had already hired him as the regular artist for ''Shade, the Changing Man,'' an older property revived as an adult-oriented series by writer Peter Milligan.

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.

After working at Marvel (below), Bachalo briefly returned to DC in 1999 for '' The Witching Hour'' mini-series with writer Jeph Loeb for Vertigo.

Marvel Comics

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. He also drew a cover for ''Runaways''.

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 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 1997, Bachalo left ''Generation X'' for ''Uncanny X-Men,'' arguably the comic book industry's most popular title, remaining until the end of 1998.

Steampunk

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. The series is written by Joe Kelly and is part of Image Comics' imprint for creator-owned series, Cliffhanger. The series was criticized for Bachalo's overly detailed pencils, small panels and muddy dark coloring, which sometimes made it difficult to discern what was happening. Similarly, Joe Kelly's writing was not as straightforward as a mass audience typically preferred. Contrarily, the book's supporters praised it for those same reasons, as well as for the sheer imagination of the characters and story. The series, intended to be 25 issues, ended prematurely after the second story arc in issue #12. It is currently available in two reprinted trade paperbacks, ''Steampunk: Manimatron'' () and ''Steampunk: Drama Obscura'' ().

When Richard Friend inks Chris Bachalo's pencils, the piece is signed "Chrisendo", a portmanteau

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases