Leslie "Les" McClaine (born September 30, 1977 in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

) is an American comic book artist. He grew up in

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

, where he worked in the public library. After graduating from high school, Les attended the

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Uni ...

, where he majored in

sequential art In comics studies, sequential art is a term proposed by comics artist Will EisnerWill Eisner, '' Comics and Sequential Art'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe art forms that use images deployed in a specific order for the pur ...

, and graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

''. Following college, Les created the comic book series, ''Highway 13'' for

Slave Labor Graphics Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhon ...

, which ran for ten issues. Around the same time, Les produced the popular web-comic ''Life With Leslie'', an autobiographical comic strip that was later published in a collection titled ''Repeat Until Death''. Currently, Les resides in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and his work can be seen in the comic book, '' The Middle Man'', written and co-created by

Javier Grillo-Marxuach Javier "Javi" Grillo-Marxuach (), born October 28, 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a television screenwriter and Television producer, producer, and podcaster, known for his work as writer and producer on the first two seasons of the American Bro ...

, and published by

Viper Comics Viper Comics is an American comics publisher that first published works in 2003. History Viper Comics is based in Texas, USA; according to its website it is based in Irving, an inner ring suburb of Dallas. Its president since its foundation is ...

. In 2008 it made its debut as a TV series

The Middleman (TV series) ''The Middleman'' is an American television series. The series, which was developed for television by Javier Grillo-Marxuach for ABC Family, is based on the Viper Comics series, '' The Middleman'', created by Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine. Th ...

. He also worked on

The Tick ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

the New Series from

New England Comics New England Comics is an American comic book retail chain and publisher headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S. They have locations in Quincy, Brookline, Brockton, Cambridge, Malden, New Bedford and Norwood. The chain is known for publish ...

. Les has also been occasional freelance contributor to ''

The Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. Contributors and staff Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...

'' newspaper as an illustrator. For over 10 years Les has been working on the throwback adventure webcomic, Jonny Crossbones. In 2005 Les was nominated for an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

in the Best Digital Comic category for ''Jonny Crossbones.'' Starting in 2013 McClaine began working as a character designer for Fox's

Axe Cop (TV series) ''Axe Cop'' is an American adult animated series based on the webcomic of the same name that was created by Ethan Nicolle and Malachai Nicolle. It premiered on Fox on July 21, 2013, as a part of the channel's Animation Domination HD programmin ...

as well as the

Major Lazer (TV series) ''Major Lazer'' is an American adult animated television series based on the electronic music group of the same name, created by DJ and record producer Diplo with Ferry Gouw and Kevin Kusatsu. It premiered on FXX on April 16, 2015 as part of th ...

and

Golan the Insatiable ''Golan the Insatiable'' is an American animated television series that originally aired on Fox on November 23, 2013 along with '' Lucas Bros. Moving Co.''; it officially premiered on January 11, 2014. It was created by Josh Miller and developed ...

.Les McClaine's IMDB
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Bibliography

* ''Highway 13'' (2001) * ''Jonny Crossbones'' (2004) * ''The Middleman'' Vol 1: The Trade Paperback Imperative (2005) * ''The Middleman'' Vol 2: The Second Volume Inevitability (2006) * ''The Middleman'' Vol 3: The Third Volume Inescapability (2007) * ''Tune: Still Life'', by

Derek Kirk Kim Derek Kirk Kim is a Korean-American writer, director, and artist. He is the recipient of the Eisner (2004), the Harvey (2004), and the Ignatz Award (2003) for his debut graphic novel ''Same Difference and Other Stories.'' (The contents of which ...

(2013) *''Old Souls'', by Brian McDonald (2019) *TinkerActive Workbooks, by various authors (2019-2020) *''Maker Comics: Live Sustainably!'', by Angela Boyle (2022)

Works

Jonny Crossbones ''Jonny Crossbones'' follows the adventures of a young mechanic who is covered from head to toe in a skeleton costume. He meets a young woman named Gretchen and together they go searching for lost pirate treasure, with many complications along the way.

References

External links

Les McClaine's website, evil space robotJonny Crossbones: Dead Man at Devil's Cove
American illustrators 1977 births Living people Artists from Portland, Oregon People from Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington High School alumni {{Oregon-bio-stub