Marian Churchland (born June 15, 1982) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

comic book artist and graduate of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. They first came to prominence in 2009 with their debut

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

''Beast'' for

Image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

Career

Churchland began their comics career with short stories in the anthologies ''Meathaus S.O.S.'' and ''

Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...

'', with the latter featuring

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

. Primarily a fan of

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

, they were inspired to begin working as a comic artist by the work of Japanese game designers

Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese visual artist, character designer, illustrator, a scenic designer for theatre and film, and a costume designer. He first came into prominence in the late 1960s working on the anime adaptation of ''Speed Racer''. Amano later became ...

and

Akihiko Yoshida is a Japanese video game artist. Yoshida was born in 1967 and joined Square in 1995, before the company merged with Enix. He then left Square Enix in September 2013 and became freelance. In October 2014, he became the company director of CyDesig ...

. Their work is also influenced by painters including

Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross"). It may refer to: People * Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium * Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

, and other members of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

. Churchland broke through with a three-issue arc as an artist on

Richard Starkings Richard Starkings (born 27 January 1962) is a British font designer and comic book letterer, editor and writer. He was one of the early pioneers of computer-based comic-book lettering, and is one of the most prolific creators in that industry. ...

' long-running creator-owned series ''

Elephantmen ''Elephantmen'' is an American ongoing monthly comic book published by Image Comics and written by Richard Starkings with art by Moritat and a number of other artists. Issue #1 was released in July 2006. Overview Some 200 years from now, the M ...

''. This brought them to the attention of established comic professionals such as

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

. They published ''Beast,'' their debut graphic novel as writer and artist, in 2009. It is a loose retelling of the

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

fairytale. Following the success of ''Beast,'' in 2015, Churchland launched two projects as part of then-partner

Brandon Graham Brandon Lee Graham (born April 3, 1988) is an American football defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Eagles in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft with the thirteenth selection ...

's ''8HOUSE'' shared universe. They were the artist on ''Arclight'', the first story in the series, and co-writer of ''From Under Mountains'' alongside Claire Gibson, with art by Sloane Leong.

Awards

*2010: Won

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award is an American award presented to a comic book artist whose first professional work appeared within the previous two years. It was named after comic book artist Russ Manning. The winner is chosen from ...

for ''Beast''

Bibliography

Interior comic work includes: *''Meathaus S.O.S.'': "Untitled" (script and art,

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

, Nerdcore, 2008) *'' MySpace Dark Horse Presents'' #11: "Trophy" (with

Timothy Truman Timothy Truman (born February 9, 1956) is an American writer, artist and musician. He is best known for his stories and Wild West-style comic book art, and in particular, for his work on ''Grimjack'' (with John Ostrander), '' Scout'', and the re ...

, anthology,

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

, 2008) *''

'' (with

): ** "Dangerous Liaisons, Parts 3-5" (in #18-20, 2009) ** "Questionable Things, Part 3" (among other artists, in #26, 2010) ** "Agathe" (co-writer, art by

Marley Zarcone __notoc__ Marley Zarcone is a Canadian comic book artist who works primarily for Image and DC Comics. Along with Corey Lewis, Brandon Graham and James Stokoe, she's a part of a studio/collective called "Yosh Comics". In 2015, she launched '' Ef ...

, in #57, 2014) *''Beast'' (script and art, graphic novel, Image, 2009) *''

Madame Xanadu Madame Xanadu is a comic book mysticism, mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Lady of the Lake, Nimue, the magician (fantasy), sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Mo ...

'' #28: "Extra-Sensory, Chapter Five" (with

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series ''Mage'' and ''Grendel (comics), Grendel''. Career Matt Wagner's first published comic book work was ''Comico Primer'' #2 ( ...

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

, 2010) *'' Northlanders'' #41: "Thor's Daughter" (with Brian Wood, Vertigo, 2011) *''8HOUSE'' #1-2: "Arclight" (with Brandon Graham, Image, 2015) ** ''Arclight'' #3-4 (with Brandon Graham, Image, 2016) *''From Under Mountains'' #1-6 (co-writer with Claire Gibson, art by Sloane Leong, Image, 2015–2016) *''Mine!: A Celebration of Liberty and Freedom for All Benefiting

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

'': "We Cannot Make Our Sun Stand Still" (with Aria Baci, anthology graphic novel,

ComicMix IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, 2017)

Covers only

*'' Elephantmen War Toys: Yvette'' #1 (

, 2009) *'' Tokyopop Presents: King City'' #3 (Image, 2009) *''

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

'' #21 (Image, 2012) *''Island'' #12 (Image, 2016)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Churchland, Marian 1982 births Artists from Vancouver Canadian comics artists Living people