Chris Sprouse

Chris Sprouse (born July 30, 1966) is an American comics artist. Sprouse has worked for multiple publishers and has won two Eisner Awards for his work on '' Tom Strong'', a series he created with writer Alan Moore.

Early life

Chris Sprouse was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. At the age of 3 he moved with his family to New Delhi, India where he first discovered comics as he was unable to play outside due to the dangerous amount of snakes in the house yard. When he was 6, his family returned to the United States to Dale City, Virginia, where he continued to read and draw comics. Before his debut in comics, Sprouse drew a comic strip entitled ''Ber-Mander'' for the school newspaper (''The Hyphen'') while attending Gar-Field Senior High School in Woodbridge. After graduating in 1984, Sprouse attended James Madison University where he studied graphic design.

Career

Sprouse launched his career in mainstream comics in 1989, his first credited work being a Chemical King story in ''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #47 (Feb. 1990). His next assignments were a Two-Face story for '' Batman Annual'' #14 (1990) and the '' Hammerlocke'' limited series. He drew insert posters for the ''War of the Gods'' limited series in 1991. Following that, Sprouse drew the ''Legionnaires'' series featuring teenaged versions of the ''Legion of Super-Heroes''. He later illustrated a number of one-shots and fill-in issues before illustrating a Star Wars mini-series, ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye'', for Dark Horse Comics.

He then worked for Extreme Studios as the regular penciller of ''New Men'', and in 1997–1998, Sprouse drew several issues of '' Supreme'', scripted by Alan Moore for the same publisher. After ''Supreme'' ended, he and Moore created '' Tom Strong'' for America's Best Comics, for which Sprouse won two Eisner Awards in 2000, for Best Single Issue and Best Serialized Story.

Sprouse was the penciller and co-creator on the 2004 ''Ocean'' mini-series, written by Warren Ellis and published by DC Comics. In 2007, ''Ocean'' was optioned for film. In 2006, he began pencilling Wildstorm's ''Midnighter'' ongoing series, a spin-off of '' The Authority''. He was the artist on the first issue of '' Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne'' with Grant Morrison as writer.

In 2011, Sprouse worked with writer Peter Hogan on the ''Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril'' limited series. Sprouse drew '' Action Comics'' #14 (Jan. 2013) which featured an "appearance" by Neil deGrasse Tyson. In 2014, Sprouse drew the second issue of Grant Morrison's '' The Multiversity'' limited series. Other works include ''Batman '66'', '' Fairest: In All the Land'', ''The Flash'', ''Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman'', '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', and '' Thors''.

Bibliography

Awesome Comics

* ''Alan Moore's Awesome Universe Handbook'' #1 (1999)
* ''Judgment Day Omega'' #2 (1997)
* ''Judgment Day: Sourcebook'' #1 (1997)
* '' Supreme'' #50, 52a, 52b, 53–56 (1997–1998)
* ''Supreme the Return'' #1 (1999)

Dark Horse Comics

* ''Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye'' #1–4 (1996)

DC Comics

* '' Action Comics'' vol. 2 #14–18 (2013)
* '' Batman Annual'' #14 (1990)
* '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' #27 (1992)
* ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' vol. 2 #10 (2013)
* ''Batman '66'' #9 (2014)
* '' Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne'' #1 (2010)
* '' Hammerlocke'' #1–9 (1992–1993)
* '' Human Target'' #1, 3, 5 (2010)
* '' Justice League America Annual'' #5 (1991)
* '' Justice League Europe'' #13 (1990)
* '' Justice League Quarterly'' #1 (1990)
* ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' vol. 4 #8, 33, 41 (1990–1993)
* ''Legionnaires'' #1–6, 9–12 (1993–1994)
* '' The Multiversity: The Society of Super-Heroes: Conquerors of the Counter-World '' #1 (2014)
* ''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #47 (1990)
* ''Spirit'' #7 (2007)
* ''Starman'' vol. 2 #14, 24 (1995–1996)
* ''Transmetropolitan: Filth of the City'' #1 (2001)
* ''Who's Who in the DC Universe'' #1, 3, 6, 8, 11–13, 16 (1990–1992)
* ''Who's Who in the DC Universe Update 1993'' #1 (1992)

America's Best Comics

* ''ABC: A-Z, Tom Strong and Jack B. Quick'' #1 (2005)
* '' America's Best Comics Special'' #1 (2001)
* ''Many Worlds of Tesla Strong'' #1 (2003)
* '' Tom Strong'' #1–18, 23–24, 35–36 (1999–2006)
* ''Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril'' #1–6 (2013–2014)
* ''Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom'' #1–6 (2010–2011)

Wildstorm

* '' The Authority'' #11 (2009)
* '' Ex Machina Special'' #1–2 (2006)
* '' Global Frequency'' #8 (2003)
* ''Midnighter'' #1–3, 5, 10 (2007)
* ''Number of the Beast'' #1–8 (2008)
* ''Ocean'' #1–6 (2004–2005)
* ''WildC.A.T.s'' #11 (2009)

IDW Publishing

* ''Rocketeer Adventures'' #3 (2012)

Image Comics

* ''WildC.A.T.s/Aliens'' #1 (1998)

Malibu Comics

* '' Sludge'' #4 (1994)
* '' Ultraverse Origins'' #1 (1994)

Marvel Comics

* ''Black Panther'' vol. 6 #5–8 (2016–2017)
* ''Captain America Annual'' #1 (2018)
* ''Battlezones: Dream Team 2'' #1 (1996)
* ''Dream Team'' #1 (1995)
* ''Thors'' #1–4 (2015–2016)
* '' Uncanny X-Men'' #304 (1993)

References

Further reading

* Nolen-Weathington, Eric, ''Modern Masters Volume 21: Chris Sprouse'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2009, )

External links

*
Chris Sprouse
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprouse, Chris
1966 births
20th-century American artists
21st-century American artists
American comics artists
Artists from Ohio
Artists from Virginia
DC Comics people
James Madison University alumni
Living people
Marvel Comics people
People from Charlottesville, Virginia
People from Dale City, Virginia