Hilary Barta (born June 17, 1957) is an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

Biography

Barta was born on June 17, 1957. His first comics work came in June 1982, when he helped

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

inkers

Al Milgrom Allen L. Milgrom (born March 6, 1950) is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of ''Marvel Fanfare''; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker ...

Joe Sinnott Joseph Leonard Sinnott (; October 16, 1926 June 25, 2020) was an American comic book artist. Working primarily as an inker, Sinnott is best known for his long stint on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four'', from 1965 to 1981 (and briefly in the la ...

and

Sal Trapani Salvatore A. "Sal" Trapani (April 30, 1927—July 14, 1999)
at the

provide inks for the pencils of

Don Perlin Don Perlin (; born August 27, 1929) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' ''Werewolf by Night'', ''Moon Knight'' (a character he co-created), '' The Defenders'', and ''Ghost Rider''. In the 1990s ...

on '' The Defenders'' #108. He inked #115 solo and then inked

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Mystique, as well as the antiheroine Black Cat. Cockrum was ...

's artwork for a backup feature to the '' Giant Size X-Men'' #1-reprint ''X-Men Special Edition'' #1 in February 1983.. Accessed March 20, 2008

Marvel and First

Barta was the regular inker for most of the first 10 issues of John Byrne's ''The Thing'' during 1983–84, during-and-after which he moved from Marvel to

First Comics First Comics was an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991, known for titles like ''American Flagg!'', ''Grimjack'', ''Nexus'', ''Badger'', ''Dreadstar'', and ''Jon Sable''. Along with competitors like Pacific Comics and ...

to ink a couple of stories for their ''Warp'' comic (including some of the earliest work from

Bill Willingham William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series ''Elementals (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...

). Other inking work for First slowly saw Barta graduate from inks to pencils over a dozen issues of the

John Ostrander John Ostrander (born April 20, 1949) is an American writer of comic books, including ''Suicide Squad'', ''Grimjack'' and '' Star Wars: Legacy''. Career Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes ...

-written ''

Starslayer ''Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger'' was an American comic book series created by Mike Grell. Publication history Grell originally created ''Starslayer'' for DC Comics, but plans to publish it were halted after the mass cancellation of title ...

'', while he also inked a couple of issues of

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker. Early life ...

's ''

American Flagg! ''American Flagg!'' is an American comic book series created by writer-artist Howard Chaykin, published by First Comics from 1983 to 1989. A science fiction series and political satire, it was set in the U.S., particularly Chicago, Illinois, in th ...

'' and drew back-ups for

Mike Baron Mike Baron (born July 1, 1949) is an American comic book writer. He is the creator of ''Badger'' and the co-creator of ''Nexus'' with Steve Rude. Biography Mike Baron entered the comics industry with an illustrated text piece in ''Weird Trips Ma ...

's ''

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...

''. Barta also co-wrote and drew a number of stories for ''Munden's Bar'', the back-up feature in ''

Grimjack Grimjack is the main character of a comic book originally published by the American company First Comics. John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are credited as co-creators of the character, although Ostrander had been developing Grimjack with artist L ...

''.

Eclipse and ''Plastic Man''

Towards the end of 1986, Barta inked a couple of comics for

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

, including an issue of ''

Airboy Airboy is a fictional aviator hero of an American comic book series initially published by Hillman Periodicals during the World War II-era time period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He was created by writers Charles Biro ...

'' (#11), before heading back to Marvel to ink ''

Power Pack Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...

'' and various issues of other titles for Eclipse, Marvel and First, notable among them Marvel's adaptation of the horror film '' House II: The Second Story'' (Oct 1987). Late 1988 saw Barta launch two series - Marvel's ''

What The--?! ''What The--?!'' is a Marvel Comics comic book series self-parodying the Marvel Universe, similar in vein to the 1960s series ''Not Brand Echh''. It was billed as "The Marvel mag of mirth and mayhem!" The series ran for 26 issues, from August 198 ...

'' and DC's 4-issue mini-series revival of Jack Cole's ''

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the first superheroes to ...

'', on both as penciler rather than inker. His work has a distinctive cartoon-like feel, erring on the surreal and exaggerated side more than the often-realistic work found in other superhero comics. As a result, Barta's art style is very well suited to humor, and it is no surprise that his major non-inking art credits are on humor titles.

''What Th--?!'' and Urban Legends

In 1989, Barta returned mostly to inking duties on Marvel's ''

Alpha Flight Alpha Flight is a fictional team of Canadian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters premiered in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), and were created to serve as part of the X-Men member Wo ...

'' and ''Power Pack'', but was also one of several pencillers in their ''Marvel: Year in Review'' - 1989 (1990), alongside

Bryan Hitch Bryan Hitch (born 22 April 1970) is a British comics artist and writer. Hitch began his career in the United Kingdom for Marvel UK, working on titles such as ''Action Force'' and ''Death's Head'', before gaining prominence on American titles ...

Dale Keown Dale Keown (; born July 23, 1962) is a Canadian comic book artist known for his runs on ''The Incredible Hulk'' and his creator-owned comic book '' Pitt''. Career Keown started working in comics in 1986 drawing several series for Aircel Comi ...

, Bob McLeod,

Mike Mignola Mike Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', '' Abe Sapien'', '' Lobster Johnson'', '' Wit ...

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on ''The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolver ...

and

Lee Weeks Lee Weeks (born 1962) is an American comics artist known for his work on such titles as ''Daredevil''. Career Lee Weeks attended The Kubert School and made his professional comics debut penciling, inking, and lettering a short story ("Friends ...

. From April to October 1990, he inked

Rob Liefeld Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...

's art on

Louise Simonson Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', ''Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''New Mutants'', ...

's ''

The New Mutants ''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 ...

'', and over the next couple of years flitted between companies as penciller and inker, as well as writer and cover artist (in particular on ''What The--?!''). In 1993, Barta co-wrote (with Doug Rice) and drew ''Stupid'' #1 for Image comics. He wrote, penciled, inked and lettered "The Winning Ticket" in

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

' June 1993 offering ''Urban Legends'', and also contributed "The Wonder of Gas" to DC/

Paradox Press Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton the imprint was renamed. It is best known for graphic novels like '' ...

's ''

Big Book of Urban Legends ''The Big Book Of'' is a series of graphic novel anthologies published by American company DC Comics imprint Paradox Press. Publication history The ''Big Books'' were published between 1994 and 2000. Just over half of them (ten out of seventeen) w ...

'' in 1994. He inked for

Malibu Comics Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included '' ...

and

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

(including Image-branded issues of

Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...

title '' StormWatch'') and provided stories for further volumes of

' '' Big Book of'' series in 1996/7/8.

Elseworlds & America's Best

Also in 1998, he inked penciller

Kieron Dwyer Kieron Dwyer (born March 6, 1967) is an American comics artist. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics as well as for his creator-owned projects. Biography During his career, Dwyer has worked on such comic book titles as ...

's artwork on two

Elseworlds ''Elseworlds'' was the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that took place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realitie ...

titles, both written by John Francis Moore: ''Elseworld's Finest'' #1-2 (set in the 1920s) and ''Superman: The Dark Side'' #1-3 (Superman as raised on

Apokolips Apokolips is a fictional planet that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The planet is ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, and is integral to many stories in the DC Universe. Apokolips is co ...

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby to serve as the primary antagonist of his "Fourth World (comics), Fourth World" metaseries, and was firs ...

). In March 2000 he fully illustrated the first of several

Splash Brannigan Splash or Splash! or The Splash may refer to: Common meanings * Splash (fluid mechanics), sudden disturbances on the surface of water Entertainment * ''Splash'' (film), a 1984 fantasy film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah ** ''Splash, Too'' ...

story in

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) is a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's Best ...

anthology title '' Tomorrow Stories'', and later contributed to Moore's ''

Tom Strong ''Tom Strong'' is a comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse, initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics' Wildstorm division. Tom Strong, the title character, is a "science hero", wi ...

'' #14 and the ''ABC Sketchbook'' (Dec 2001). Around this time, Barta also wrote and/or illustrated short stories for

Bongo Comics Bongo Comics Group was a comic book publishing company founded in 1993 by Matt Groening along with Steve & Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison. It published comics related to the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama'', as well a ...

' ''

Simpsons Comics The following is a list of comic book series published by Bongo Comics based on the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The first comic strips based on ''The Simpsons'' appeared in 1991 in the magazine ''Simpsons Illustrated'' (no ...

'' and ''

Treehouse of Horror ''Treehouse of Horror'' is an annual series of special Halloween-themed episodes of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', with 33 anthology episodes between 1990 and 2022. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typical ...

'' titles, before moving back largely to inking duties for

Rick Remender Rick Remender (born February 6, 1973) is an American animator, comic book writer and television producer who resides in Los Angeles, California. As a comic book creator, he is best known for his work on ''Uncanny X-Force'', ''Venom'', ''Captain A ...

and

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film ''Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low ...

's '' The Man with the Screaming Brain''.

Current work

June 2006 saw him work with Remender again, writing back-ups for the latter's ''

Fear Agent ''Fear Agent'' is an American science fiction comic book series written by Rick Remender with art by Tony Moore and Jerome Opena, who alternated on story arcs. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2018 and by Image Comics f ...

'' comic, and since then he has mostly contributed in various ways to the many different ''Simpsons'' titles. He also inked an issue or so of ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' comics/magazines for

Mirage Comics Mirage Studios was an American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in Dover, New Hampshire. The company was best known for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') comic book series and the subsequent franc ...

and

Titan Magazines Titan Magazines is the magazine-publishing division of Titan Publishing Group. Titan Magazines' publishing directors are Ricky Claydon and John Dziewiatkowski. History Titan Magazines launched in 1995 with '' Star Trek Magazine'' with John ...

. In 2009 he illustrated the ''Loathsome Lore'' feature in ''Creepy'' #1 for the book's revival at Dark Horse Comics, and in the fourth issue drew "Zombie Wedding at Slaughter Swamp", written by longtime comics writer Nicola Cuti. In 2011 Barta began drawing a series of stories for ''SpongeBob Comics''.

Bibliography

Comics work includes: *''

New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically us ...

'' vol. 1 #88-91, 93-94 (inker) *''

Annual'' #5, 7 (inker) *'' The Thing'' ( 1983-86 series) #3-8 (inker) *''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X ...

'' #243 (Inferno)

References

Inking the Web: Talking to Hilary Barta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barta, Hilary American comics writers American comics artists Living people 1957 births American Splendor artists