Ted McKeever (born 1960 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

)McKeever entry
Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Dec. 30, 2021. is an American artist known for his work in the

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 ...

industry. A master of pen-and-ink, McKeever has also fully painted many comics. He is known for his distinct graphic style and "bold, angular lines, which gives his work a fantastic, almost

Kafka-esque Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

edge."McKeever entry
Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved Jan. 1, 2022. McKeever's first professional comics work appeared in 1986 with ''Transit'', published by Vortex Comics. His following thirty years in the industry also included such titles as ''

Eddy Current Eddy currents (also called Foucault's currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction or by the relative motion of a conductor in a magnet ...

'', ''Plastic Forks'', ''Metropol'', '' Industrial Gothic'', ''Junk Culture'', and ''Faith''. Over the years, McKeever collaborated with other creators, including

Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...

Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', '' Revo ...

Jean-Marc Lofficier Jean-Marc Lofficier (; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier (b ...

, and

Rachel Pollack Rachel Grace Pollack (born August 17, 1945 as Richard Pollack) is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. She is involved in the women's spirituality movement. Career Tarot reading Pollack has wr ...

. McKeever cites his relationships with editors Archie Goodwin,

Lou Stathis Louis J. Stathis (September 29, 1952 – May 4, 1997) was an American author, critic and editor, mainly in the areas of fantasy and science fiction. During the last four years of his life he was an editor for DC Comics' Vertigo line, working on ...

, Karen Berger, and

Jim Valentino Jim Valentino (born October 28, 1952) is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books, best known for his 1990–1992 work on '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' for Marvel Comics, and for co-founding Image Comics, a company publis ...

for much of his success in the industry.

Life and career

McKeever claims to have had no professional training, stating that he began drawing at age five, and cites no professional influences. His personal philosophy is "to never use another artist's work to copy off of. I've always felt that if art doesn't come out of your own head, then it's not truly your own." He came to comics after working for some years working in the journalism field, "first for

ABC television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

as a courtroom artist, and then at the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.editorial artist." In the mid-1980s, at the

Atlanta Fantasy Fair The Atlanta Fantasy Fair (AFF) was a multigenre convention which took place once each summer in Atlanta, Georgia from 1975 to 1995. Organized by A.C.F.F., Ltd., the convention was a nonprofit entity designed to promote the fantasy genre in the A ...

, McKeever showed editor Archie Goodwin some preliminary pages for ''Transit''; Goodwin encouraged him to show the work to as many publishers as possible. As a result, the project was soon picked up by Vortex Comics and editor

. (''Transit'' and McKeever's later series ''

'' and ''Metropol'' tied into McKeever's shared Metropol universe.) McKeever's next project, ''

'' was published by the short-lived publisher Mad Dog Graphics in 1987–1988. McKeever's next series, ''Plastic Forks'', was originally destined for publication by Comico, but the company went out of business before publishing a single issue. Archie Goodwin, now at the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

creator-owned imprint

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...

, brought ''Plastic Forks'' over to Epic. ''Metropol'' was published by Epic in 1991–1992; followed by ''Metropol A.D.'' (this last series appearing after Goodwin had left Epic). In 1994, McKeever connected with

DC Vertigo Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug us ...

Executive Editor Karen Berger, first working on ''

The Extremist ''The Extremist'' is the fourth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on July 21, 1992 through Relativity Records The album is one of Satriani's most popular releases and his highest-charting to date, reaching No. 22 on the U.S. ''Bil ...

'' with writer

. McKeever then took over as artist of ''

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...

'' volume 2, working with writer

; McKeever drew most of the last 13 issues before the series was canceled. During this period on his first ongoing monthly title, McKeever claims that he was able to pencil "a pretty tight eight pages a day, then when I got to inking, I was completing an average of three fully inked pages a day." Other Vertigo projects followed — most edited by

, who had moved to Vertigo (but who died in 1997) — including '' Industrial Gothic'' (1995), ''Junk Culture'' (1997), ''Toxic Gumbo'' (with writer

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

, 1998), and ''Faith'' (1999–2000). In the late 1990s/early 2000s, McKeever worked with writers

Randy Lofficier Jean-Marc Lofficier (; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier (b ...

on a trilogy of

DC Elseworlds The DC Universe (DCU) is an upcoming American media franchise and shared universe based on characters from DC Comics publications. It was created by James Gunn and Peter Safran, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios. The franchise is a soft ...

one-shots based on German Expressionist cinema — '' Superman's Metropolis'' (1997), '' Batman: Nosferatu'' (1999), and '' Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon'' (2003). In 2010 McKeever began producing solo projects for

Shadowline Shadowline, Inc., is an imprint of Image Comics established by Image co-founder Jim Valentino. The name is an homage to Valentino's character, ShadowHawk. History Shadowline was officially created in December 1992 when the logo first appeared ...

imprint at

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-o ...

. Starting with ''Meta4'', McKeever then continued between the years 2011 through 2015, where he produced the series ''Mondo'', ''Miniature Jesus'', ''The Superannuated Man'', and finally ''Pencil Head'' in 2016, before he walked away from the comics industry for good. Part of McKeever's stated reason for leaving comics was his poor relationship with then-DC Comics co-publisher

Dan DiDio Dan DiDio (; born October 13, 1959) is an American writer, editor, and publisher who has worked in the television and comic book industries. From February 2010 until February 2020, he was the co-publisher of DC Comics, along with Jim Lee. '' Wizar ...

, who took on the position beginning in 2000. Upon learning of McKeever's retirement from comics, writer/editor Heidi MacDonald characterized him as "a unique, powerful talent with a body of work that shows not only a powerful storytelling voice but a haunting streak of surrealism."

Awards

* (nomination) 1992

UK Comic Art Award The UK Comic Art Award was a British awards for achievement in comic books. Winners were selected by an open vote among British comic book professionals (creators, editors, and retailers); the awards were given out on an annual basis from 1990 to 1 ...

for Best Writer/Artist"Newswatch: UK Awards Named," ''The Comics Journal'' #149 (March 1992), p. 22. * (nomination) 1997

Eisner Award for Best Short Story The Eisner Award for Best Short Story is an award for "creative achievement" in American comic books that has been awarded every year since its creation in 1993. The Eisner Award rules state that "A short story must be within an anthology of bigg ...

for "Perpetual Mourning" in ''

Batman Black and White ''Batman Black and White'' refers to the comic book limited series published by DC Comics featuring 8-page black and white Batman stories. Volumes 1, 4 and 5 of the series feature all-new stories (published in 1996, 2013–14, and 2020–21, res ...

'' #1 * 2007

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards were determined by ...

for Illustrated Narrative (with

Thomas Ligotti Thomas Ligotti (born July 9, 1953) is an American horror writer. His writings are rooted in several literary genres – most prominently weird fiction – and have been described by critics as works of ''philosophical'' horror, often formed into ...

, Joe Harris,

Stuart Moore Stuart Moore is an American writer and editor of comic books and novels. Career Stuart Moore's writing includes ''Civil War'', the first in a line of prose novels from Marvel Comics, and two stories for Amazon's Kindle Worlds program: ''X-O M ...

Michael Gaydos Michael Gaydos is an American comics artist. Career At Marvel Comics he has worked with Brian Michael Bendis on ''Alias,'' the last storyline of its follow up, '' The Pulse'', and the current sequel comic, ''Jessica Jones''. He has also illustra ...

Colleen Doran Colleen Doran is an American writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and writer Stan Lee entitled ''Amazing Fant ...

and

Ben Templesmith Ben Templesmith (born 7 March 1984) is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series '' Fell'', with writer Warren Ellis, and IDW's ''30 Days of Night'' with w ...

for ''The Nightmare Factory'')"The INTERNATIONAL HORROR GUILD AWARDS for WORKS from 2007"
Retrieved 7 September 2010.

Bibliography (selected)

Creator series

* ''Transit'' ( Vortex Comics, 1986) * ''

'' (Mad Dog Graphics, 1987–1988) * ''Plastic Forks'' (

, 1989-1990) * ''Metropol'' (Epic Comics, 1991–1992) * ''Metropol A.D.'' (Epic Comics, 1992) * '' Industrial Gothic'' (Vertigo, 1995) * ''Junk Culture'' (Vertigo, 1997) * ''Faith'' (Vertigo, 1999–2000) * '' Meta4'' (

, 2010–2011) * ''Mondo'' (Shadowline, 2010–2012) * ''Miniature Jesus'' (Shadowline, 2013) * ''The Superannuated Man'' (Shadowline, 2014–2015) * ''Pencil Head'' (Shadowline, 2016) * ''Funky Porcini ''(Self-Published Zine, 2017-2018)

Other comics work

* untitled one-pager in ''

Strip AIDS U.S.A. Strip or Stripping may refer to: Places * Aouzou Strip, a strip of land following the northern border of Chad that had been claimed and occupied by Libya * Caprivi Strip, narrow strip of land extending from the Okavango Region of Namibia to ...

'' (

Last Gasp Last Gasp or The Last Gasp may refer to * Last Gasp (publisher) * ''Last Gasp'' (''Inside No. 9''), a TV episode * '' The Last Gasp'', a 2007 album by Impaled * ''The Last Gasp'' (novel) * "Last Gasp" (song) {{dab ...

, 1988) * (with writer

) "Survivor," in '' A1'' #1 (

Atomeka Press Atomeka Press is a British publisher of comic books set up in 1988 by Dave Elliott and Garry Leach. Atomeka ceased publishing in 1997, was briefly revived from 2002 to 2005 and revived again in 2013. History Atomeka was established as a compan ...

, 1989) * "The Talk of Creatures," in ''A1'' #2 (Atomeka Press, 1989) * (with writer

) ''

'' (

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 ...

, 1993) * (with writer

) ''

'' #75–79, 81–82, 84–87 (Vertigo, 1994–1995) * "Perpetual Mourning" in ''

'' #1 (DC Comics, 1996) * (with writers

, and

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

) '' Superman's Metropolis'' (

, 1997) * (with writer

) ''Toxic Gumbo'' (Vertigo, 1998) * (with writers Randy Lofficier & Jean-Marc Lofficier) '' Batman: Nosferatu'' (DC Elseworlds, 1999) * "A Life Less Empty," in ''

The Matrix Comics ''The Matrix Comics'' is a set of comics and short stories based on ''The Matrix'' film series and written and illustrated by figures from the comics industry. One of the comics was written by the Wachowskis and illustrated by the films' concept a ...

'' Series 1 (WB Publishing, 1999) * "Grave Wisdom," in '' Flinch'' #14 (Vertigo, 2000) * "The King of Never Return," in ''The Matrix Comics'' Series 2 (WB Publishing, 2000) * (with writer

Keron Grant Keron Grant (born August 23, 1976, in Montego Bay) is a Jamaican-American comic book artist, who has worked mostly for Marvel Comics. His first published work was a pinup in the back of one of the final issues of Dale Keown's '' Pitt''. His firs ...

) "Day In... Day Out", in ''The Matrix Comics'' Series 2 (WB Publishing, 2000) * "Memories of Green," in ''Marvel Knights Double Shot'' (

Marvel Knights Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe (Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles (''Black Panther'', ''Punisher'', '' Daredevil ...

, 2002) * (with writer

Brian Michael Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist. He has won five Eisner Awards for both his creator-owned work and his work on various Marvel Comics books.Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ...

) ''

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up ''Ultimate Marvel Team-Up'' is a comic book series, published by Marvel Comics which ran for 16 issues, including a concluding ''Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special''. It is set in one of Marvel's shared universes, the Ultimate Universe and is base ...

'' #12–13 (

, 2002) * '' Spider-Man's Tangled Web'' #18 (Marvel Comics, 2002) * (with writers Randy Lofficier & Jean-Marc Lofficier) '' Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon'' (DC Elseworlds, 2003) * (with writer Joe Kelly) ''Enginehead'' (DC, 2004) * (with writer

Steve Niles Steve Niles (born June 21, 1965) is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as ''30 Days of Night'', '' Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery'', ''Simon Dark'', ''Mystery Society'', and '' Batman: Gotham County Line''. ...

) ''Little Book of Horror: War of the Worlds'' (

IDW Publishing 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 re ...

, 2005) * (with writer

F. Paul Wilson Francis Paul Wilson (born May 17, 1946, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American medical doctor and author of horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and other genres of literary fiction. His books include the Repairman Jack n ...

) "Cuts," in ''Doomed'' #1 (IDW, 2006) * (with writer Joe Harris) "Dr. Locrian's Asylum," '' The Nightmare Factory'' ( Fox Atomic Comics, 2007) * "Morgue Amore," in ''Legion of Monsters'' #1 (Marvel Comics, 2007) * (inspired by

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

' ''

Under the Pink ''Under the Pink'' is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single " Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US. The al ...

'') "Past The Mission," ''Comic Book Tattoo'' (

, 2008) * "Modern Primitive," in ''Rampaging Wolverine'' #1 (Marvel Comics, 2009) * "Breakfast All Day," in ''Astonishing Tales'' #1 (Marvel Comics, 2009) * "So This Is How It Feels...," in ''The Mystic Hands of Dr. Strange'' #1 (Marvel Comics, 2010) * "Bonebomb Babylon," in ''Savage Axe of Ares'' #1 (Marvel Comics, 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeever, Ted Living people 1960 births 21st-century American painters Painters from New York City American comics artists