Leonardi, Rick

Rick Leonardi (born August 9, 1957) is an American comics artist who has worked on various series for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including ''Cloak and Dagger'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''The New Mutants'', ''Spider-Man 2099'', ''Nightwing'', ''Batgirl'', ''Green Lantern Versus Aliens'' and ''Superman''. He has worked on feature film tie-in comics such as ''Star Wars: General Grievous'' and ''Superman Returns Prequel'' #3.

Early life

Rick Leonardi was born August 9, 1957 in Philadelphia, and grew up in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Leonardi's interest in becoming an artist was inspired by the work of Joe Kubert, which he discovered in the second grade when he read ''Star Spangled War Stories'' #139 (July 1968). Leonardi commented in a 2017 interview, "Top of page 8 is still one of the best-designed panels I've ever seen."

Leonardi graduated from Dartmouth College in 1979, and started drawing for Marvel Comics the following year.

Career

Leonardi first interviewed with Marvel in January 1980. Leonardi's account of his January 1980 interview begins at the 8:43 mark. His description of his process and technique begins at the 20:00 mark. His first published comics artwork appeared in Marvel's ''Thor'' #303 (Jan. 1981). He collaborated with writer Bill Mantlo on two limited series: ''The Vision and the Scarlet Witch'' (Nov. 1982–Feb. 1983) and ''Cloak and Dagger'' (Oct. 1983–Jan. 1984). Leonardi's works in the 1980s include various fill-in issues of ''The Uncanny X-Men '' and ''The New Mutants''.

He is credited, along with fellow illustrator Mike Zeck, of designing the black-and-white costume to which Spider-Man switched during the 1984 ''Secret Wars'' miniseries, and later wore for a time. According to writer Peter David, the costume began as a design by Zeck that Leonardi embellished. The plot that developed as a result of Spider-Man's acquisition of the costume led to the creation of the Spider-Man VenomDavid, Peter. "The Wacko Theory"; ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' June 4, 1993; Reprinted in the collection ''But I Digress'' (1994); pp. 104–106 although in a 2007 Comic Book Resources story, fan Randy Schueller claims to have devised a version of a black costume for Spider-Man in a story idea that he was paid for. Leonardi and writer Tom DeFalco created the Rose in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #253 (June 1984). For DC Comics, Leonardi was one of the artists on ''Batman'' #400 (Oct. 1986) and he drew the Batgirl story in ''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #20 (Nov. 1987). Back at Marvel, Chris Claremont and Leonardi introduced the fictional country of Genosha in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #235 (Oct. 1988). From 1992 to 1994, Leonardi was the regular penciler for the first 25 issues of ''Spider-Man 2099'' with writer Peter David. Leonardi later launched the ''Fantastic Four 2099'' series with Karl Kesel. Leonardi drew the 2000 intercompany crossover miniseries ''Green Lantern Versus Aliens''. He drew one of the tie-in one-shots for the ''Sentry'' limited series in 2001.

His subsequent series work includes ''Nightwing'', on which he was the regular penciler for issues #71-84 from 2002 to 2003 and ''Batgirl'', of which he drew issues #45–52 from 2003 to 2004. Subsequent miniseries he drew include ''Star Wars: General Grievous'' in 2005, and the 2006 movie tie-in, ''Superman Returns Prequel'' #3. He followed up that with other superhero titles such as ''Superman'' #665 and #668 (2007), '' JLA: Classified'' #43 (November 2007), ''Witchblade'' #112 (January 2008), and the 2008 miniseries ''DC Universe: Decisions''. Leonardi drew the ''Vigilante'' series that debuted from DC in December 2008.

Leonardi and inker Ande Parks are the illustrators on the 2019 ''Batman Beyond'' arc written by Dan Jurgens which debuted with issue #31 in April 2019. Although Leonardi had worked on Batman before, this assignment was his first time working on the future-based ''Batman Beyond'', whose concept is similar to ''Spider-Man 2099'', which Leonardi co-created.

Leonardi helped devise 3-D animation tools that could emulate his line work for the 2023 animated film '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse''.

Technique and materials

In a 2025 interview, when asked how he balanced the need to produce 22 pages on a monthly deadline with his desire to be artistically satisfied when the finished work, Leonardi related advice he received during his January 1980 interview at Marvel Comics by then-Art Director John Romita Sr.. In looking over Leonardi's work, Romita said his pages were okay, but that on any page featuring a grid of 5 - 7 panels, only one panel should be an artistic "stretch", in which the artist attempts to express themselves artistically, and that the remaining panels should be what Romita called "repertory panels," or stock panels that the artist could "do in their sleep" such as silhouettes or foreground or background shots of characters talking. Romita explained that only that one panel should be a test of the artist’s artistic merit, because if every panel was a "fight," the artist would get "bogged down," and the process "is going to eat you alive."

When asked in a 2025 interview if he was still a traditionalist or had adopted digital methods to produce his art, Leonardi described his process as a "hybrid approach", in which he would first produce thumbnail sketches in pencil, before blowing them up to 11" x 17", and lightbox them onto Bristol board, where he would pencil them traditionally, before scanning the black lines at his local Kinkos onto a second piece of Bristol board, which would serve as the medium on which he would apply his inks with a brush or pen. The finished inks would then be scanned into a digital file, on which Leonardi would further "clean up" and modify the art in Procreate. One frequent task for which he relies on Procreate is to correct the proportions of the heads of his figures, which he says he frequently gets wrong in the penciling stage.

Bibliography

Dark Horse Comics

*''Dark Horse Comics'' #1–2 (1992)
*''Green Lantern Versus Aliens'' #1–4 (2000)
*''Star Wars'' #8, 10 (1999)
*''Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command'' #1–5 (2011)
*''Star Wars: General Grievous'' #1–4 (2005)
*''Star Wars Tales'' #3, 9 (2000–2001)

DC Comics

*''Adam Strange Special'' #1 (2008)
*''Astro City'' vol. 3 #44 (2017)
*''Batgirl'' #45–47, 49–50, 52, 54 (2003–2004)
*''Batman'' #400 (1986)
*''Batman Beyond'' vol. 6 #31–36 (2019)
*''Birds of Prey'' #39–41 (2002)
*''Booster Gold'' vol. 2 #47 (2011)
*''Booster Gold / The Flintstones Special'' #1 (2017)
*'' Convergence Batgirl'' #1–2 (2015)
*''Convergence Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' #2 (2015)
*''DC Universe: Decisions'' #1, 3 (2008)
*''Fables'' #113 (2012)
*''The Flintstones'' #7 (2017)
*''Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound Special'' #1 (2018)
*''JLA: Classified'' #42–46 (2007–2008)
*''Justice League Giant'' #1 (2018)
*''Legion of Super-Heroes'' vol. 5 #47 (2008)
*''Legion Worlds'' #4 (2001)
*''New Teen Titans'' vol. 2 #22 (1986)
*''Nightwing'' #57, 59, 71–75, 78–81, 83–84 (2001–2003)
*''Nightwing: Our Worlds at War'' #1 (2001)
*'' Sandman Special'' #1 (2017)
*''Scooby Apocalypse'' #17 (2017)
*''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #20 (Batgirl) (1987)
*'' Showcase '96'' #7 (1996)
*''Sovereign Seven Annual'' #2 (1996)
*''Suicide Squad'' vol. 3 #23 (2013)
*''Supergirl'' vol. 5 #27 (2008)
*''Superman'' #665, 668–670, 712 (2007–2011)
*''Superman Returns Prequel'' #3 (2006)
*''Vigilante'' vol. 2 #1–4, 7–10, 12 (2009–2010)
*'' Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #14 (1986)
*''Who's Who: Update '87'' #1 (1987)

Event Comics

*''Painkiller Jane'' #1–5 (1997)
*''Painkiller Jane/Hellboy'' #1 (1998)

Marvel Comics

*''The Amazing Spider-Man'' # 228, 253–254, 279, 282 (1982–1986)
*''Cable/Machine Man '98'' #1 (1998)
*''Classic X-Men'' #37 (1989)
*''Cloak and Dagger'' #1–4 (1983)
*''Cloak and Dagger'' vol. 2 #1–4, 6 (1985–1986)
*''Cloak and Dagger'' vol. 3 #12–16 (1990–1991)
*'' Daredevil'' #248–249, 277 (1987–1990)
*''Excalibur'' #19 (1990)
*''Excalibur: Air Apparent'' #1 (1992)
*''Excalibur: XX Crossing'' #1 (1992)
*''Fantastic Four 2099'' #1 (1996)
*''Generation X'' #24 (1997)
*''Giant-Size X-Men'' #4 (2005)
*''Impossible Man'' #2 (1991)
*'' The Incredible Hulk Annual'' #10 (1981)
*''Marvel Comics Presents'' #10–17 (Colossus); #101–106 (Ghost Rider/Doctor Strange) (1989–1992)
*''Marvel Fanfare'' #14, 19 (1984–1985)
*''Marvel Holiday Special'' #4–5 (1995–1997)
*''New Mutants'' #38, 52–53, 78 (1986–1989)
*''New Thunderbolts'' #96–97 (2006)
*'' Phoenix Resurrection: Revelations'' #1 (1995)
*'' The Rampaging Hulk'' vol. 2 #1–3, 5–6 (1998–1999)
*''Sentry/Spider-Man'' #1 (2001)
*'' Sleepwalker'' #4 (1991)
*''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' # 52, 71 (1981–1982)
*''Spider-Man'' #17 (1991)
*''Spider-Man 2099'' #1–8, 10–13, 15–17, 19–20, 22–25 (1992–1994)
*''Spider-Man/Spider-Man 2099'' #1 (1996)
*''Tales of the Marvel Universe'' #1 (1997)
*''Thor'' #303, 309 (1981)
*''Uncanny X-Men'' #201, 212, 228, 231, 235, 237, 252 (1986–1989)
*''The Vision and the Scarlet Witch'' #1–4 (1982–1983)
*''Warlock and the Infinity Watch'' #3–4 (1992)
*''X-Man'' #31 (1997)
*'' X-Men '99 Annual'' #1 (1999)
*''X-Men: True Friends'' #1–3 (1999)

New Paradigm Studios

*'' Watson and Holmes'' #1 (2013)

References

External links

*
Rick Leonardi
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardi, Rick
1957 births
20th-century American artists
21st-century American artists
American comics artists
Artists from Philadelphia
Dartmouth College alumni
DC Comics people
Living people
Marvel Comics people
People from Haverhill, Massachusetts