Adam Pollina is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...

and

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

. He is best known for his work on

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' ''

X-Force X-Force is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #100 (April 1991 ...

'', '' Rise of Apocalypse'', and ''Angel: Revelation'', ''Charlemagne'' at Defiant, ''Rai: Fallen World'', and ''Wrath of the Eternal Warrior'' #2 at Valiant, ''Loose Cannon'' and ''Big Daddy Danger'' at

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, and ''Pyrate Queen'' from Bad Idea Comics.

Early life and education

Adam Pollina graduated with honors from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

Career

Early career

He started his comic career immediately after college, illustrating for Friendly Comics in 1992, an

adult comics The catch-all term adult comics typically denotes comic books, comic magazines, comic strips or graphic novels that are marketed either mainly or strictly towards adult (or mature) readers. This can be because they contain material that could be ...

imprint of Personality Comics, co-owned by Eric Shefferman. Later, at Shefferman's Triumphant Comics, he illustrated ''Chromium Man''. Pollina's work was spotted by writer

Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville (TV series), Smallville'' and ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', writer for the films ''C ...

, and in 1994 Loeb and Pollina collaborated on ''Loose Cannon'', a

four-issue limited featuring

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

Marvel: 1995–1998

Pollina's work was then noticed by

founder

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

, which led to work at Marvel. Pollina's Marvel included a run on ''

'', the limited series '' Rise of Apocalypse'', the occasional issue of ''

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

'', and a variety of other contributions. Pollina began to pencil ''

'' in 1995 with issue #44 and continued as regular penciler until #81 in 1998.

Video game industry

During this time, Pollina began working in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game 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 generate visual fe ...

industry, illustrating character design for

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

on such groundbreaking games as

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

: '' Golden Eye'', ''

NBA Street Vol. 2 ''NBA Street Vol. 2'' is a basketball video game developed by NuFX and EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label. It is the sequel to '' NBA Street'' and the second installment in the '' NBA Street'' series. ''NBA ...

'', ''

SSX Tricky ''SSX Tricky'', also known as ''SSX 2'' or ''SSX 2: Tricky'', is a snowboarding video game, the second game in the '' SSX'' series published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label and developed by EA Canada. A direct sequel to '' SSX' ...

'', ''Def Jam Vendetta Wrestling'', and ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in polytheism, polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been portrayed in their ...

'' for

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

. Approached by

Stan Winston Studios Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American television and film special make-up effects artist, best known for his work in the ''Terminator'' series, the first three ''Jurassic Park'' films, '' Aliens'', '' The Thing'', t ...

in 2001, Pollina was hired to design the female Terminator in '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines''. In 2002, he produced the

creator-owned In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-publishing, self-published or published by a corporate publisher. I ...

limited series ''Big Daddy Danger'', which was published by DC Comics and purchased by

Disney Studios The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake s ...

in 2003. In 2002, Pollina directed his first music video, ''Enemy'', for the band

Sevendust Sevendust is an American Rock music, rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vinnie Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly (musician), John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon an ...

. Pollina went on to direct several other music videos for bands like

My Morning Jacket My Morning Jacket is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Kos ...

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

, Elkland, and

The Blue Van The Blue Van is a blues rock band from Denmark consisting of ''Steffen Westmark'' (vocals and guitar), ''Søren Christensen'' (keyboard, vocals and guitar), ''Allan Villadsen'' (bass), and ''Per Jørgensen'' (drums and vocals). History The Blue ...

2008: return to Marvel

In 2008 Pollina returned to Marvel, teaming up with writer

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (born 1973) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series ''Glee'' (2011–2014), ''Big Love'' (2009–2011), '' Riverdale'' (2017– ...

to retell

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

's origin story in the five-issue mini series ''Angel: Revelations.'' The story tells how Warren overcomes the trials and tribulations of a cold family life, his growing physical mutation while living at boarding school, abuse of power from authority figures, and deals with a religious zealot on a murdering crusade across America.

2010–2017: work outside of comics

In 2010 Pollina relocated to

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, founded a bespoke atelier and began creating custom jewelry and garments for an elite list of clients. His designs were featured in the 2012

Biennale In the art world, a biennale ( , ; ), is a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition. The term was popularised by the Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895, but the concept of such a large scale, and intentionally internationa ...

in Venice as well as

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, an ...

Miami 2013. In 2014, Pollina became creative director for the world-renowned arts/music festival

Wonderfruit Wonderfruit is an annual gathering for art, culture, music, and nature at The Fields at Siam Country Club, outside Pattaya in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The event features a farm, musical performances, art and architectural installations, talks ...

2018–present

Pollina returned to the comics industry in the beginning of 2018, working on ''Secret Weapons'' #0 written by

Eric Heisserer Eric Andrew Heisserer (born 1970) is an American filmmaker, comic book writer, television writer, and television producer. His screenplay for the film '' Arrival'' earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 89th Academy Awards in 20 ...

. Shortly after, Pollina returned to DC Comics to illustrate the ''Outlaws Annual Volume 3'', written by Jeph Loeb. In 2019, he illustrated the sci-fi epic series ''Fallen World'' by

Dan Abnett Daniel P. Abnett ( ; born 12 October 1965) is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and has worked on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since ...

for Valiant. In 2021, Adam Pollina,

Matt Kindt Matt Kindt (born 1973) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist, and graphic designer. His early creator-owned works were spy fiction, and their success led to mainstream work for hire projects in superhero fiction and other genres. His work h ...

, and

Matt Hollingsworth Matt Hollingsworth (born 1968, in California) is an American comic book colorist. As of 2023, he was continuing to color comics for Marvel including such notable titles as Guardian of the Galaxy, Punisher and Doctor Strange. He lives in Croatia. ...

created the fantasy book ''Whalesville'', published by Bad Idea. Pollina partnered with an all-star creative team to launch Rebel Studios, a multi-platform gaming and content provider. Their first project, titled ''EY3K0N'', was a genesis

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchai ...

collection successfully launched in 2022.

Bibliography (selected)

Marvel Comics

*''

'' #44-48, 50, 52–56, 62, 65–67, 69–72, 74, 75, 77–81, -1 (1995–1998); some material collected in ''Deadpool Classic Companion'' TPB *'' Rise of Apocalypse'' (4-issue mini-series, 1996–1997) * '' Slingers'' #0 (1998) * "Yes, Jubilee, There is a Santa Claus," in '' Generation X Holiday Special'' #1 (1999) * ''Angel: Revelations'' (2008)

DC Comics

* ''Loose Cannon'' (1994–1995) * ''Big Daddy Danger'' (2002–2003) * ''Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual'' #3 (2019)

Valiant Comics

* ''Fallen World'' #1 * '' Harbinger Renegade'' #2 – cover B * ''

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

(Deluxe Edition)'' * ''Ninja-K'' #1 (2017) * ''Secret Weapons'' * '' Wrath of the Eternal Warrior'' #2, 4 — covers * '' Shadowman Vol. 1: Fear Of The Dark''

Bad Idea Comics

* ''Pyrate Queen'' #1 * ''RefuseXLast Resorts'' * ''Whalesville'' #1

Unproduced

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

vs.

the Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...

(Hollywood concept art)

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollina, Adam Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American comics artists