Arvell Jones (whose earliest work is billed Arvell Malcolm Jones) is an American

comics 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 literar ...

best known for his work for

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 ...

and for

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 its imprint

Milestone Media Milestone Media Company LLC is the media company which created the Milestone Comics line, which were published and distributed by DC Comics. Milestone Media created the source material that was adapted as the '' Static Shock'' animated series. T ...

Biography

Jones and his brother, Desmond, were raised in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan, and were both active in early comic book

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

. Along with fellow Detroiters and future comics professionals

Rich Buckler Rich Buckler (February 6, 1949 – May 19, 2017) was an Americans, American comics artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deat ...

, Tom Orzechowski,

Keith Pollard Keith Pollard (; born January 20, 1950) is an American comic book artist. Originally from the Detroit area, Pollard is best known for his simultaneous work on the Marvel Comics titles ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Fantastic Four'', and ''Thor'' ...

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, an ...

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

Michael Netzer Michael Netzer (; born 9 October 1955) is an American-Israeli artist best known for his comic book work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics in the 1970s, as well as for his online presence. Early life Michael Nasser (later Netzer) was born in Detro ...

, and others, Jones worked on the

Detroit Triple Fan Fair The Detroit Triple Fan Fair (DTFF) was a multigenre convention generally held annually in Detroit from 1965 to 1977. It is credited for being one of the first comic book conventions in the United States. The Triple Fan Fair also gave balanced co ...

, one of the earliest

comic book convention A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...

s, and published the local

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

''Fan Informer''; it lasted into 1971. Jones in 2006 recalled how he and his compatriots "would take a 13-hour drive and spend the night with Al Milgrom and his roommate, hang at Rich ucklers, then go see rt director John Romita at

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 ...

, get our butts spanked, and go back to Detroit to work on our samples again." Jones entered the comics industry as an assistant for Buckler, the first of the Detroit group to enter the field professionally. After helping Buckler on the

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

and the Buckler-created

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

Deathlok Deathlok (also referred to as Deathlok the Demolisher) is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first Deathlok, Luther Manning, appeared in '' Astonishing Tales'' #25 (Aug. 1974 ...

, Jones received his first published credit, for art assistance, along with Pollard, on the Buckler- pencilled ''

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

'' #228 (

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d October 1974). He then did pencil "breakdowns"—layouts that break down the plot elements—for all but page one of the 18-page team-up story "The Return of the Living Eraser", starring the

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

and

Morbius, the Living Vampire Morbius (born Michael Morbius, also known as Morgan Michaels, Morbius the Living Vampire and Nikos Michaels) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and originally designed by pen ...

, for

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Ear ...

's finished pencils. This eventually ran in ''

Marvel Two-in-One ''Marvel Two-in-One'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Fantastic Four member the Thing in a different team-up each issue. Publication history Original series The concept of teaming the Thing with a differen ...

'' #15 (May 1976). After drawing a spot illustration for the text story "The Atomic Monster" in the Marvel black-and-white horror magazine '' Monsters Unleashed'' #9 (Dec. 1974), Jones made his debut as penciller of an 18-page story starring the

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

superhero Iron Fist in ''

Marvel Premiere ''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own ser ...

'' #20 (January 1975). He also pencilled the next two Iron Fist stories and co-created the supporting character

Misty Knight Mercedes "Misty" Knight is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jenny Blake Isabella and Arvell Jones, the character was first mentioned in '' Marvel Premiere'' #20 (January 1975) and first appear ...

with writer

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

. Jones also worked on ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

'' starting with issue #73. When he moved to

, Jones worked with writer

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" (" Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science ficti ...

on ''

Super-Team Family ''Super-Team Family'' is a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 that lasted for 15 issues. It included a mix of original and reprinted stories. Publication history ''Super-Team Family'' began publication with an O ...

'', which teamed the

Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...

with various other DC characters. After that title's cancellation, a

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

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 appear ...

team-up drawn by Jones, originally scheduled to appear in ''Super-Team Family'' was published in ''

The Superman Family ''The Superman Family'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1974 to 1982 featuring supporting characters in the ''Superman'' comics. The term "Superman Family" is often used to refer to the extended cast of characters of c ...

'' #191–193. Jones worked on the DC series ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its s ...

'' in the mid-1980s, penciling the majority of the issues between 1985 and 1987. He left the comics field for several years to work in television, and focused on graphic design work. Jones returned to comics in 1994 to pencil Marvel Comics' '' Captain America Annual'' #13, and issues of DC/

's '' Kobalt'', '' Hardware'', and ''Blood Syndicate''. His last published comic was Marvel's ''Daredevil'' #343 (Aug. 1995), on which he and

did breakdowns, with finished pencils by Tom Palmer.

Bibliography

DC Comics

* ''

'' #37, 41–46, 50–55, 57–60, 67 (1984–1987) * '' DC Special'' #28 (

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st centuries of t ...

) (1977) * '' DC Special Series'' #6 (

Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League, Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #1 ...

) (1977) * ''

Men of War ''Men of War'' is a real-time tactics video game franchise, based mainly in World War II. Main series ''Soldiers: Heroes of World War II'' ''Soldiers: Heroes of World War II'' is the original game of the ''Men of War'' series, and uses an ea ...

'' #2–3 (Codename: Gravedigger) (1977) * ''

Secret Origins ''Secret Origins'' is the title of several comic book series published by DC Comics which featured the origin stories of the publisher's various characters. Publication history ''Secret Origins'' was first published as a one-shot in 1961 and c ...

'' vol. 2 #19 (

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

) (1987) * ''

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes The 1958 version of the Legion of Super-Heroes (also called the original/Preboot Legion) is a fictional superhero team in the 31st century of the . The team is the first incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and was followed by the Legion of ...

'' #241–242 (1978) * ''

'' #191–193 (

) (1978–1979) * ''

'' #12–15 (1977–1978) * '' Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #16 (1986)

Milestone Media

* ''

Blood Syndicate The Blood Syndicate is a multicultural vigilante gang of superhumans created by Milestone Comics and published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''Blood Syndicate'' #1 (April 1993), and was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr. and ...

'' #4 (1993) * '' Hardware'' #9 (1993) * '' Kobalt'' #1–6 (1994)

Marvel Comics

* ''

Astonishing Tales ''Astonishing Tales'' is an American anthology comic book series originally published by Marvel Comics from 1970 to 1976. Its sister publication was ''Amazing Adventures'' (vol. 2). In 2008 and 2009, Marvel produced 11 webcomics starring differ ...

'' #30 (

) (1975) * '' The Avengers'' #192 (1980) * ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

Annual'' #13 (1994) * '' Daredevil'' #343 (1995) * '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' #62 (1987) * ''

'' #73–75, 77 (1975) * ''

'' #20–22 ( Iron Fist) (1975) * ''

Marvel Spotlight ''Marvel Spotlight'' is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics as a try-out book. It stood out from Marvel's other try-out books in that most of the featured characters made their first appearance in the series. The series or ...

'' #33 (Deathlok) (1977) * ''

'' #15 ( The Thing and

) (1976) * '' Monsters Unleashed'' #9 (1974) * ''

Nightmask Nightmask is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer Archie Goodwin, and first appeared in ''Nightmask'' #1 (November 1986), a series which was published under Marvel's New Uni ...

'' #5 (1987) * ''

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' is an encyclopedic Guide book, guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed b ...

Deluxe Edition'' #12 (1986) * ''

Power Man Power Man may refer to: * Luke Cage, a Marvel Comics superhero, originally called Power Man * Erik Josten, a Marvel supervillain later known as Smuggler, Goliath and Atlas * Victor Alvarez, the current Power Man introduced in the mini-series ''Sh ...

'' #30 (1976) * ''

Star Brand The Star Brand is the name of a number of similar objects of power in the world of the Marvel Comics. The name "Star Brand" is also often adopted by the wielders of these objects. Three of these Star Brands have been prominently featured in serie ...

'' #8 (1987) * ''

Super-Villain Team-Up ''Super-Villain Team-Up'' is the name of two American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Both series featured supervillains as the protagonists. Publication history The first series started in 1975 with two giant-size issues before la ...

'' #17 (1980) * ''

'' #228, 290 (1974–1979) * '' What If...?'' #37 (The Thing) (1983)

References

External links

* * *
Arvell Jones
at ''

Toons Mag ''Toons Mag'' is a cartoon magazine that offers a global online platform for publishing Political cartoon, editorial cartoons, comics, caricatures, illustrations, and related news. It is a Multilingualism, multilingual publication and organizer ...

''
Arvell Jones
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

Audio/video

"Kids Read Comics Interview - Arvell Jones Bonus Story"
TGTWebcomics,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, June 23, 2010
"Arvell Jones Interview!"
The Comic Book Syndicate, YouTube, April 30, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Arvell 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists African-American comics artists American comics artists Artists from Detroit DC Comics people Living people Marvel Comics people Year of birth missing (living people)