Ben Templesmith (born 7 March 1984) is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

industry, most notably the

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

series ''

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

'', with writer

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ...

, and IDW's ''

30 Days of Night ''30 Days of Night'' is a three-issue vampire comic book miniseries written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by American company IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property. The series takes place ...

'' 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'', '' Batman: Gotham County Line'', '' ...

, which was adapted into a motion picture of the same name. He has also created book covers, movie posters, trading cards, and concept work for film.

Early life

Templesmith was born 7 March 1984, in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. He graduated from

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

with a bachelor's degree in Design, and holds a diploma of Cartoon and Graphic Art from the Australian College of Journalism.Giles, Keith (31 August 2001)
"Artists on the Verge: Ben Templesmith"

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

Career

Templesmith produced his first commercial American comics work in 2001, providing the art for Todd McFarlane Productions' '' Hellspawn'', which was published by

. He has gone on to create his own original works as well as contribute to many licensed properties at various publishers, most notably

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) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

, with which he had an exclusive agreement through most of 2008 and part of 2009 before returning to being a freelancer. Other licensed properties that Templesmith has worked on include illustrating "Dark Journey", a story in issue #17 of the

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

anthology series ''

Star Wars Tales ''Star Wars Tales'' is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics, beginning on September 29, 1999, and completing its run on July 13, 2005. Each issue is 64 pages and features a few unrelated stories from various eras of the ''Star Wa ...

'' in 2003, and the covers to

Devil's Due Publishing Devil's Due Publishing (often abbreviated as DDP) is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned proper ...

's '' Army of Darkness: Ashes to Ashes'' #1 in 2004 and IDW's ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

'' #0 in 2008. Original works Templesmith has produced include the miniseries '' Welcome to Hoxford'', the ''New York Times'' best-selling '' Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse'' ''Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith'', ''Conluvio'' and ''Choker'' at Image Comics with writer Ben McCool. He also provided a number of covers for the

Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon, best known for publishing such series as '' Scott Pilgrim'' and ''Rick and Morty''. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's ...

series ''Wasteland''. In April 2012,

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and is based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery which manages DC Comics characters by working with other units ...

announced that Templesmith would be one of the artists illustrating a new digital ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' series with stories set outside regular DC continuity. Starting in November 2014, Templesmith launched ''Gotham by Midnight'' from DC Comics with writer Ray Fawkes.

Awards

* 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, Joe Harris, Stuart Moore, Michael Gaydos,

Colleen Doran Colleen Doran (born July 24, 1964) is an American comic book creator, writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and ...

and

Ted McKeever Ted McKeever is an American writer and artist, best known for his work in the comic book industry. During his thirty years in comics, McKeever created, wrote and illustrated such titles as ''Transit'', '' Eddy Current'', ''Plastic Forks'', ''Metr ...

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

Spike TV Scream Award The Scream Awards were an annual awards show run and broadcast by Spike from 2005 to 2012. The premier Awards Ceremony was known as Spike TV's Scream Awards 2006, however, for subsequent years, the show was relabeled to simply "Scream", followed ...

for Best Comic Book (with

for ''

'') * 2010 Eagle Award for Favourite Colourist

Nominations

* 2005

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

for Best Limited Series (for '' 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow'', with

)2005 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 7 September 2010. * 2005 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (for ''30 for Days of Night: Return to Barrow'') * 2006 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series (with

for ''

'')2006 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 7 September 2010. * 2006 Eisner Award for Best New Series (with Warren Ellis for ''Fell'') * 2006 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (for ''Fell'') * 2007 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series (with Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier for ''The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M'')2007 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 7 September 2010. * 2007 Eisner Award for Painter/Multimedia Artist (for ''The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M'') * 2006

for Illustrated Narrative (with Steve Niles for ''Dark Days'') * 2006 International Horror Guild Award for Graphic Narrative (with Steve Niles and Ashley Wood for ''30 Days of Night'' issues 1–3) * 2007 Horror Guild Award for Illustrated Narrative (for ''Wormwood Gentleman Corpse: Birds, Bees, Blood & Beer'')

Selected bibliography

Comics

* '' Hellspawn'' (artist,

, 2002) * ''

'' (co-creator and artist, with Steve Niles,

, 2002) * '' Dark Days'' (co-creator and artist, with

, IDW Publishing, 2003) * ''

Criminal Macabre ''Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery'' is a comic book series starring Cal McDonald, an antihero American comic book character created in 1990 in comics, 1990 by writer Steve Niles. The character's adventures have been published by Dark Hors ...

'' (artist, with Steve Niles,

, 2003) * '' Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse'' (creator and writer/artist, LOFI Magazine, 2004–2006, IDW Publishing, 2006–present) * '' 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow'' (co-creator and artist, with Steve Niles, IDW Publishing, 2004) * ''

Singularity 7 ''Singularity 7'' is a four-issue comic book mini-series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. It was published by American company IDW Publishing in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror, to ...

'' (creator and writer/artist, IDW Publishing, 2004) * ''Blood-Stained Sword'' (co-creator and artist, IDW Publishing, 2004) * ''

Silent Hill is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—'' Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', '' Silent Hill 3'', and '' Silent Hill 4: The ...

: Dying Inside'' (artist, with

Scott Ciencin Malcolm Scott Ciencin (September 1, 1962 – August 5, 2014) was an American author of adult and children's fiction. He co-authored several books with his wife Denise Ciencin. He was a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' bestselling au ...

, IDW Publishing, 2004) * ''

: Bloodsucker Tales'' (co-creator and artist, with

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' FF'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', '' Uncanny X-Men'', an ...

, IDW Publishing, 2004–2005) * '' Hatter M'' (artist, with

Frank Beddor Frank Beddor (July 31, 1958) is a former American world champion freestyle skier, film producer, actor, stuntman, and author. He worked as a producer on ''There's Something About Mary'' and ''Wicked'', and wrote the book '' The Looking Glass War ...

and

Liz Cavalier Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Allan (cricketer) (born 194 ...

, Image Comics, 2004–2006) * ''

Shadowplay Shadow play refers to shadow puppetry or shadow theatre. Shadowplay, Shadow Play or The Shadow Play may refer to: Literature * ''Shadowplay'' (novel), a 2007 novel by Tad Williams *''Shadowplay'', a 1990 novel by Jo Clayton *''Shadowplay'', a 19 ...

'' (co-creator and artist, IDW Publishing, 2005) * ''

'' (co-creator and artist, with

, Image Comics, 2005–present) * ''

: Red Snow'' (co-creator and writer/artist, IDW Publishing, 2007) * ''

Dead Space ''Dead Space'' is a science fiction horror franchise created and directed by Glen Schofield. ''Dead Space'' was developed by Visceral Games and published and owned by Electronic Arts. The franchise's chronology is not presented in a linear format ...

'' (artist, with

Antony Johnston Antony Johnston (born 25 August 1972) is a British writer of comics, video games, and novels. He is known for the post-apocalyptic comic series '' Wasteland'', the graphic novel ''The Coldest City'' (adapted for film as '' Atomic Blonde''), and ...

, 2008, Image Comics)Ekstrom, Steve (28 February 2008)
Ben Templesmith - Moving into Dead Space

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

* '' Welcome To Hoxford'' (creator and writer/artist, IDW Publishing, 2008) * ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

- The Whispering Gallery'' (artist, with

Leah Moore Leah Moore (born 4 February 1978) is a British comic book writer and columnist. The daughter of comics writer Alan Moore, she frequently collaborates with her husband, writer John Reppion, as Moore & Reppion. She is a Bachelor of Arts in Classic ...

and

John Reppion John Mark Reppion (born 1978) is an English comics writer. He is married to Leah Moore, the daughter of Alan Moore, and he has worked with both on the comic ''Albion''. John Reppion and Leah Moore have co-writing credits on '' Wild Girl'', a 6- ...

, 2009) * ''

Groom Lake Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, north-northwest of Las Vegas. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Ba ...

'' (co-creator, with

Chris Ryall Christopher Ryall (born April 2) is best known as the former President, Publisher, and Chief Creative Officer of IDW Publishing (June 2004 – 2019), and as a writer in the comic book industry. In February 2011, his Eisner Award-nominated series, ...

, IDW Publishing, 2009) * ''

Choker A choker is a close-fitting necklace worn around the neck, typically 14 inch to 16 inch in length. Chokers can be made of a variety of materials, including velvet, plastic, beads, latex, leather, metal, such as silver, gold, or platinum, etc. Th ...

'' (co-creator, with Ben McCool, Image Comics, 2012) * ''Ten Grand'' (artist), with

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski, known as J. Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is known as the creator of the science fiction televi ...

, Image Comics, 2013 * '' Gotham By Midnight'' (Artist) (co-creator, with

Ray Fawkes Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

, DC Comics, 2014)

Game books

* ''Superiors 4: Rogues to Riches'' (''In Nomine'') (2000)

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

, Interior Artist * ''

Faiths and Pantheons ''Faiths and Pantheons'' is a campaign accessory for the Editions of Dungeons & Dragons#Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition, 3rd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'', for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Contents ''Faiths and Pantheons'' detai ...

'' (Forgotten Realms) (2002)

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

, Interior Artist * ''

City of the Spider Queen ''City of the Spider Queen'' is a 160-page adventure module set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, for use with the 3rd edition of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Plot summary According to the adventure background p ...

'' (Forgotten Realms) (2002) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist * ''

Fiend Folio ''Fiend Folio'' is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). All three are collections of monsters. The bulk of the material in the first edition c ...

'' (''Dungeons and Dragons'') (2003) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist * ''

Nomads Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, Nomadic pastoralism, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and Merchant, trader nomads. In the twentieth century, ...

'' (2004; artist;

White Wolf Game Studio White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

)

Art books

* ''Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith'' (IDW Publishing) * ''Conluvio: The Art of Ben Templesmith'', Vol. 2 (IDW Publishing) * ''SquidGirls: Erotica Tentacular''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Templesmith, Ben 1984 births Australian comics artists Australian horror artists Australian illustrators Australian poster artists Living people Role-playing game artists