Eric James Shanower (born October 23, 1963) is an American cartoonist, best known for his '' Oz'' novels and comics, and for the ongoing retelling of the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

as '' Age of Bronze''.

Early life

Eric Shanower was born on October 23, 1963. Upon his graduation from

Novato High School Novato High School (NHS) is a public high school located in Novato, California, in Marin County. It is one of three high schools part of the Novato Unified School District. History Built in 1955 and founded in 1958, three years before Novato w ...

in 1981, he attended The Kubert SchoolInterview with Eric Shanower, November 5, 2005
. Accessed June 16, 2008
Accessed via Archive.org June 16, 2008 in Dover, New Jersey, graduating in 1984.Shanower, Eric ''Age of Bronze: Sacrifice'' (

Image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

, 2004),

Career

Shanower's first major published works were the ''Oz'' graphic novels, which are '' The Enchanted Apples of Oz'', ''The Secret Island of Oz'', ''The Ice King of Oz'', ''The Forgotten Forest of Oz'', and ''The Blue Witch of Oz'' released by First Comics and

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 ...

between 1986 and 1992. They are collected in a single large volume titled '' Adventures in Oz'', published by IDW. He has also written and illustrated a full-length Oz novel, '' The Giant Garden of Oz'', and a collection of short Oz stories, ''The Salt Sorcerer of Oz''. As an illustrator, he has worked on books by Oz historians, including '' The Wicked Witch of Oz'' by Rachel Cosgrove Payes, '' The Rundelstone of Oz'' by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, '' The Runaway in Oz'' by John R. Neill, and ''The Third Book of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum. Other Oz projects include his illustrations for '' Paradox in Oz'' and ''The Living House of Oz'' by Edward Einhorn. He wrote adaptations of L. Frank Baum's first six original Oz novels 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 ...

, illustrated by artist

Skottie Young Skottie Young (born March 3, 1978) is an American comic book creator, comic book artist, Children's literature, children's book illustrator and writer. He is best known for his work with various Marvel Comics characters, his comic book adaptations ...

. The first, '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' was released in a hardcover collection on September 2, 2009. The follow-up, '' The Marvelous Land of Oz began in November 2009 as an 8 issue monthly comic series, while the third mini i.e. ''

Ozma of Oz ''Ozma of Oz'' was the third book of L. Frank Baum's List of Oz books, Oz series, published in 1907. Publication The full title of the first edition read ''Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Billina the Yellow ...

'', began in November 2010. The fourth and fifth books, '' Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz'' and ''

The Road to Oz ''The Road to Oz'' is the fifth book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was originally published on July 10, 1909 and documents the adventures of Dorothy Gale's fourth visit to the Land of Oz. It was followed by ''The Emerald City of Oz'' (1910) ...

'', were also subsequently adapted by Shanower and Young for Marvel Illustrated. The collaboration concluded with their adaptation of the sixth book, ''

The Emerald City of Oz ''The Emerald City of Oz'' is the sixth book in L. Frank Baum's List of Oz books, Oz series. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently. While they are t ...

''. In 2020, the six Oz graphic novels were rereleased in three collected volumes. Shanower also wrote the comic series Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland for IDW. The first issue was released August 20, 2014.

''Age of Bronze''

In February 1991, Shanower "conceived the idea to tell the story of the

in the comics medium," aiming to combine "the myriad versions of the Greek myth with the archaeological record" to showcase the tale in "authentic historical detail." This aim has been manifested in the ongoing comic book '' Age of Bronze'', debuting in late 1998 from

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) ...

. As of 2018, the series has been collected in four (of a projected seven) volumes: * ''A Thousand Ships'' * ''Sacrifice'' * ''Betrayal Part One'' * ''Betrayal Part Two'' The seven volumes in their entirety will cover the complete story of the war. The books contain extensive bibliographies, for the story, the setting and historical

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

, drawing on the excavation work

Heinrich Schliemann Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and an influential amateur archaeologist. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeolo ...

(et al.) and the publication '' Studia Troica.'' The book does not depict the gods or any mythical beings, with

Chiron In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs". Biography Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for ...

portrayed as a relatively normal human being rather than a centaur. Similarly, the

Nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

are portrayed as human priestesses rather than as supernatural beings.

Other work

Shanower has also drawn a number of one shot comics, such as

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials i ...

's '' Prez'' "Smells Like Teen President" (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 An Accidental Death (also written by Brubaker) published by Fantagraphics in 1993. For Marvel's Epic line, he illustrated The Elsewhere Prince (1990), based on characters created by the French cartoonist Moebius. His work has appeared in magazines throughout the USA and Europe as well as in books and on TV.

Awards

Shanower won

Eisner Awards 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 Writer-Artist in 2001 and 2003, won a for Best Serialized Comic in 2006, and was nominated for the

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

for Outstanding Artist in 1999 for his work on ''Age of Bronze''. ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' miniseries written by Shanower, illustrated by

, won two Eisners in 2010, for Best Limited Series or Story Arc and Best Publication for Kids. His short story "Happily Ever After" was part of '' How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity'', an anthology of

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

for young adults published in 2009. The book was a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

finalist for LGBT Children's/Young Adult literature.Gonzalez, Antonio. "Finalists announced for the 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards."
Lambda Literary Foundation. March 16, 2010.

Personal life

Shanower lives in San Diego with his partner David Maxine, who runs Hungry Tiger Press, a publisher of Oz books, Oz-related comics and compact discs, which the two started in 1994.

References

External links

*
Eric Shanower
at Prism Comics
Another interview, focusing on The Age of Bronze
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanower, Eric James American fantasy artists American comics artists American comics writers American gay artists American gay writers The Kubert School alumni LGBTQ comics creators LGBTQ people from Florida People from Key West, Florida Living people 1963 births Eisner Award winners for Best Writer/Artist