Francis Manapul (born August 26, 1979) is a Canadian-Filipino

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

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Career

Manapul is known for his work on ''

Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is an American comic book Ongoing series, series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint (trade name), imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owne ...

'' and '' The Necromancer'' for

Top Cow Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint (trade name), imprint of Image Comics. It was founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. The company is known for publishing titles such as ''Cyber Force (comics), Cyberforce'', ''The Darknes ...

, working on the former for three years, off and on, returning for the tenth anniversary issue in 2005. He has provided covers for various titles, most notably for some ''G.I. Joe'' comics from

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 ...

. In 2007, he signed an exclusive contract to work with

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 ...

. Manapul served as a guest judge in the fourth week round of the third season of Comic Book Idol, a comic book art competition sponsored by

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 ...

. In 2008 Francis became the artist for DC's Legion of Superheroes with

Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor, and publisher in the comics industry. Beginning his career writing for DC Comics at the age of 14, he had a successful but controversial run as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comic ...

as the writer. Francis co-created the character

Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

with Shooter before leaving the title. In January 2010,

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 ...

named Manapul one of ten creators to watch for the coming year. In 2009, he was named to be the artist in DC's new ''

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

'' series written by

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...

which stars

Barry Allen Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second character known as the Flash, following Flash (Jay Garrick), Jay Garrick. The character first appeared in ''Showcase (comic ...

in the lead role. He was also one of the TV presenters on '' Beast Legends'' from Yap films, which currently airs Wednesday nights at 10pm EST on History Television Canada. Its premiere in the US was on September 9, Thursday at 10pm EST on SyFy. In 2011 Manapul was awarded the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Artist and the All-in-One Award (Favorite artist known for almost-exclusively inking his/her own interior comic book pencil work and rarely the work of others in '10) from the Inkwell Awards. That May, DC Comics announced a massive revamp and relaunch of their entire superhero line, as part of this Francis was named writer/artist on the Flash, with his longtime colorist/collaborator, Brian Buccellato co-writing with him. In April 2014, Manapul and Buccellato moved from ''The Flash'' to ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

''. That August, Manapul created Batman poster for New York Comic Con. In 2016, Manapul became the writer and artist for the

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 (2011–2016) initiative in May 2016 as its launching point ...

comic book series ''

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

''. On October 12, 2023, Manapul and a group of colleagues announced at the

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...

that they were forming a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

media company called Ghost Machine which would publish

creator-owned comics 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-published or published by a corporate publisher. In some fields of ...

, and allow the participating creators to benefit from the development of their intellectual properties. The company publishes its books through

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) ...

, and its founding creators include

Brad Meltzer Brad Meltzer (born April 1, 1970) is an Americans, American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also written ...

, Jason Fabok, Gary Frank,

Bryan Hitch Bryan Hitch (born 22 April 1970) is a British comics artist and comic book writer, writer. Hitch began his career in the United Kingdom for Marvel UK, working on titles such as ''Action Force'' and ''Death's Head'', before gaining prominence o ...

, and Peter J. Tomasi, all of whom would produce comics work exclusively through that company. Manapul's inaugural work for Ghost Machine would be drawing ''The Rocketfellers'', which is written by Tomasi. The series' premise is based on the idea that Manapul explains thus: "The best place to hide when you're in the

Witness Protection Program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after trials, usually by police. While witnesses may only require p ...

perhaps is through a different time." The story depicts a 26th century dysfunctional family who when threatened, flee by traveling through time to the year 2024, where they to encounter the strange inhabitants and culture of that era, only to find that the threat they thought they had escaped has followed them.

Bibliography

Interior work

*''Love in Tights'' #1 (with

J. Torres Joseph Torres, better known as J. Torres (born 1969), is a Filipino-born Canadian comic book writer. He is known for his run on DC Comics' ''Teen Titans Go!'' as well as his two Forest of Reading Honour Books, the graphic novels Planet Hockey (2 ...

Slave Labor Graphics Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an American independent comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat adult comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoen ...

, 1998) *''Monster Fighters, Inc.'' (with J. Torres,

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 ...

): **''The Ghosts of Christmas'' ( one-shot, 1999) **''The Black Book'' (one-shot, 2000) *'' Fear Effect: Retro Helix'' (with Frank Mastromauro and

David Wohl David Wohl is an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known as an editor at Marvel Comics and Top Cow Productions and, at the latter, writing '' The Darkness'' and ''Witchblade''. Career David Wohl began his creative career as a h ...

, one-shot,

, 2001) *''

'' (Top Cow): ** "XLVIII" (with Paul Jenkins, in #48, 2001) **'' Witchblade/Lady Death'' (with David Wohl and Joel Gomez, one-shot, 2001) ** "LIII" (with Paul Jenkins, David Wohl and Brian Ching, in #53, 2002) ** "The Return of Tora No Shi" (with David Wohl and Joel Gomez, in #54-57, 2002) ** "Endgame, Part Two" (with David Wohl, Joel Gomez and Eric Basaldua, in #60, 2002) ** "LXII-LXV" (with David Wohl, Joel Gomez, Mike Choi and Romano Molenaar, in #62-65, 2003) ** "Road Trip" (with David Wohl, Joel Gomez and Mike Choi, in #68-69, 2003) ** "Death Pool" (with David Wohl, Joel Gomez, Mike Choi and David Nakayama, in #70 & 72-75, 2003–2004) ** "10th Anniversary" (with

Ron Marz Ron Marz (born November 17, 1965) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as '' Batman/Aliens'', ''DC vs. Marvel'', ''Green Lantern'', ''Silver Surfer'', and ''Witchblade''. Career Marz is known for his work on ''Si ...

and various artists, in #92, 2005) *'' Tomb Raider: The Series'' (Top Cow): ** "Without Limit" (with

Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...

, in #15, 2001) ** "Alpha Omega" (with

Dan Slott Daniel "Dan" Slott (born July 3, 1967) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on Marvel Comics books such as ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', as well as ''The Superior Spider-Man'', ''She-Hulk'', ''Silver Surfer (comic book), Silver Surfe ...

, in #50, 2005) *'' Image Comics FCBD'' '04: "First Strike" (with Robert Place Napton, Image, 2004) *'' Magdalena/

Vampirella Vampirella () is a vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Creepy'' and ''E ...

'' (with

Robert Kirkman Robert Kirkman (; born November 30, 1978)Löchel, Ingo"The Walking Dead: Die Comic-Serie – Robert Kirkman" Zauberspiegel. Retrieved February 17, 2013. is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for co-creat ...

, one-shot, Top Cow, 2004) *'' The Darkness'' #21: "The Reckoning" (with Brian Buccelato, Top Cow, 2005) *''Necromancer'' #1-6 (with Joshua Ortega, Top Cow, 2006) *'' The Iron Saint'' (with

Jason Rubin Jason Rubin (born 1970) is an American video game director, writer, and comic book creator. He is best known for the '' Crash Bandicoot'' and '' Jak and Daxter'' series of games which were produced by Naughty Dog, the game development studio he ...

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

): **''Iron and the Maiden'' #0-4 (with Joel Gomez, 2007) **''Iron and the Maiden: Brutes, Bims and the City'' (with various artists, one-shot, 2008) *''Sept Guerrières (7 Warriors)'' (with Michaël Le Galli,

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

, Delcourt, 2008) *'' Legion of Superheroes'' (Vol. 5) #37-46, 48-49 (2008–2009) *''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' #0-3, 5-6 (with

, DC Comics, 2009–2010) *''

Superman/Batman ''Superman/Batman'' is a monthly American comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular superheroes: Superman and Batman. ''Superman/Batman'' premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, ' ...

'' #60-61 (2009), #75 (2010) *''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

'' (Vol. 3) #1-6, 9-10, 12 (2010–2011) *''

'' (Vol. 4) #1-25 (writer/artist, with Brian Buccellato, 2011–2013) *''

'' (Vol. 2) #30-34, 37-44 (writer/artist, with Brian Buccellato, DC Comics, 2014-2015) *''Flash Special Edition'' #1 (2014) *''Batman and Robin Eternal'' #5 (2015) *''Justice League'' (Vol. 2) #45-46 (2015) *''

'' (Vol. 2) #1-2 (2016), #5-6 (2017), #9-11 (2017) *''Batman: The Merciless'' #1 (2017) *''Justice League: No Justice'' #1-4 (2018) *''Justice League'' (Vol. 4) #10-11 (2018), #22 (2019) *''Aquaman/Justice League Drowned Earth'' #1 (2018) *''Clear'' (with

Scott Snyder Scott Snyder (born January 15, 1976) is an American comic book author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his work for DC Comics, including series such as ''American Vampire'', ''Detective Comics'', a highly acc ...

, independent, released as

ComiXology Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), was a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . At its height it offered a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, g ...

Original, 2021)

Cover work

Aspen MLT

*'' Soulfire: Chaos Reign'' #2 (

, 2006) *''Aspen Showcase: Benoist'' #1 (Aspen, 2008) *''Executive Assistant Iris'' #2 (Aspen, 2009) *'' Soulfire'' #2 (Aspen, 2010)

DC Comics

*'' Legion of Superheroes'' #47, 50 (2008–2009) *''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' #32 (2009) *'' Red Robin'' #1-5 (2009) *''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' (Vol. 4) #45 (variant cover) (2009) *'' Blackest Night: The Flash'' #1-3 (variant covers) (2009-2010) *''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan and starring Michael Chiklis that aired on FX from March 12, 2002 to November 25, 2008 for seven seasons. The show is known for its portrayal of corrupt police ...

'' (Vol. 2) #1-3 (2009–2010) *''

Justice League of America The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived t ...

'' (Vol. 2) #46 (variant cover) (2010), #49 (variant cover) (2010) *''

'' #4 (2010) *''

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

'' (Vol. 4) #5 (variant cover) (2011) *'' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' (Vol. 3) #5 (2011) *''

'' (Vol. 3) #7, #11 (2011) *'' Flashpoint: Grodd of War'' #1 (2011) *'' Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost'' #1-3 (2011) *''

Green Lantern Corps The Green Lantern Corps is a intergalactic Peacekeeping, peace keeping agency appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residing on the plan ...

'' (Vol. 2) #62 (variant cover) (2011) *''

'' (Vol. 5) #4 (variant cover) (2012) *''Sword of Sorcery Featuring Amethyst'' (Vol. 2) #2 (variant cover) (2012) *''Superman Unchained'' #5 (Superman 75th Anniversary 1930s variant cover) (2013) *''Flash Season Zero'' #1 (variant cover) (2014) *''Lobo'' (Vol. 3) #3 (variant cover) (2014) *''Superman'' (Vol. 4) #36 (variant cover) (2014) *''Superman/Wonder Woman'' #16 (variant cover) (2015) *''Justice League of America'' (Vol. 4) #2 (variant cover) (2015) *''Aquaman'' (Vol. 5) #44 (variant cover) (2015) *''Convergence'' #4 (variant cover) (2015) *''Multiversity'' #2 (variant cover) (2015) *''Batman/Superman'' #25 (2015) *''Justice League: The Darkseid War Superman'' #1 (2015) *''Justice League: The Darkseid War Lex Luthor'' #1 (2015) *''Justice League: The Darkseid War Flash'' #1 (2015) *''Justice League: The Darkseid War SHAZAM'' #1 (2015) *''Justice League: The Darkseid War Batman'' #1 (2015) *''Justice League: The Darkseid War Green Lantern'' #1 (2015) *''Batgirl'' (Vol. 5) #1-12 (variant covers) (2016-2017), #34-36 (2019) *''Superman: American Alien'' #5 (variant cover) (2016) *''Scooby Apocalypse'' #5 (variant cover) (2016) *''Flash Omnibus By Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato'' (new cover) (2016) *''Kamandi Challenge'' #10 (2017) *''Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps'' #33-36 (2017-2018) *''Action Comics'' (Vol. 3) #992 (2017), #993-994 (variant covers) (2017), #1001-1006 (variant covers) (2018-2019), #1009-1011 (2019) *''Teen Titans'' (Vol. 6) #15 (2017) *''Super Sons'' #11 (2017) *''Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth'' #1 (variant cover) (2018) *''Flash Starting Line DC Essential Edition'' (new cover) (2018) *''Titans'' (Vol. 3) #36 (variant cover) (2019) *''Green Arrow'' (Vol. 7) #49 (variant cover) (2019) *''Justice League'' (Vol. 4) #18 (2019), #26 (2019) *''Flash'' (Vol. 5) #75 (Year of the Villain variant cover) (2019)

Devil's Due Publishing

*''

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 ...

'' #16 ( Devil's Due, 2003) *'' G.I. Joe: Reborn'' #1 (Devil's Due, 2004) *'' G.I. Joe Declassified'' #1-3 (Devil's Due, 2006) *'' G.I. Joe Dreadnoks: Declassified'' #1-3 (Devil's Due, 2006–2007) *'' G.I. Joe Special Missions: Antarctica'' #1 (Devil's Due, 2006)

Image Comics

*''

'' #43, 55-56, 61, 62-65, 68-70, 73, 84 (

, 2000–2005) *'' The Darkness'' #2 (Top Cow, 2003) * ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

'' (Vol. 3) #2 (variant cover) (2002) * '' G.I. Joe: Frontline'' #9-14 (2003) *'' Pilot Season: The Necromancer'' #1 (Top Cow, 2007) * Sons Of The Devil #5 (variant cover) (2015)

Writer

DC Comics

* ''Detective Comics: Futures End #1 (2014)'' * ''Justice League: The Darkseid War Superman'' #1 (2015) * ''Justice League: The Darkseid War Lex Luthor'' #1 (2015) * ''Trinity'' (Vol. 2) #1-6 (2016-2017), #9-11 (2017)

References

General references

* * Kousemaker, Kees
Francis Manapul
Kees Kousemaker's

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the prov ...

Comiclopedia. Retrieved November 15, 2011.

Inline citations

External links

*
Current blog
an
old oneFrancis Manapul
at

DeviantArt DeviantArt (formerly styled as deviantART and thus abbreviated as dA) is an American online community that features artwork, videography, photography, and literature, launched on August 7, 2000, by Mathew Stephens, Scott Jarkoff and Angelo Sotir ...

* *

Reviews

Review of ''Witchblade'' #54
an

at

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin is a daily website covering the comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks In January 2000, New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice founded then named Silver Bullet Comicbooks. During this period, the site ...

Review of ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' #50
at Comics Bulletin

an

at Comics Bulletin {{DEFAULTSORT:Manapul, Francis Canadian comics artists Canadian people of Filipino descent DC Comics people Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1979 births Joe Shuster Award winners for Outstanding Artist