Gregory Capullo (; born March 30, 1962) is an 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 ...
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
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 ...
, best known for his work on ''
Quasar
A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...
'' (1991–1992), ''
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 ...
'' (1992–1993), ''
Angela'' (1994), ''
Spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...
'' (1993–2000, 2003–2004), ''
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 ...
'' (2011–2016), and ''
Reborn'' (2016–2017). He also drew the
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 ...
company-wide crossover storylines ''
Dark Nights: Metal'' and ''
Dark Nights: Death Metal''. As part of his DC work, he co-created the characters,
The Batman Who Laughs,
Mr. Bloom, and the
Court of Owls.
Greg Capullo also published his own creator-owned comic, ''
The Creech'', published 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) ...
. These were two three-issue miniseries.
Apart from comics, Capullo has been involved in several projects such as pencilling for the
Iced Earth
Iced Earth is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band currently composed of only Jon Schaffer, formed in Tampa, Florida, and based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist, ma ...
albums ''
The Dark Saga'' and ''
Something Wicked This Way Comes'', the
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...
album ''
Follow the Leader'' and the
Disturbed album, ''
Ten Thousand Fists''. He was also part of the crew who worked on the animated sequences in the 2002 film ''
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys''.
Early life
Greg Capullo began drawing at an early age, and remembers that he drew his first drawing of
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 ...
when he was 4. His preference for Batman persisted into his adulthood, with his favorite
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 ...
graphic novel being
Frank Miller's ''
The Dark Knight Returns
''The Dark Knight Returns'' (alternatively titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' but originally titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight'') is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller ...
''. He decided he wanted to be a professional artist early, having been influenced by creators such as
,
Neal Adams
Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...
,
Gene Colan
Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)[Eugene Colan]
at the Social Security Death Index via ...
and
Gil Kane
Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character.
Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...
. He also was influenced by artists outside of comics, such as painter
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American artist known for themes of Fantasy art, fantasy and science fiction, noted for comic books, mass market paperback, paperback book covers, paintings, p ...
, animator
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...
, and
''Mad Magazine'' caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Abril Lamarque (1904–1999)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfre ...
Mort Drucker
Morris "Mort" Drucker (March 22, 1929 – April 9, 2020) was an American caricaturist and comics artist best known as a contributor for over five decades in ''Mad (magazine), Mad'', where he specialized in satires on the leading feature film ...
.
Career
Capullo's first
comic
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...
work was a publication called ''Gore Shriek'', which was picked up and published by a comic book store in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, called
Fantaco Enterprises. ''Gore Shriek'' was a horror
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 ...
specifically labeled ''Not Intended for Children'' because of the violent and graphic nature of it.
Due to the success of the small comic series, when it had ended, Capullo began 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 ...
where he worked on ''
Quasar
A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', and ''
What If?''. He worked with
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 ...
for three years on various works, before moving on to other publications and projects with different companies.

Briefly after Capullo had started work with Marvel, he had begun smaller
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
projects away from the company. He had started involvement with separate labels and anyone who would hire him for miscellaneous odd-jobs that needed completion.
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as an artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series '' Spawn,'' as well as bein ...
, who had left
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 ...
to co-found
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) ...
, noticed Capullo’s work on ''
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 ...
'', and convinced him become the
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 ...
on McFarlane’s comic, ''
Spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...
''. Capullo's first issue of the book was #16, then took over as pencil artist with issue #26. Capullo has since done the cover art and pencils for many Image publications, including various ''Spawn'' tie-ins and variants, and Capullo’s own miniseries, ''
The Creech''. Capullo helped McFarlane in creating the artwork now seen on the two ''
Halo 3
''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise following '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' (2001) and ''Halo 2'' (2004), the game's story centers on th ...
''-themed controllers.
In February 2007,
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) ...
published ''The Art of Greg Capullo'', a hardcover book showcasing Capullo’s artwork, ranging from widely recognized cover art to unknown never released pencils, early submissions samples and personal sketches.
Capullo provided layouts for Image's ''
Haunt'', which debuted in October 2009. The pencils for the layouts were done by
Ryan Ottley up until issue 6, when Greg Capullo then took over pencilling for the series and became the regular penciller, with inks done by Todd McFarlane.
2010s
In 2011 Capullo left the ongoing ''
Haunt'' title in order to take on the art duties on ''Batman'' as part of DC Comics' 2011 company-wide title relaunch,
The New 52
The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...
, which paired him with writer
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 ...
. The two creators worked together on the series for five years, creating a number of critically and fan-acclaimed stories, and reinventing classic characters for DC’s then-new continuity.
[Gerding, Stephen (December 23, 2016)]
"Greg Capullo Signs New DC Comics Contract"
CBR.com.
On September 9, 2013, he appeared as a special guest judge on "Skulls and Villains", a third season episode of the
reality competition
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
TV series ''
Ink Master
''Ink Master'' is an American reality competition television series that premiered on Paramount Network (formerly called Spike) on January 17, 2012.
Each season features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing their tattooing ...
''.
Capullo is responsible for the art on
Five Finger Death Punch
Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...
albums ''
The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1'' and ''
The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2'', plus the first single "
Lift Me Up" . He has also done artwork for heavy metal bands, Iced Earth and Disturbed.
In 2013, he was named on
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's list of "The Best Tweeters in Comics" for his "invigoratingly aggressive" posts on Twitter.
In April 2016 Snyder and Capullo's time on the Batman solo series ended with issue 51, and the series was relaunched with Tom King writing in May.
In October 2016, Capullo revealed that he was working on a project that he described as "very Batman-centric, and very rock n’ roll." That December, he revealed that he signed a new contract with DC Comics.
Dark Nights: Metal was announced at
Fan Expo Dallas in April 2017. The series' first issue was released in June of the same year, and featured a reunion between Capullo and Snyder. Capullo drew all six issues of the series, which concluded in March 2018.
Shortly before the release of the last issue of Metal, DC announced that Capullo would join Snyder for his
Black Label book ''Batman: The Last Knight on Earth'', replacing the previously announced
Sean Gordon Murphy.
Capullo drew variant covers for the 2018 Justice League Dark series' first four issues. He also provided a variant cover for Snyder's The Batman Who Laughs miniseries, a spin-off of their Metal event. Capullo drew Snyder's 8-page story for Detective Comics' 1000th issue, which was the first in the book. He also provided the 2010s variant cover.
In February 2019 the cover to the first issue of The Last Knight on Earth was revealed, and in March the first color interiors for the book were revealed at Wondercon, though Capullo frequently shared art in various stages of development on his social media.
In July 2022, during
San Diego Comic-Con 2022, it was announced that Capullo would be illustrating a new ''Batman/Spawn'' crossover, with McFarlane writing and releasing in December 2022.
In July 2023, it was announced at
San Diego Comic-Con 2023 that Capullo would be returning to Marvel to draw a series of variant covers the first of which was for Wolverine (2020) #37. In September 2023, the second and third Marvel variant covers drawn by Capullo were announced for Moon Knight #30 and Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1. In November 2023, the fourth Marvel variant cover drawn by Capullo was announced for Incredible Hulk #9. That same month, Capullo announced that he had signed a contract with Marvel for more cover work and an unannounced series.
In May 2024, it was announced that Capullo would illustrate a new Marvel miniseries starring
Wolverine
The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...
which will be written by writer
Jonathan Hickman
Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for his creator-owned series '' The Nightly News'', '' The Manhattan Projects'' and '' East of West'', as well as his lengthy stints as a writer on Marvel's '' Fantastic Fo ...
. The miniseries, titled ''Wolverine: Revenge'' will release its first issue on August 24, 2024 and will feature a red band version that will contain extra violence and extra pages.
Bibliography
Interior work
Marvel Comics
* ''What If?'' #2 (1989)
* ''Avengers Spotlight'' #39 (1990)
* ''
Quasar
A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...
'' #18–25, 27–29, 31–32, 35–39 (1991–1992)
* ''
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 ...
'' #15–25, Annual #1 (1992–1993)
* ''Stryfes Strike File'' #1 (1993)
* ''X-Men Unlimited'' #1 (1993)
* ''Wolverine: Revenge'' #1-5 (2024)
DC Comics
* ''
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 ...
'' (Vol. 2) #0–11, 13–17, 19–27, 29–33, 35–43, 45–48, 50–51 (2011–2016)
* ''
Dark Nights: Metal'' #1–6 (2017–2018)
* ''Batman'' (Vol. 3) #50 (2018)
* ''
Swamp Thing Halloween Giant#1'' (2018)
* ''
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 ...
'' #1000 (story "Batman's Longest Case") (2019)
* ''
Batman: Last Knight on Earth'' #1–3 (2019)
* ''
Dark Nights: Death Metal'' #1–7 (2020–2021)
* ''
Batman/Spawn'' #1 (2022)
Image Comics
* ''
Spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...
'' #16–20, 26–37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49–75, 78–100, 174, 175, 193, 199–200, 300–301 (1993–2000, 2019)
* ''
Angela'' #1–3 (1994)
* ''
The Creech'' #1–3 (1997)
* ''
The Creech: Out For Blood'' #1–3 (2001)
* ''
Haunt'' #1–5 (layouts only), 6–18 (2009–2011)
* ''
Reborn'' #1–6, (2016–2017)
Cover work
Marvel Comics
* ''Web of Spider-Man'' #1 (2024)
DC Comics
* ''Green Lantern'' (Vol. 5) #1 (variant cover) (2011)
* ''The Flash'' (Vol. 4) #2 (variant cover) (2011)
* ''Justice League'' (Vol. 1) #3 (variant cover) (2011)
* ''Batman'' (Vol. 2) #1-52 (2011–2016)
* ''Detective Comics'' (Vol. 2) #15 (2013), #27 (2014)
* ''Detective Comics'' #27 ''Special Edition'' (2014)
*
''Dark Knight III: The Master Race'' #1–9 (midtown comics variant covers) (2015–2017)
* ''Justice League Dark'' #1–4 (variant covers) (2018)
* ''Batman The Court Of Owls Saga Essential Edition'' (new cover) (2018)
* ''Detective Comics'' (Vol. 3) #1000 (2010s variant cover)
* ''The Batman Who Laughs'' #1 (variant cover) (2018)
* ''DC's Year of the Villain'' #1 (2019)
* ''Nightwing'' (Vol. 4) #62 (variant cover) (2019)
* ''
Batman Black and White'' #1 (2020)
* ''Gotham Knights: Gilded City'' (variant) #1–6 (2022)
Image Comics
* ''Image United'' #2 (variant cover) (2009)
* ''Medieval Spawn Witchblade'' (Vol. 2) #2 (variant cover) (2018)
Writer
Image Comics
* ''Creech'' #1–3 (1997)
* ''Creech: Out For Blood'' #1–3 (2001)
References
External links
*
Greg Capullo Comic Art Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capullo, Greg
1962 births
Living people
American comics artists
American writers of Italian descent
Inkpot Award winners
People from Schenectady, New York