Ian Akin (born July 28, 1959, in California) is a

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, known primarily for inking. Along with his inking partner, Brian Garvey, Akin worked on many

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

comics (mostly 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 ...

) from 1982 to 1988.

Biography

Akin grew up in southern California, in Riverside County. At age 13, he and his mother and sister moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Akin's first professional job was producing artwork for Larry Fuller's ''New Funny Book'' in 1978.Who's Who of American Comics: 1928 - 1999
by Bails, Jerry G. and Ware, Hames. Accessed September 12, 2008 Around this time he met Brian Garvey, who shortly joined Akin's small, San Francisco-based studio.

Akin & Garvey

In 1982, Akin began his ten-year partnership with Garvey, inking for

on '' ROM Spaceknight'' #34 (Sept. 1982), over

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...

's pencils. Akin & Garvey became the regular ''ROM'' inkers for almost two years, until 1984. During that time, they also provided the inks for the 1982 Marvel mini-series '' The Vision and the Scarlet Witch''. In 1984, the pair inked the four-issue mini-series '' Starriors'' and issue four of the mini-series '' The Transformers'' for Marvel. The pair inked issues #190–209 of ''

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 ...

'', as well as three years working on '' The Transformers''. In the mid-1980s, the pair branched out, producing work 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 ...

, where they worked on comics including '' Firestorm'' (for five consecutive issues) and ''The Warlord''; Pacific Comics; and Savage Graphics, while continuing to produce covers and interior art for Marvel. Akin & Garvey worked for Continuity Comics between 1986 and 1992, on titles including ''Megalith'', '' Ms. Mystic'' and ''Samuree''. In the early 1990s, Akin (and Garvey) produced work for Disney Comics, on titles featuring Jessica Rabbit and The Little Mermaid, and others. The inking duo disbanded in 1992 to pursue separate projects. In the early 2010s, Akin and Garvey reunited to do commercial illustration and comics work.

Solo work

Between 1994 and 1995, Akin produced covers for ''Disney Digest'' reprints, including for Darkwing Duck. He continued to produce work steadily for Marvel through the 1990s, notably as the regular inker on Marvel's '' Darkhawk'' from 1993 to 1995, and '' Professor Xavier and the X-Men'' from 1995 to 1997. He was a regular inker on the 1990s incarnation of '' What If...'', but since the mid-1990s, Akin has no significant published credits.

Select bibliography

Akin & Garvey

* '' Rom'' #34, 36–50 (Marvel) * '' The Vision and the Scarlet Witch'' #1–4 (Marvel) * '' Starriors'' #1-4 (Marvel) * '' Firestorm'' #38–42 (DC) * ''

'' #190–209 (Marvel) * '' Transformers: Headmasters'' #1–4 (Marvel) * '' The Transformers'' #19–30, 32, 35–37 (Marvel)

Solo

* ''Darkhawk'' #28–50 (Marvel) * ''Professor Xavier and the X-Men'' #2, 5, 7, 8, 10–13, 15–18 (Marvel)

Notes

References

*
Ian Akin at the Disney Database

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Ian 1959 births Living people American comics artists Comics inkers