Jacen Burrows (born September 11, 1972) is an American

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 ...

best known for his work on various books from

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. It was originally known for publishing bad girl comics, such as ''Pandora'', ''Hellina'', ''Lookers'', ''The ...

and

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 ...

Career

Burrows graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 1996 with a degree in

Sequential Art In comics studies, sequential art is a term proposed by comics artist Will Eisner Will Eisner, '' Comics and Sequential Art'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe art forms that use images deployed in a specific order for the ...

and

Illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

. He started his career providing illustrations for

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

s such as ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' and ''Star Wars''. He broke into comics working as a cover artist for Avatar Press titles such as ''Snowman: Dead and Dying'', ''Threshold'', ''Quantum Mechanics'' and ''Secrets of the Ravening'', for which he also did interior work. In 1998 he pencilled the ''King Zombie'' series for

Caliber Press Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed (comics), Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is rank ...

. In 2000 he started collaborating 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'' ...

on several titles for Avatar Press including ''From the Desk of Warren Ellis'', ''Dark Blue'', ''Scars'', '' Bad World'' and '' Bad Signal.'' For Avatar Press he also illustrated several adaptations of

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

's prose, such as ''

Magic Words Magic words are phrases used in fantasy fiction or by Magic (illusion), stage magicians. Frequently such words are presented as being part of a Divine language, divine, Adamic language, adamic, or other Twilight language, secret or Language of t ...

'', '' Writing for Comics'' and the Lovecraft homages '' Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths'' and '' The Courtyard''. The latter led to him being noticed by

himself. The two of them later expanded the saga which had begun in ''The Courtyard'' in the series '' Neonomicon'' and '' Providence''. In 2003 Burrows collaborated with writer

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970) is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' ''Punisher'' franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

for the first time pencilling the war comic '' 303''. They collaborated again in 2007 on the critically acclaimed '' Chronicles of Wormwood'' and the following year on the cult classic ''Crossed''. Burrows went back to the ''Crossed'' universe for the anthology series '' Crossed: Badlands'', illustrating two arcs written by Ennis and

David Lapham David Lapham is an American comic book writer, artist, and cartoonist, best known for his work on the independent comic book ''Stray Bullets (comics), Stray Bullets''. Career David Lapham started his career in 1990 as a penciller at Valiant Co ...

and providing several covers. In 2017 he started working for Marvel Comics, penciling

Max Bemis Maxim Adam Bemis (; born April 6, 1984) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of the rock band Say Anything (band), Say Anything. He sang alongside Chris Conley (musician), Chris Conley in the Supergroup ...

' run on ''

Moon Knight Moon Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Doug Moench and artist Don Perlin, the character first appeared in ''Werewolf by Night'' #32 (August 1975). The son of a rabbi, Marc S ...

'' and reuniting once again with Garth Ennis on the ''

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher ma ...

: Soviet'' mini-series. He will also illustrate ''Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar'', which will be the first Warhammer comic published by Marvel. Outside of comics he has done illustration work for several video game companies, including work on

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

's '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' and other computer games.

Influences

Burrows' influences range from 80s indie creators like

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series ''Mage (comics), Mage'' and ''Grendel (comics), Grendel''. Early life, family and education Matt Wagner's childhood was spe ...

, Tim Truman and

Mike Baron Mike Baron (born July 1, 1949) is an American comic book writer and novelist. He is the creator of ''Badger (comics), Badger'' and the co-creator of ''Nexus (comics), Nexus'' with Steve Rude. He is also well known as the first writer on Marvel Co ...

, to European artists such as

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

and Moebius, and

mangaka A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a pr ...

Mitsuteru Yokoyama was a Japanese manga artist. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of manga and anime, his works have had a significant impact in the creation and establishment of many genres. These include: mecha (''T ...

and

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

. Outside of comics, directors

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

and

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

informed his work the most.

Bibliography

*'' Dark Blue'' (with

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

) *'' Bad World'' #1–3 (with Warren Ellis, Avatar Press,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

) *''

Transmetropolitan ''Transmetropolitan'' is a cyberpunk transhumanist comic book series written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Darick Robertson; it was published by the American company DC Comics in 1997–2002. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC C ...

'': Filth of the City (with Warren Ellis,

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

, 2001) *'' Ultimate Spider-Man Special'' #1 (with

Brian Michael Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an Americans, American comic book writer and artist. Starting with crime fiction, crime and hardboiled, noir comics, Bendis eventually moved to mainstream superhero fiction, superhero work. While a ...

, Marvel Comics) *'' Scars'' #1–6 (with Warren Ellis, Avatar Press, 2002–03) *'' Alan Moore's Magic Words'' (written by

, adapted by Art Brooks, Avatar Press, 2002) *'' Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths'' #2 (with Alan Moore, Avatar Press, 2003) *''

Alan Moore's The Courtyard ''Alan Moore's The Courtyard'' is a two-issue comic book mini-series published in 2003 by Avatar Press. The comic was adapted by Antony Johnston with artwork by Jacen Burrows from a 1994 prose story by Alan Moore (credited as "consulting edi ...

'' #1–2 (written by Alan Moore, adapted by Antony Johnston, Avatar Press, 2003) *'' Alan Moore's The Courtyard Companion'' (written by Alan Moore, adapted by Antony Johnston, Avatar Press,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) *'' 303'' #1–6 (with

, Avatar Press, 2004-05) *'' Chronicles of Wormwood'' #1–6 (with Garth Ennis, Avatar Press, 2007)Burrowing In: Burrows talks "Chronicles of Wormwood"

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 ...

, November 7, 2006 *'' Crossed'' #0–9 (with Garth Ennis, Avatar Press, 2008–2010)"WW Philly: The Avatar Panel"

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 ...

. June 1, 2008 Furey, Emmett (June 12, 2008)
"Double-Crossed: Ennis & Burrows talk 'Crossed'"

. *'' Neonomicon'' #1–4 (written by

, Avatar Press, 2010-2011) *'' Crossed: Badlands'' #0, 1–2, 4, 11 (with Garth Ennis, Avatar Press, 2011–12) * ''Providence'' #1–12 (written by

, Avatar Press, 2015-2016) *''

'' #188–193, 197–198, 200 (written by

, Marvel, 2017–18) *'' Punisher: Soviet'' #1-6 (written by Garth Ennis, Marvel, 2019–20) *'' 2020 Rescue'' #1–2 (written by Dana Schwartz, Marvel, 2020) *''Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar'' #1–5 (written by

Kieron Gillen Kieron Michael Gillen (; born 30 September 1975) is a British comic book writer and former video game and music journalist. In comics, Gillen is known for his creator-owned series such as '' Once & Future'' (2019–2022), '' Die'' (2018–202 ...

, Marvel, 2020) *''The Ribbon Queen'' #1–8 (written by Garth Ennis, AWA, 2023–24) *'' Get Fury'' #1–5 (written by Garth Ennis, Marvel, 2024)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Jacen 1972 births Living people American comics artists Savannah College of Art and Design alumni