Joseph Michael Linsner (born December 13, 1968)Creator entry
Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Dec. 13, 2021. 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 ...

writer/artist, known as the creator of the mature-audiences supernatural character

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

,Linsner bio
''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Retrieved May 17, 2022. and for his illustrations of female characters. He is a popular cover artist in the comics industry.

Early life

Linsner was born in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York, one of three brothers. His father died when Joseph was 14 years old.Linser, Joseph Michael. "Look Back in Anger," in ''Dawn: The Swordmaster's Daughter'' (Image Comics 2013). Linsner grew up with a fascination for

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 ...

, the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

,Figureid, Jocelyn
"The Life of Linsner: Joseph Michael Linsner,"
''Sequential Tart'' (Jan. 2001). and the pinup artist

Alberto Vargas Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (9 February 1896 – 30 December 1982) was a Peruvian-American painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists, and as one of the pioneers of airbrush art. Numerous ...

. Later influences included

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' ...

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfath ...

, and

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

Career

Linsner introduced the lingerie-wearing occult character

in ''

Cry for Dawn ''Cry for Dawn'' was an American Horror comics, horror-anthology comic book that ran nine issues from 1989 to 1992. The book was primarily written by Joseph Michael Linsner and Joseph M. Monks with artwork by Linsner. The series featured guest ...

'',Destito, Deanna
"Dynamite & Joseph Michael Linsner Celebrate DAWN’s 30th Anniversary: Just like Vampi and Chaos! before her, Linsner’s iconic Dawn is celebrating a milestone,"
''The Beat'' (Aug. 29, 2019). a nine-issue series self-published by Linsner and

Joseph M. Monks Joseph M. Monks (February 21, 1968–August 19, 2023) was an American writer and the world's first visually impaired feature film director, best known for co-creating the cult phenomena horror comic book ''Cry For Dawn''. Biography Monks, with ...

' Cry for Dawn Productions beginning in 1989.Linsner entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Retrieved Dec. 13, 2021. Cry For Dawn Productions dissolved in late 1993, and Linsner took Dawn to

Sirius Entertainment Sirius Entertainment is an American comic book company that operated from 1994 to . Sirius Entertainment was founded by Robb Horan and Larry Salamone and was dedicated from the outset to publishing creator-owned properties. Originally based in ...

;Fassbender, Tom. "A Sirius Interview: With Two Sirius Guys," '' Capital Comics Internal Correspondance'' (May 1995), pp. 1–3. Dawn was published by Sirius for several

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

and one-shots from 1995 to 2000. Linsner broke into mainstream comics drawing the cover of ''

Justice League Quarterly ''Justice League Quarterly'' (''JLQ'') was a quarterly American comic book series published by DC Comics from Winter 1990 to Winter 1994; it lasted 17 issues. It had a variable cast, pulling from the Justice League membership. The title centred o ...

'' #13 (Winter 1993). His

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 ...

work includes the

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

'' Killraven'' #1 (Feb. 2001), several covers for the company's mid-2000s Mystique series, and painted covers and interior penciling and inking for the

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 ...

Black Cat A black cat is a Cat, domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific Purebred, breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular or mixed breed. Most black cats have golden iris (anatomy), irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Bl ...

three-issue limited series ''Claws'' (Oct.-Dec., 2006), followed in 2011 by the three-issue limited series ''Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws 2'' (Aug.–Nov., 2011). In 2002, Linsner self-published ''I Love New York'', a benefit book for the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

; the comic presents his perceptions as a native New Yorker on that day.

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) ...

released the 176-page paperback ''The Art of Joseph Michael Linsner'' () in October 2003. He provided the illustrations for the 2007 book ''

Our Gods Wear Spandex ''Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes'' is a 2007 book by Christopher Knowles, the former editor of '' Comic Book Artist'', with illustrations by Joe Linsner. The book examines superheroes as a modern evolution of myt ...

: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes'' by

Christopher Knowles Christopher Knowles may refer to: * Christopher Knowles (poet), American poet and painter * Christopher Knowles (comics), American comic book artist and writer * Chris Knowles (footballer), English footballer {{hndis, Knowles, Christopher ...

(). Linsner drew the cover of Dark Fantasy Productions' ''Dark Fantasy'' #1 (1994). He drew the cover of the

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

one-shot ''

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 ...

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 mad ...

'' #1 (June 2007), and has also done painted comic book cover art for

Topps Comics Topps Comics was a division of Topps Company, Inc. that published comic books from 1993 to 1998, beginning its existence during a short comics-industry boom that attracted many investors and new companies. It was based in New York City, at 254 3 ...

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 ...

, and others. He did his first cover for

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

in 2007 (

Red Sonja Red Sonja is a sword-and-sorcery character created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics in 1973, partially inspired by Robert E. Howard's character Red Sonya of Rogatino. A warrior from the Hyborian Age of Ear ...

), and since 2012 has been one of the company's most prolific cover artists,"BALTIMORE COMIC-CON 2022 GUEST: JOSEPH MICHAEL LINSNER: Writer and Artist,"
Baltimore Comic-Con official website. Retrieved Dec. 13, 2021. mainly for its collections of comics featuring such licensed characters as

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 ...

Bettie Page Bettie Mae Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up model, pin-up photos.Elvira: Mistress of the Dark,

Dejah Thoris Dejah Thoris is a fictional character and princess of the Martian city-state/empire of Helium in Edgar Rice Burroughs' series of Martian novels. She is the daughter of Mors Kajak, Jed (chieftain) of Lesser Helium, and the granddaughter of Tard ...

, and Jennifer Blood. Linsner has a lengthy association with

The Hero Initiative The Hero Initiative, formerly known as A Commitment to Our Roots, or ACTOR, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping comic book creators, writers, and artists in need. Founded in late 2000 by a consortium of comic book and trade pu ...

, the not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping comic book creators, writers, and artists in need.

Controversy

In 2013, in the pages of a Dawn comic, Linsner accused his former assistant Eva Hopkins of acquiring and selling his original pages without his consent. Hopkins denied the allegations, and an online war of words erupted between the two creators.

Personal life

Linsner is married to Kristina Deak-Linsner.

Awards and honors

Linsner was nominated for the 1997

Eisner Award for Best Painter/Digital Artist The Eisner Award for Best Painter/Digital Artist is an award for creative achievement in American comic books. It is awarded to a comic book artist for interior art. Name change The award was named "Best Painter" from 1993 to 1999, "Best Painter/ ...

. He was given an

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

at the 2007

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

. Along with

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on '' The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wol ...

and

Greg Land Greg Land (born 1956) is an American Comic book creator, comic book artist, best known for his work on books such as ''Uncanny X-Men'', ''Birds of Prey (comics), Birds of Prey'', and ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four''. Career Greg La ...

, Linsner was a guest of honor at the 2008

Toronto Comic Con The Toronto Comic Con was an annual comic book convention held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It started in 2003 and was sold in 2009 to Wizard Entertainment owner Gareb Shamus. It was subsequently relaunched as a Wizard event in 2010. The event h ...

Bibliography

* ''Cry for Dawn'' #1–9 (Cry for Dawn Productions, 1989–1991) * ''Subtle Violents'' (Cry for Dawn Productions, 1991) * ''Drama'' (

, 1994) * ''Angry Christ Comix'' (Sirius Entertainment, 1994) * ''Eleven or One: An Angry Christ Comic'' (Sirius Entertainment, 1995) * ''Dawn'' #1–5 (Sirius Entertainment, 1995–1996) * ''Crypt of Dawn'' #1–6 (Sirius Entertainment, 1996–1999) ** collected in ''The Best of Crypt of Dawn'' (Sirius Entertainment, Inc., 2000) * ''Dawn: Lucifer's Halo'' #1 (Sirius Entertainment, Nov. 1997, ) — collects material from ''Drama'' (Sirius Entertainment, 1994) and ''Dawn'' (Sirius Entertainment, 1995) * ''Dawn 1/2: Dreams of Dawn'' (Sirius Entertainment, 1999) * ''Dawn 1/2'' (Sirius Entertainment/Wizard, 2000) * ''Dawn: the Return of the Goddess'' (Sirius Entertainment, 1999–2000) * ''Killraven'' #1 (

, Feb. 2001) * ''Dark Ivory'' #0 (Linsner.com, Winter 2001) — co-created and co-written with Eva Hopkins * ''I Love New York'' (Lisner.com, 2002) * ''Dawn: Three Tiers'' #1–6 (

, 2003–2005) * ''Claws'' #1–3 (Marvel Comics, 2006) * ''Dark Ivory'' #1–4 (Image Comics, 2008–2009) — co-written with Eva Hopkins * ''Dawn: Not to Touch the Earth'' (Image Comics, 2010) * ''Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws 2'' #1–3 (Marvel Comics, 2011) * ''Dawn: The Swordmaster's Daughter'' (Image Comics 2013) * ''Sin Boldly'' (Image Comics, 2013) * ''Dawn/Vampirella'' #1–5 (

, 2014–2015) ** collected in ''Dawn/Vampirella'' (Dynamite Entertainment, 2019) * ''

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, PhD) is a fictional American character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as a henchwoman for the ...

'' #4,''Harley Quinn'' #4 preview
''CBR'' (Sept. 20, 2016). Retrieved May 17, 2022. 10, 15, 16, 20 (

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 ...

, 2015–2017) — a few pages in each issue

References

Notes

Sources

Linsner entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''

External links

Linsner's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linsner, Joseph Michael 1968 births Living people American comics writers American comics artists Artists from New York City