Laura DePuy (credited later in her career as Laura Martin, having married Randy Martin in 2001) is a colorist who has produced work for several of the major comics companies, including

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 ...

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 ...

and ''

CrossGen Cross Generation Comics or CrossGen Comics was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...

''.

Career

A sometimes comics reader as a child, she attended a

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

program at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

, and, while "work ngthe night shift at Kinko's... met omics/Jim Lee fan">Jim_Lee.html" ;"title="omics/Jim Lee">omics/Jim Lee fanIan Hannin, who... got me hooked on comics, and started me thinking about a possible career." Hannin later went on to work for Lee's

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

Studios, so when DePuy graduated, she "...went to visit him, and took my portfolio (now filled with comic-related coloring and artwork)... nd washired on several months later."

WildStorm (Image)

DePuy/Martin has worked in comics professionally since 1995, and after being hired in 1995, served for five years as a "staff colorist and assistant supervisor," and " casional designer" for Jim Lee's

Studios, then an integral part of

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) ...

.Colorista.net: Resume
. Accessed July 19, 2008 Among her earliest works was the collaboratively-colored Marvel/

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 ...

(

) two-issue mini-series ''Backlash/Spider-Man'' (Jul-Oct 1996), after which she co-colored issues of ''Divine Right'' and ''StormWatch''.. Accessed July 19, 2008

WildStorm (DC), DC and Marvel

In 1999, after the sale of WildStorm to DC Comics, DePuy became sole colorist on

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'' ...

and

John Cassaday Johnny Mac Cassaday (; December 14, 1971 – September 9, 2024) was an American comic book artist, writer, and television director. He was best known for his work on the critically acclaimed ''Planetary (comics), Planetary'' with writer Warren Ell ...

's '' Planetary'' series, as well as Ellis and

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 ...

's ''

Authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...

''. Much of her work since then has involved coloring the artwork of both Cassaday and Hitch, who rarely work with other colorists. DePuy colored the ''JLA: Earth 2'' graphic novel by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...

and

Frank Quitely Vincent Patrick Deighan (born January 18, 1968), better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish people, Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as ''New X-Men (20 ...

in 1999, before, in late 2000, she also began coloring Dougie Braithwaite's art on the

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book creator, comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which ...

Jim Krueger Jim Krueger () is an People of the United States, American comic book writer, novelist, and filmmaker. Early life Jim Krueger and his brother grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He developed an interest in comic books and storytelling in his youth, ...

Marvel series '' Universe X'', and in November joined Bryan Hitch on

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Da ...

's '' JLA'', coloring issues #47 - 58, following in tone the oversize volume ''JLA: Heaven's Ladder''.

''CrossGen''

From November 2001's '' Ruse'' #1, Martin worked on a handful of non-''CrossGen'' comics (occasional issues of ''Planetary'') until summer 2004. In addition to ''Ruse'', she also colored ''Edge'' as well as occasional issues of '' Meridian'', ''

Negation In logic, negation, also called the logical not or logical complement, is an operation (mathematics), operation that takes a Proposition (mathematics), proposition P to another proposition "not P", written \neg P, \mathord P, P^\prime or \over ...

'' and '' Sojourn'', before the companies ultimate collapse. Martin summarizes this time philosophically, writing: Between 2001 and 2003, DePuy/Martin worked as "Assistant art director and Colorist" for ''CrossGen'' comics, ultimately moving to the companies base in Florida. During 2001, while coloring issues of ''

CrossGen Chronicles Cross Generation Comics or CrossGen Comics was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...

'', she was able to continue to color issues of ''Universe X'', ''Planetary'', ''JLA'' and Ellis &

Chris Weston Chris Weston (born 1969) is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries. Biography Weston was born in January 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child. His career began when he w ...

's ''Ministry of Space'' (Image), as well as working on sections of the ''

Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon, best known for publishing such series as '' Scott Pilgrim'' and ''Rick and Morty''. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's ...

Color Special 2001'' and '' Dark Horse Maverick 2001'', before the ''CrossGen'' exclusivity began, and she worked for Mark Alessi alone throughout the entirety of 2002 and 2003.

Post-''CrossGen'' work

Post-''CrossGen'', Martin again worked with Cassaday on the English-language version of his and Fabien Nury's

Humanoids Publishing A humanoid is any non-human entity that resembles a human. Humanoid(s) may also refer to: * Humanoid robot, a robot resembling the human body in shape Music * Humanoid (musician), Brian Dougans (born 1965), Scottish musician and composer * ''H ...

title ''I Am Legion'', before moving (with Cassaday and Hitch) to work primarily for Marvel Comics. In July 2004, she colored the first issue of

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

& Cassaday's acclaimed version of the X-Men, ''

Astonishing X-Men ''Astonishing X-Men'' is the name of four X-Men comic book series from Marvel Comics, the first two of which were Limited series (comics), limited series. The third volume, an ongoing series, began in 2004 in comics, 2004, with its first run writt ...

'', and in February 2005 she worked with Bryan Hitch on

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series ''The Authority (comics), The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ext ...

's '' Ultimates 2'' #1. In July of the same year, she worked on the Whedon/ Brett Matthews & Will Conrad comics version of Whedon's '' Serenity'', the

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person, team or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, that is unlikely to succeed but has a fighting chance, unlike the underdog who is exp ...

-released '' Serenity: Those Left Behind''. She has worked on a number of odd issues and covers for comics released by a plethora of companies, including covers for the ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' lead-in

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 ...

Villains United ''Villains United'' is a six-issue 2005 comic book limited series, published by DC Comics, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham and Wade Von Grawbadger, and later by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins. Publication history ''V ...

'', for which she colored the art of J. G. Jones. In the summer of 2006, she colored the main parts of Paul Jenkins' '' Civil War: Front Line'' for Marvel's "

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

" event, and in September 2007 began work on Joseph Michael Straczynski and

Olivier Coipel Olivier Coipel (; November 7, 1969) is a French people, French comic book artist, known for his work on books such as ''House of M'', ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''Thor (Marvel Comics), Thor''. Career Olivier Coipel started as a movie animator ...

's ''

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

''. She is also Art Director for the comics website Sequential Tart, a "

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...

published by an eclectic band of women." To produce her work, she utilizes

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editin ...

and a " Wacom Intuos." In December 2007, she helped color the first issue of

Virgin Comics Liquid Comics is an Indian comic book publishing company, founded in 2006 as Virgin Comics LLC, which produces stories (many of which are Indian-culture related) for an international audience. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson and hi ...

' ''Tall Tales of Vishnu Sharma: Panchatantra'', while continuing to work on ''Thor'' and ''Astonishing X-Men''. May 2008 saw her join

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 ...

and

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an Americans, American comics artist, comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett an ...

on the Marvel MAX series '' War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle'', while June 2008 saw her debut on the main feature of a Marvel Comics event, coloring the artwork of

Leinil Francis Yu Leinil Francis Yu (born 1977) is a People of the Philippines, Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the United States, American market through Wildstorm Productions. Career Leinil Francis Yu was first recognized after winning the ...

on the

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 ...

-written ''

Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, that ran through a self-titled eight-issue Limited series (comics), limited series and several ti ...

'' limited series. She continued as colorist on ''Secret Invasion'' and ''War is Hell'', having relinquished duties on ''Astonishing X-Men'' to new artist Simone Bianchi (with new writer Warren Ellis). At the 2009 San Diego Comic Con it was announced that she had signed an exclusive contract with Marvel. In 2010, she became the regular colorist on the second ongoing volume of ''

New Avengers The New Avengers are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The title has been used for four American comic book series. The first two were written by Brian Michael Bendis and depicted a version of Ma ...

''. In June 2008, at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, it was announced that she had become a member of

Gaijin Studios Gaijin Studios was a group of American comic book artists formed in Atlanta, Georgia. It was one of the longest-running collectives of freelance comic book artists in the United States, in continuous operation for nineteen years, from 1991 to 201 ...

. At the 2010 Baltimore Comic Con she created and donated "The Wrong Frog" to auction to benefit the

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

. In October 2016, a

variant cover In comic books, a variant cover (sometimes variant edition) refers to an issue of a comic book printed with multiple covers, each with unique cover art. The first comic book marketed with a variant cover was the 1986 first issue of ''The Man of St ...

she created for the first issue of the

Millarworld Millarworld Limited is an imprint of comic books published by Scottish comic book writer Mark Millar as a creator-owned line, featuring characters created by him in a shared fictional universe, the Millarworld, or Millarverse. These characters ...

series '' Reborn'' was published.

Awards and recognition

She has been recognized for her work with six

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic ''Eagle'', the awards were launched in ...

(2000–2001, 2005–2008) as well as winning two

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

s for Best Colorist (2000) and (2002), and the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

between the Eisners in 2001. She was given the 2005

Wizard Fan Award ''Wizard'' or ''Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture'' (previously titled ''Wizard: The Guide to Comics'' and ''Wizard: The Comics Magazine'') was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by W ...

for Favorite Colorist (for ''Astonishing X-Men''). In August 2014, she was named Inkwell Awards Ambassador, an appointment she holds to the present.

References

Inline citations

General references

* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Laura Living people American female comics artists Eisner Award winners for Best Coloring Harvey Award winners for Best Colorist University of Central Florida alumni Comics colorists 1975 births American people of Colombian descent Artists from Bogotá