Tony Akins is an artist, penciling and inking for DC/

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 ...

who has contributed to the titles ''

Jack of Fables ''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the mai ...

'', ''

Fables Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that ...

'', ''

Hellblazer ''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...

'', ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'' and alternate issues of ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

'' for

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 ...

relaunch.

Early life

Akins is a Chicago native of Afro-Caribbean/Irish ancestry. His father, Douglas Akins, was a sign painter, graphic designer and pioneering African American cartoonist at the ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' through the 1940s to 1960s before becoming the paper's Society Editor. Educational information on Akins is limited. Although in interviews he has stated that he is autodidactic. He has association with the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

through its Co-Op program. He also taught at the School in the early 1990s.

Career

Akins was a founding member of the "statiCCreeps", a shadow-guild of artist/creators that pioneered a hybrid of Japanese manga in mainstream American comics during the late 1980s to early 1990s. The only published work by Akins that shows evidence of this is in Comico Comics ''Red Dragon'' which was written by

Brian Azzarello Brian Azzarello (born August 11, 1962) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter who first came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series ''100 Bullets'', published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo. ...

(''

100 Bullets ''100 Bullets'' is an American comic book published by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint. Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso, the comic book ran for 100 issues and won the Eisner Award and Harvey Award. Style Both th ...

'') in 1992. At Comico Akins also worked on '' Elementals'', another Bill Willingham creation, as penciller and cover artist. Akins drew the first comic book adaption of '' Terminator'' for

NOW Comics NOW Comics was a comic book publisher founded in late 1985 by Tony C. Caputo as a sole-proprietorship. During the four years after its founding, NOW grew from a one-man operation to operating in 12 countries, and published almost 1,000 comic bo ...

after a critically acclaim stint on ''

Rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH) ...

'' with writer Fred Schiller. For

First Comics First Comics is an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991 and then from 2011 to present (stylized as 1First Comics), known for titles like '' American Flagg!'', '' Grimjack'', ''Nexus'', ''Badger'', '' Dreadstar'', and '' ...

(also in Chicago) he works on titles such as ''Mundan's Bar'' and one of a rarefied cadre of guest artists on the venerable Mike Baron/Steve Rude series ''

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

''. At

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 ...

Akins worked across licensed sci-fi titles from ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...

'' (Colonial Marines) to ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' ('' Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising'') and pencilled the adaptation of

Andrew Vachss Andrew Henry Vachss ( ; October 19, 1942 – November 23, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths. Early life and career Vachss grew up in Manhattan on ...

story "Warlord" (the only play written by Vachss) in the ''Hard Boilded'' series for Dark Horse. He returned to comics with ''Fables'' #22 as a guest artist. Landed on ''

Papa Midnite The following is a list of characters in the ''Hellblazer'' comic book series published by DC Comics and its Vertigo imprint. John Constantine A Liverpudlian magician and conman, and the main character in the series. He first appeared in ''Sw ...

'', a limited series for Vertigo, then returned to ''Fables'' for "War Stories" (which can be found in the ''Mean Season'' trade paperback) before the start-up of Jack of Fables. He has also signed on as the artist for issues #5 and 6 of ''

'', in

series written by

Comic book credits

''DC Comics '' *''ABSOLUTE

'' BY

AND CLIFF CHIANG VOL. 1 & 2 *''AME-COMI GIRLS'' VOL. 1 *''AME-COMI GIRLS'': FEATURING WONDER WOMAN *''FABLES'': THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK FIFTEEN *''FABLES'': THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK TEN *''JACK OF FABLES'': THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK ONE & TWO *''VERTIGO QUARTERLY'': CYAN #1 *''

'' #10, #13, #14, #17, #18, #19 *''

'' BY BRIAN AZZARELLO AND CLIFF CHIANG OMNIBUS *''

'' VOL. 1: BLOOD *''

'' VOL. 2: GUTS *''

'' VOL. 3: IRON *''

'' VOL. 4: WAR

Awards

''Jack of Fables'' was nominated for several

Eisner Awards 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 ...

its first year out including "Best New Series".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akins, Tony 1960 births Living people American comics artists Artists from Chicago American people of Irish descent American people of Caribbean descent