Bill Sienkiewicz

Boleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz (/sɪnˈkɛvɪtʃ/ sin-KEV-itch;[1][2] born May 3, 1958),[3][4] is an American artist known for his work in comic books—particularly for Marvel Comics' New Mutants, Moon Knight, and Elektra: Assassin. Sienkiewicz's work in the 1980s was considered revolutionary in mainstream US comics, due to his highly stylized art that verged on abstraction and made use of oil painting, photorealism, collage, mimeograph, and other forms generally uncommon in comic books.[5][6][7]

Bill Sienkiewicz
Bill Sienkiewicz at 2011 Big Apple Comic Con
BornBoleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz
(1958-05-03) May 3, 1958
Blakely, Pennsylvania, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Penciller, Inker
Notable works
Elektra: Assassin
Moon Knight
New Mutants
Stray Toasters
AwardsFull list
billsienkiewiczart.com

Early life

Sienkiewicz was born May 3, 1958, in Blakely, Pennsylvania.[3] When he was five years old, he moved with his family to Hainesville, New Jersey, where he attended elementary and secondary school. Sienkiewicz began drawing "when [he] was about four or five", and continued doing and learning about art throughout his childhood. His early comic book influences include artist Curt Swan Superman comics, and artist Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four.[8]

Sienkiewicz received his classical art education[2] at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in Newark, New Jersey.[3]

After art school, he showed a portfolio of his work to DC Comics' art director Vince Colletta, which led to his entering the comics field at age 19.[9] The artist recalled in 1985, "They didn't have any work for me, but that didn't bother me. I just figured that if comics didn't work out I'd have done advertising or illustration. Vinnie called [renowned comics and advertising artist] Neal Adams, who put me in touch with [Marvel Comics editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter. Soon after that I was drawing Moon Knight, in The Hulk [black-and-white comics] magazine".[8] His early art style was heavily influenced by Neal Adams.[10]

Career

Comics
Sienkiewicz, drawing during a 1997 appearance in Gijón, Spain

Sienkiewicz continued as artist of the Moon Knight color comics series, starting with the first issue (November 1980). His eclectic art style helped shed the early perception of Moon Knight as a mere Batman clone.[11] Four years later, after a stint as artist on the Fantastic Four, he became the artist on Marvel's X-Men spin-off New Mutants, beginning with issue No. 18 (August 1984),[12] producing cover paintings and character designs. From this period on, Sienkiewicz's art evolved into a much more expressionistic style, and he began experimenting with paint, collage, and mixed media.[11] He illustrated New Mutants from 1984 to 1985.[13]

Sienkiewicz produced covers for a range of Marvel titles, including Rom, Dazzler, The Mighty Thor, Return of the Jedi and The Transformers, and drew the comic adaptation of Dune.[13]

Sienkiewicz's own first writing credit was for the painted story "Slow Dancer" in Epic Illustrated in 1986. Sienkiewicz both wrote and illustrated the 1988 miniseries Stray Toasters, an idiosyncratic work published by Epic Comics about a criminal psychologist investigating a series of murders.[13] His first major interior work for DC Comics was contributing to Batman #400 (October 1986).[14]

He illustrated the 1986-87 eight-issue Elektra: Assassin limited series[15] and the Daredevil: Love and War graphic novel which were both written by Frank Miller.[16][17]

After this, he collaborated with writer Andy Helfer on the first six issues of DC Comics' The Shadow series.[18]

In 1988, he contributed to the Brought to Light graphic novel with writer Alan Moore. In 1990, Sienkiewicz and Moore published the first two issues of the uncompleted series Big Numbers. Sienkiewicz painted the Classics Illustrated adaptation of the novel Moby-Dick.[13]

Sienkiewicz was the subject of a 2008 full-length documentary/interview produced by Woodcrest Productions, The Creator Chronicles: Bill Sienkiewicz.[19]

In 2007, Sienkiewicz penciled 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow. In 2008, Sienkiewicz illustrated a story for The Nightmare Factory - Volume 2 graphic novel. That same year, he inked the Reign in Hell limited series for DC.[20] In 2010-2012, he inked several issues of Neal Adams' Batman: Odyssey project for DC Comics.[13]

In October 2012, Sienkiewicz teamed with fellow artists Klaus Janson and David W. Mack on the eight-issue Marvel mini-series Daredevil: End of Days. Regarding the contrast in art styles, Sienkiewicz related that it was deliberate, in order to "give a very definite break from the “everyday reality” that Klaus’ art is meant to portray, as well as the impression of a flashback."[21]

In June 2014, Sienkiewicz was the guest of honor at ceremony for the 2014 Inkwell Awards at HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina.[22][23]

Other work

In addition to his work in comics, Sienkiewicz has also worked in numerous other media, especially in the music and trading card industries. His artwork has been published in magazines including Entertainment Weekly and Spin. In 1998, he collaborated with writer Martin I. Green to produce the children's book Santa, My Life & Times.

In 1989, Sienkiewicz painted the art for the Friendly Dictators card set published by Eclipse Comics which portrayed various foreign leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko, Ferdinand Marcos, and Anastasio Somoza Debayle.[24] This card set was followed by Coup d'etat : the assassination of John F. Kennedy (1990), a 36 card set including his meticulously detailed and stylized imagery of Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Marylin Monroe.

Sienkiewicz has illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game.[25] In 2004, Sienkiewicz contributed to card art for VS System, a collectible card game published by Upper Deck Entertainment. In 1995, he illustrated Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix the biography of Jimi Hendrix by Martin I. Green. In 1996, he provided the artwork for the Bruce Cockburn album The Charity of Night. Additional Sienkiewicz album covers include RZA's Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998), EPMD's Business as Usual (1990), and Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009). Also in 2006, Sienkiewicz teamed with Neal Adams to create art for former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Their artwork was utilized as video projections for live performances of Waters' song "Leaving Beirut".

Sienkiewicz has worked on character design for animation. His work on the television series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? received two Emmy Award nominations in 1995 and 1996.[26] In 2006, Sienkiewicz designed the layout and art for The Venture Bros. season one DVD set. He designed the cover art for the season three DVD and Blu-ray set.

Awards

Personal life

In October 1979 Sienkiewicz married Francis Ann Dawson (Franki), who worked at Marvel as the administrative assistant for editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and later was Marvel's Administrative Manager of International Licensing.[32] They divorced in 1983.[33]

He is descended from the Polish writer and novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905.[2]

Bibliography
Sienkiewicz's front and back covers for Stray Toasters #3

Interior art

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

Cover work

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

Other publishers
  • 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow (three-issue mini-series, covers and full interior art)
  • The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #2, by Dark Horse Comics
  • Big Numbers # 1–2 (Covers and full interior art and several pages of #3 which was unpublished and the series discontinued)
  • Brought to Light graphic novel (cover and interior art)
  • Judge Dredd #12–22 – Titan Books collected edition (covers only)
  • Judge Dredd and the Angel Gang – Collected edition graphic novel (cover only)
  • Judge Dredd: City of the Damned – Collected edition graphic novel (cover only)
  • Judge Dredd: Innocents Abroad – Collected edition graphic novel (cover only — this is a cropped version of the cover of the Titan books Judge Dredd # 14)
  • Judge Dredd: Oz Books One to Three – Titan books collected edition (covers only — all three covers interlink to form larger image)
  • Judge Dredd: The Complete Oz – Collected edition graphic novel (cover only — the cover features a mix of covers # 2 + 3 from the single reprint books)
  • "Leaf" #2 by NAB (cover only)
  • Lone Wolf and Cub # 14–20 – US reprint books by First Publishing (covers only)
  • M3 #2, Hound Comics (cover only)
  • Oni Double Feature #4–5 ("A River in Egypt" part one and two)
  • The Nightmare Factory — Volume 2 graphic novel, Fox Atomic Comics
  • Classics Illustrated #4 – Moby-Dick (Berkley Publishing)
  • Total Eclipse #1–5 (covers only)
  • The Matrix graphic novel (Interior art on story section)
  • Twelve Devils Dancing TPB, Action Lab Danger Zone (cover only)

Other work
  • 1990 — Bill Sienkiewicz Sketchbook (Fantagraphics)
  • 1995 — Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix (illustrated storybook with CD, cover and full interior art)
  • 1998 — Santa, My Life & Times (illustrated storybook, cover and full interior art)
  • 2003 — Bill Sienkiewicz: Precursor (Art Book, Hermes Press )
  • Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Guide to Camarilla & Sabbat covers

Media

Trading cards
  • VS System, various sets
  • Big Budget Circus (Eclipse Enterprises)
  • Friendly Dictators (Eclipse Enterprises)
  • Coup D’Etat (Eclipse Enterprises)
  • Rock Bottom Awards (Eclipse Enterprises)
  • Marvel Masterpieces, Series 2 and Series 3, assorted cards
  • 1994 Fleer Ultra X-Men, assorted cards
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References
  1. Salicrup, Jim (w). "Letters page" Fantastic Four 227 (February 1981)
  2. "Biography". BillSienkiewiczArt.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  3. "Bill Sienkiewicz". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012.
  4. Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  5. Comtois, Pierre (2015). Marvel Comics In The 1980s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide To A Pop Culture Phenomenon. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-1605490595.
  6. Salisbury, Mark (2002). Artists on Comics Art. London: Titan Books. p. 182. ISBN 978-1840231861.
  7. Dallas, Keith (2013). American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 978-1605490465.
  8. "The Marvel Age Interview: Bill Sienkiewicz" Marvel Age 28: 20–22 (July 1985)
  9. Shooter, Jim (w). "Introduction" Moon Knight Special Edition 1 (November 1983)
  10. Thomas, Michael (July 17, 2001). "Bill Sienkiewicz Interview". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Studying Neal's work, ... I became obsessed ... and became fixated on it. It was like my intention was to be Neal. ... There was no one at this point saying don't do that, you've got to be your own person. ... When I finally got started, what got me hired was the fact that I drew like Neal. Neal in fact called up Shooter and said, 'I've got this kid fresh off the street and he draws like me. Is that a problem?'
  11. Buchanan, Bruce (August 2008). "The New Mutants: From Superhero Spin-Off to Sci-Fi/Fantasy". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (29): 65–66.
  12. DeFalco, Tom (2008). "1980s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 211. ISBN 978-0756641238. Professor Xavier's young students were given their own monthly title. It was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by...Bill Sienkiewicz, who illustrated #18 to #31.
  13. Bill Sienkiewicz at the Grand Comics Database
  14. Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1980s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Batman celebrated the 400th issue of his self-titled comic with a blockbuster featuring dozens of famous comic book creators and nearly as many infamous villains. Written by Doug Moench, with an introduction by novelist Stephen King...[it was] drawn by George Pérez, Bill Sienkiewicz, Arthur Adams, Joe Kubert, Brian Bolland, and others.
  15. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 228: "Produced by Frank Miller and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz, Elektra: Assassin was an eight-issue limited series...published by Marvel's Epic Comics imprint."
  16. Mithra, Kuljit (January 2000). "Interview With Bill Sienkiewicz". ManWithoutFear.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  17. Larochelle, Christopher (August 2016). "Elektra: Assassin". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (90): 2–10.
  18. Schweier, Philip (July 2016). "Shedding Light on The Shadow". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (89): 16–17.
  19. "Creator Chronicles–Bill Sienkiewicz DVD Next up at Bat!". ComicBox.com. December 12, 2007. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012.
  20. Cowsill, Alan "2000s" in Dolan, p. 334: "DC's version of Hell erupted into all-out war when the rulers of Purgatory, Blaze and Satanus invaded Neron's infernal domain. Written by Keith Giffen with art by Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz."
  21. Lombardi, J.D. (April 5, 2013). "Interview: Superstar Artist Bill Sienkiewicz & the Creative Process Behind Marvel Comics Daredevil: End of Days". Pop-topia.com. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  22. Meth, Clifford (June 24, 2014). "Inkwell Awards 2014 Winners and Hall Of Fame". Everyone's Wrong and I'm Right. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016.
  23. Almond, Bob (June 1, 2014). "Bill Sienkiewicz is Guest of Honor at 2014 HeroesCon Awards Ceremony". Inkwell Awards. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015.
  24. "Friendly Dictators". FriendlyDictators.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  25. "Phyrexian War Beast". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012.
  26. Booker, M. Keith, ed. (2010). Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels. ABC-CLIO. p. 574. ISBN 0313357471. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  27. "Bill Sienkiewicz Awards, Exhibits". Wordsandpictures.org. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
  28. "Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
  29. "17° SALONE, 1986" (in Italian). Immagine-Centro Studi Iconografici. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
  30. "Inkwell Awards 2014 Ceremony, Bill Sienkiewicz Guest of Honor". YouTube.
  31. "Eisner Awards: The Complete Winners List". Hollywood Reporter.
  32. Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel Comics cover-dated January 1983.
  33. Sim, Dave (2003). "The 'Synchronicity' Triptych". Beguiling.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
Preceded by
John Byrne		 Fantastic Four artist
1980–1981		 Succeeded by
John Byrne
Preceded by
n/a		 Moon Knight artist
1980–1983		 Succeeded by
Kevin Nowlan
Preceded by
Sal Buscema		 New Mutants artist
1984–1985		 Succeeded by
Steve Leialoha
Preceded by
Howard Chaykin		 The Shadow artist
1987–1988		 Succeeded by
Kyle Baker
Preceded by
Scott Hanna		 The Spectacular Spider-Man inker
1995		 Succeeded by
Al Milgrom
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