Shawn McManus

Shawn McManus (born June 30, 1958)[1] is an American artist who has worked extensively over three decades for DC Comics and other companies, notably for DC's Vertigo imprint including the Fables series.

This article is about the American comic book artist. For other people of a similar-sounding name, see Sean McManus (disambiguation).
Shawn McManus
Born (1958-06-30) June 30, 1958
Brookline, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Cartoonist, Artist
Notable works
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
Fables
Fairest
The Saga of the Swamp Thing

Comics

Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, McManus entered the comics field in the early 1980s with work for Heavy Metal and DC Comics.[2] For the June 1983 issue of Heavy Metal he collaborated with Bhob Stewart and John Coffey on "Zenobia". Six months later, McManus and Stewart teamed with Jim McDermott on "Symbiosis", also in Heavy Metal (December 1983).[3] He drew the Green Arrow backup feature in Detective Comics in 1983-1984.[4] McManus gained wider attention when he illustrated two issues of The Saga of the Swamp Thing written by Alan Moore.

McManus worked with writer Todd Klein on Omega Men,[5] creating Zirral and other characters for that series. He has drawn issues of Doctor Fate and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.[3] He collaborated with Neil Gaiman on the "Fables & Reflections" and "A Game of You" story arcs[6][7] in The Sandman.[8] McManus' other Sandman credits include The Sandman Presents: Taller Tales and a pair of limited series about the witch Thessaly written by Bill Willingham.[3] McManus' artwork for Marvel Comics includes Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '97 and Daredevil #351.[3] In an interview, John Rozum, who scripted that issue of Daredevil, recalled:

I thought Shawn McManus's art was great. I'd like to work with him again sometime, though we didn't really work together here. At the time I wrote it, I had no idea who'd be drawing it. Shawn and I have never even met or spoken with each other. I always write full script though, and unlike some other artists, Shawn actually pays attention to the script. I think his artwork was a nice pairing with the story.[9]

McManus has contributed to titles from a variety of other publishers, including Atomeka Press (A1), Dark Horse Comics (Cheval Noir), Exhibit A Press (Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre), First Comics (Grimjack), Image Comics (Supreme), Malibu Comics (The Man Called A-X), and DC Comics' Paradox Press (The Big Book Of Freaks). He worked on Leah Moore and John Reppion's Wild Girl (Wildstorm, 2004–2005) with J. H. Williams III, about 13-year-old Rosa Torez who discovers that she can communicate with animals. In 2007, he did an eight-issue run on Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis and an issue of The Creeper for DC.[3]

He illustrated Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love in 2010[10] and Cinderella: Fables Are Forever the following year.[11] He was one of several artists to contribute to the Fairest in All the Land graphic novel.[12]

Children's art

Writer-illustrator and lecturer Mark McKenna, creator of the Banana Tail children's book series, described his long association with McManus that led to their Banana Tail: The Early Years (2009) color print:

I met Shawn McManus in the DC Comics offices back in late 1985. I was up at DC Comics to meet with an editor or show samples, I forget, the old brain is failing me here. But I do recall Shawn sitting in with the editor who I was about to have a meeting with. At the time, Shawn was drawing Swamp Thing, and I was delighted to see his lively, bouncy and very refreshing art style. Little did I know that within a year we would be an art team along with writer J. M. DeMatteis on DC's Doctor Fate series... We worked together for six months on Doctor Fate until the DC editor moved me to another book. I haven't had any creative contact with Shawn since that time in 1987. We really never spoke during the time we worked together. I was still very new to the business and didn't think to call and collaborate with Shawn to get his sensibilities about direction and vision for the book. No contact with Shawn until a few brief comic con "how ya doing's?", and an eventual reconnect through our mutual art rep, Bob Shaw... Bob had this idea that Shawn should work with me and create some ultra cool Banana Tail painting... Seeing Bob Shaw's excitement, Shawn then saw the potential in Banana Tail.[13]

Television

In 1987, McManus worked on the animated series Dinosaucers. For the TV series Tales from the Crypt, McManus and Mike Vosburg illustrated comic book covers designed to look like the original 1950s comics. The McManus Crypt cover is seen in the first episode ("The Man Who Was Death").

Awards

1985 Jack Kirby Award nomination with Alan Moore for Best Single Issue ("Pog" in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #32).[14]

Comics bibliography

Dark Horse Comics

DC Comics

America's Best Comics

  • Tom Strong #19, 27 (2003–2004)
  • Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #7 (2003)

Paradox Press

Vertigo

Wildstorm

HM Communications

Image Comics

Malibu Comics
  • Man Called A-X #0, #1–4 (1994–1995)

Marvel Comics

References
  1. Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  2. "Shawn McManus". Lambiek Comiclopedia. December 19, 2006. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012.
  3. Shawn McManus at the Grand Comics Database
  4. Kingman, Jim (May 2013). "The Ballad of Ollie and Dinah". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (64): 19.
  5. Klein, Todd (October 18, 2011). "Creating Go Freelance!". Kleinletters.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013.
  6. Bender, Hy (1999). The Sandman Companion. New York, New York: DC Comics. pp. 110–130. ISBN 978-1563894657.
  7. Burgas, Greg (January 7, 2013). "Comics You Should Own – Sandman". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014.
  8. Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The Sandman saw a variety of artists grace its pages. Sam Kieth drew the first few issues, followed by Mike Dringenberg, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, and Shawn McManus, among others.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  9. Mithra, Kuljit (January 2001). "Interview With John Rozum". Manwithoutfear.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013.
  10. Rogers, Vaneta (October 22, 2009). "Cinderella: Superspy: Writer Talks Fables Spin-off". Newsarama. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014.
  11. Khouri, Andy (February 8, 2011). "Cinderella Returns in Fables are Forever #1". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
  12. "Fables: Fairest in All the Land ". Publishers Weekly. November 4, 2013. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014.
  13. McKenna, Mark (n.d.). "McManus meet McKennus". BananaTail.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012.
  14. "1985 Jack Kirby Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013.
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