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Tripwire’s 101 Greatest Comic Artists Of All Time: No.101: Kevin Nowlan

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5 years ago

July 19, 2021

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No.101: Kevin Nowlan

Welcome to the first of our 101 greatest comic artists list. Kevin Nowlan is a US comic artist who first got noticed drawing Doctor Strange at Marvel in the early 1980s but it was his work on Fantagraphics fantasy series Dalgoda in 1985 that really boosted his profile. Words: Joel Meadows…

Nowlan’s distinctly angular linework and his idiosyncratic figures have garnered him a worldwide following. His career has included drawing the origin of Batman villain Man-Bat in Secret Origins, an annual for DC’s Batman And The Outsiders series and a decent-sized run with writer Alan Moore on Jack B Quick in anthology Tomorrow Stories for Wildstorm/ DC from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.

photo courtesy of Luigi Novi

Nowlan has become the artist’s artist thanks to his multitude of cover work on titles like Green Arrow, Batgirl and Batman for DC and Amazing Spider-man and All-New Captain America for Marvel. Because he has had a scattergun approach to his work and has never really done a long run on any titles, he has perhaps never quite got his due as an artist.

Nowlan specialises in depicting the more ungainly and freakish superheroes, the outcasts who don’t fit in even among those with unusual powers. It is his instantly recognisable style that has given him such a cult following as an artist.

Here’s a gallery of some of his art from over the years