In junior high school, Brent Anderson discovered the pantheon of characters in Marvel Comics. The first Marvel comic he read was Fantastic Four #69, "By Ben Betrayed" (Dec. 1967),[3] "They were a family who had super-powers and helped each other out. I wanted to be part of a family like that," he says.[4] Anderson began writing and drawing his own comics on school binder paper, creating a pantheon of his own that included "Radium the Robot" and "The Chameleon".[4] After doing fanzine illustrations, Anderson's first professional comics work appeared in the mid-1970s in independent/underground publications such as All-Slug, Tesserae, and Venture.[5]
In 1995, Anderson co-created with writer Kurt Busiek and cover artist Alex Ross, the award-winning Astro City. Other work included J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars: Untouchable spin-off series written by Fiona Avery covering the life story of special assassin Laurel Darkhaven.[7] Work continues on a 200-plus page graphic novel, Jar of Ashes, written by Shirley Johnston. Anderson worked with writer Marv Wolfman on a one-shot featuring Green Lantern and Plastic Man entitled Green Lantern/Plastic Man: Weapons of Mass Deception, released in December 2010.[10] A Phantom Stranger ongoing series written by Dan DiDio and drawn by Anderson began in September 2012.[11] In June 2013, Busiek and Anderson relaunched their Astro City series as part of DC's Vertigo line.[12][13] The ongoing Astro City series concluded as of issue #52 in 2018.[14]
In April 2022, Anderson was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[15][16] Anderson and Kurt Busiek teamed up to contribute a new Astro City story to the anthology, which will harbor themes relevant to the events in Ukraine.[17]
Art style
Anderson's work fits into the category of "realism" defined by Neal Adams, one of Anderson's many artistic influences.[3] Anderson's work is known for its focus on character. "My greatest joy in drawing comics comes when I've added nuance to a character with just the right expression and illustrated a scene that captures the perfect moment of mood. When the characters come to life I feel alive. That's why I've dedicated my professional life to creating comics."[4]
^Friedt, Stephan (July 2016). "Marvel at the Movies - The House of Ideas' Hollywood Adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s". Back Issue! (89). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 64. The interior [art] was a group effort with over a dozen people credited with different aspects of the artwork (including layouts by Rich Buckler and Jimmy Janes, and finished pencils by Michael Nasser [Netzer], Brent Anderson, Joe Brozowski, Al Milgrom, and Bill Sienkiewicz).
^Rogers, Vaneta (June 8, 2012). "DC Adds Four to New 52, Including DiDio's Phantom Stranger". Newsarama. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012. Written by [Dan] DiDio with art by Brent Anderson, The Phantom Stranger will spin out of the character's recent appearances in Justice League and DC's Free Comic Book Day story.
