Jae Lee

Jae Lee
Jae Lee
	Lee at the 2023 WonderCon
Born	1972 (age 51–52)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciller, Inker
Notable works	Before Watchmen: Ozymandias; The Dark Tower; Inhumans; Hellshock; Namor the Sub-Mariner
Awards	1999 Eisner Award for Best New Series for Inhumans

Jae Lee (born 1972)^[1] is an American comics artist known for his interior illustration and cover work for various publishers, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, and Dynamite Entertainment.

Career

Jae Lee's first work for Marvel Comics was a Beast serial in Marvel Comics Presents #85–92 (1991).^[2] He first rose to prominence in the industry in 1992 for his work on Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, taking over the art duties from John Byrne, who continued on the series as writer.^[3] Terry Kavanagh, Lee's editor on both Marvel Comics Presents and Namor, later said he assigned Lee to Namor because he liked his style and felt that, as a new artist, he would benefit from working with an experienced writer.^[4] Lee continued when Bob Harras became the writer, drawing issues #26–38 (May 1992–May 1993). As penciller of X-Factor, Lee was one of the artists of the "X-Cutioner's Song" storyline which ran throughout the X-Men titles in 1992.^[5] The following year, Lee drew the three issue Youngblood Strikefile for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios at Image Comics and the three issue WildC.A.T.s Trilogy for Jim Lee's WildStorm, another founding Image Comics studio. In 1994, Jae Lee produced a creator-owned Image Comics series, Hellshock, a story about a fallen angel that he wrote and illustrated.^[2]

In 1998, Lee and writer Paul Jenkins crafted an Inhumans limited series,^[6] for which they won the 1999 Eisner Award for Best New Series.^[7] They later reteamed on The Sentry.^[8] Lee and writer Grant Morrison produced the four-issue miniseries Fantastic Four: 1234 (Oct. 2001–Feb. 2002), which garnered Lee a nomination for a 2002 Eisner Award as Best Cover Artist. In 2003, Lee, writer John Ney Rieber, and Lee's wife, colorist June Chung, produced a Transformers/G.I. Joe six-issue miniseries for Dreamwave Productions, which took place in an alternate World War II setting.

Beginning in 2007, Lee worked with artist Richard Isanove and writers Robin Furth and Peter David on Marvel Comics' The Dark Tower comic series, based on Stephen King's The Dark Tower novels. Lee illustrated the first three miniseries in that series, The Gunslinger Born, The Long Road Home and Treachery. He returned for the fifth book in the series, Battle of Jericho Hill. He also provided cover and interior illustrations for the Donald M. Grant edition of King's eighth Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, which was released February 21, 2012.^[9]

At DC Comics, Lee worked on the Before Watchmen project, drawing the mini-series Ozymandias (Sept. 2012–April 2013) written by Len Wein.^[10] He illustrated Batman/Superman in 2013–2014 with writer Greg Pak.^[11]^[12]

In January 2023 it was reported that Lee would be drawing one of the three Rocketeer in IDW Publishing's upcoming one-shot anthology, The Rocketeer. The project was first conceived by filmmakers Kelvin Mao and Robert Windom, who had discovered during production of their documentary, Dave Stevens: Drawn to Perfection, which focused on the creator of the Rocketeer, Dave Stevens, that Danny Bilson and the late Paul De Meo, who wrote the screenplay to the 1991 feature film adaptation The Rocketeer, had written an unpublished Rocketeer comics story. After hiring Adam Hughes to illustrate that story, Lee was hired to draw one of the other stories in the book, a four-page story of the Rocketeer fighting a Japanese Zero fighter plane in the South Pacific, written by Windom, who described it as "dreamy contemplation on life and love."^[13]

Cover art from *Manhunter* vol. 3, #4 (Jan. 2005).

Awards and nominations

1999 Eisner Award for Best New Series, for Inhumans vol. 2, with Paul Jenkins^[7]
Nominated: 2002 Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist, for Our Worlds at War and Fantastic Four: 1234^[14]

Bibliography

Comics

DC Comics

Action Comics vol. 2 #38 (among other artists) (2015)
Batman: Jekyll & Hyde miniseries, #1–3 (of 6) (2005)
Batman/Superman #1–4, 8–9, 13, Annual #1 (2013–2014)
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias miniseries, #1–6 (2012–2013)
Fables #146 (among other artists) (2015)
Superman: American Alien #4 (2016)

Image Comics

The Darkness: Prelude (2003)
The Darkness and Tomb Raider (2005)
Hellshock #1–4 (1994)
Hellshock, vol. 2, #1–3 (1997–1998)
Hellshock, vol. 2, The Definitive Edition (2007)
Seven Sons (2022)
WildC.A.T.s: Trilogy, miniseries, #1–3 (1993)
Witchblade: Demon (2003)
Witchblade and Tomb Raider (2005)
Youngblood: Strikefile, miniseries, #1–3 (1993)

Marvel Comics

Captain America vol. 4 #10–16 (2003)
Daredevil vol. 2 #65 (among other artists) (2004)
Dark Tower:
- The Gunslinger Born miniseries #1–7 (2007)
- The Long Road Home miniseries #1–5 (2008)
- Treachery miniseries #1–6 (2008–2009)
- The Battle of Jericho Hill miniseries #1–5 (2010)
Excalibur vs. X-Men: XX Crossing Special (among other artists) (1992)
Fantastic Four: 1234 #1–4 (2001–2002)
Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks miniseries #1–4 (2004–2005)
The Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #82 (2005)
Inhumans vol. 2 #1–12 (1998–1999)
Marvel Comics Presents #85–92 (Beast feature) (among other artists) (1991)
Namor the Sub-Mariner #26–38 (1992–1993)
The Sentry miniseries #1–5 (2000–2001)
Sentry vs. The Void (2001)
Spider-Man #41–43 (1993–1994)
Ultimate Fantastic Four #19–20 (2005)
Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1 (2005)
Uncanny X-Men #304 (among other artists) (1993)
Uncanny X-Men Annual #16 (1992)
X-Factor #84–86 (1992–1993)
Young Avengers Special #1 (among other artists) (2006)

Other publishers

Transformers / G.I. Joe #1–6 (Dreamwave, 2003)
Verotika #3 (Verotik, 1995)

Books

The Illustrated Dracula by Bram Stoker (Viking Studio, 2006)
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King - Limited Edition (Donald M. Grant, Publisher, 2012)

Film

Jae Lee provided the artwork for the portrait of Death in the 2019 animated short DC Showcase: Death, as well as several sketch drawings seen during the end credits.

References

^ "Jae Lee". Lambiek Comiclopedia. July 7, 2013. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Jae Lee at the Grand Comics Database
^ Senreich, Matthew (February 1997) "Catching Up With...Jae Lee and 'Hellshock'". Wizard #66. p. 20
^ Lantz, James Heath (September 2016). "Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner: Scion of the Deep or Royal Pain?". Back Issue! (91). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 56–59.
^ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1990s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 261. ISBN 978-0756641238. The 'X-Cutioner's Song' [was] an epic twelve-part crossover showcasing the various X-teams' battle with the Cable-clone Stryfe. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 290: "In this twelve-issue Marvel Knights limited series, writer Paul Jenkins and artist Jae Lee put a realistic face on the denizens of the mystical city of Attilan."
^ ^a ^b "1999 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
^ Manning "2000s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 302
^ "The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole". Hampton Falls, New Hampshire: Donald M. Grant, Publisher. 2012. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
^ Hyde, David (February 1, 2012). "DC Entertainment Officially Announces Before Watchmen". DC Comics. Archived from the original on July 2, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
^ Truitt, Brian (February 21, 2013). "Batman/Superman showcases meeting of DC Comics icons". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 10, 2013.
^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "2010s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 337. ISBN 978-1465424563. How that team-up [of Batman and Superman] began remained a mystery. Writer Greg Pak and artists Jae Lee and Ben Oliver decided to fill in that gap. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Johnston, Rich (January 18, 2023). "Adam Hughes, Jae Lee & Craig Cermak Draw New Rocketeer Comic". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
^ "2002 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.

External links

Official website
Jae Lee at The Art of Jae Lee
Jae Lee at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
Jae Lee at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
Jae Lee at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

Preceded by John Byrne	Namor the Sub-Mariner artist 1992–1993	Succeeded by Jimmy Palmiotti
Preceded by Mark Pacella	X-Factor artist 1992–1993	Succeeded by Joe Quesada
Preceded by Klaus Janson	Spider-Man artist 1993–1994	Succeeded by Tom Lyle