Becky Cloonan (born 23 June) is an American comic book creator, known for work published by Tokyopop and Vertigo. In 2012 she became the first female artist to draw the main Batman title for DC Comics.
Early life
Becky Cloonan was born in Pisa, Italy. She attended New York’s School of Visual Arts.
Career
Cloonan and her friends produced a comics anthology that they called Meathaus.
Cloonan created minicomics as a member of the Meathaus collective before collaborating with Brian Wood on Channel Zero: Jennie One in 2003. Since then, her profile (and workload) has steadily risen; her best-known work to date has been the twelve-issue comics series Demo (2004), also with Wood. Wizard named Demo its 2004 Indie of the Year. The series was also nominated for two Eisner Awards in 2005, for Best Limited Series and Best Single Issue or One-Shot (the latter of which was for Demo #7, “One Shot, Don’t Miss”).
Cloonan’s first solo graphic novel, East Coast Rising Volume 1, was released by Tokyopop in 2006. East Coast Rising: Volume 1 marked Cloonan’s third Eisner Award nomination in 2007, this time for Best New Series. She also collaborated with writer Steven T. Seagle on the Vertigo Comics series American Virgin, which was cancelled with the 23rd issue. In 2012 she became the first woman to draw the main Batman title.
In 2013, she did the art for the series The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, which is written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon. In 2014/2015, she also co-created and did cover art and stories for Gotham Academy from DC Comics.
In 2015, she was voted #3 of the top 50 female comics artists of all-time. She was also one of only two creators to make the list as both writer and artist, voted #14 among all-time top writers.
In 2017, Cloonan was one of several artists participating in the Pow! Wow! Worcester festival, the purpose of which was to bring large public murals to buildings throughout Worcester, Massachusetts. Cloonan painted her mural, which she completed on Labor Day, on the building housing the comic shop That’s Entertainment.
In July 2021, DC Comics announced that Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad would co-write Batgirls, a new series which would focus on Barbara Gordon’s mentorship of Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. The debut issue was released on December 14, 2021, and garnered a positive review from Dustin Holland of CBR.com.
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