Ben Templesmith (born 7 March 1984) is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, and IDW Publishing's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve Niles, which was adapted into a motion picture of the same name. He has also created book covers, movie posters, trading cards, and concept work for film.
Early life
Templesmith was born 7 March 1984, in
Perth, Western Australia.
He graduated from Curtin University with a bachelor's degree in Design, and holds a diploma of Cartoon and Graphic Art from the Australian College of Journalism.
[Giles, Keith (31 August 2001). "Artists on the Verge: Ben Templesmith". Comic Book Resources.]
Career
Templesmith produced his first commercial American comics work in 2001, providing the art for
Todd McFarlane Hellspawn, which was published by
Image Comics. He has gone on to create his own original works as well as contribute to many licensed properties at various publishers, most notably
IDW Publishing, with which he had an exclusive agreement through most of 2008 and part of 2009 before returning to being a freelancer.
Other licensed properties that Templesmith has worked on include illustrating "Dark Journey", a story in issue #17 of the Dark Horse Comics anthology series Star Wars Tales in 2003, and the covers to Devil's Due Publishing's #1 in 2004 and IDW's G.I. Joe #0 in 2008.
Original works Templesmith has produced include the miniseries Welcome to Hoxford, the New York Times best-selling [Gustines, George Gene (20 March 2009). "Graphic Books Best Seller Lists: March 14"/ The New York Times.] Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith, Conluvio and Choker at Image Comics with writer Ben McCool. He also provided a number of covers for the Oni Press series Wasteland.
In April 2012, DC Entertainment announced that Templesmith would be one of the artists illustrating a new digital Batman series with stories set outside regular DC continuity.[Truitt, Brian (13 April 2012). "Batman, 'Smallville' lead DC Comics' digital charge" USA Today.]
Starting in November 2014, Templesmith launched Gotham by Midnight from DC Comics with writer Ray Fawkes.
Awards
Nominations
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2005 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series (for , with Steve Niles)
[ 2005 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards; Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 7 September 2010.]
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2005 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (for 30 for Days of Night: Return to Barrow)
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2006 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series (with Warren Ellis for Fell)
[ 2006 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards; Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 7 September 2010.]
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2006 Eisner Award for Best New Series (with Warren Ellis for Fell)
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2006 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (for Fell)
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2007 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series (with Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier for The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M)
[ 2007 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards; Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 7 September 2010.]
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2007 Eisner Award for Painter/Multimedia Artist (for The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M)
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2006 International Horror Guild Award for Illustrated Narrative (with Steve Niles for Dark Days)
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2006 International Horror Guild Award for Graphic Narrative (with Steve Niles and Ashley Wood for 30 Days of Night issues 1–3)
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2007 Horror Guild Award for Illustrated Narrative (for Wormwood Gentleman Corpse: Birds, Bees, Blood & Beer)
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Selected bibliography
Comics
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Hellspawn (artist, Image Comics, 2002)
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30 Days of Night (co-creator and artist, with Steve Niles, IDW Publishing, 2002)
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Dark Days (co-creator and artist, with Steve Niles, IDW Publishing, 2003)
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(artist, with Steve Niles, Dark Horse Comics, 2003)
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(creator and writer/artist, LOFI Magazine, 2004–2006, IDW Publishing, 2006–present)
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(co-creator and artist, with Steve Niles, IDW Publishing, 2004)
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Singularity 7 (creator and writer/artist, IDW Publishing, 2004)
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Blood-Stained Sword (co-creator and artist, IDW Publishing, 2004)
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Silent Hill: Dying Inside (artist, with Scott Ciencin, IDW Publishing, 2004)
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30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales (co-creator and artist, with Matt Fraction, IDW Publishing, 2004–2005)
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Hatter M (artist, with Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier, Image Comics, 2004–2006)
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Shadowplay (co-creator and artist, IDW Publishing, 2005)
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Fell (co-creator and artist, with Warren Ellis, Image Comics, 2005–present)
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30 Days of Night: Red Snow (co-creator and writer/artist, IDW Publishing, 2007)
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Dead Space (artist, with Antony Johnston, 2008, Image Comics)
[Ekstrom, Steve (28 February 2008). Ben Templesmith - Moving into Dead Space. Newsarama]
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Welcome To Hoxford (creator and writer/artist, IDW Publishing, 2008)
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Doctor Who - The Whispering Gallery (artist, with Leah Moore and John Reppion, 2009)
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Groom Lake (co-creator, with Chris Ryall, IDW Publishing, 2009)
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Choker (co-creator, with Ben McCool, Image Comics, 2012)
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Ten Grand (artist), with J. Michael Straczynski, Image Comics, 2013
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Gotham By Midnight (Artist) (co-creator, with Ray Fawkes, DC Comics, 2014)
Game books
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Superiors 4: Rogues to Riches ( In Nomine) (2000) Steve Jackson Games, Interior Artist
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Faiths and Pantheons (Forgotten Realms) (2002) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
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City of the Spider Queen (Forgotten Realms) (2002) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
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Fiend Folio ( Dungeons and Dragons) (2003) Wizards of the Coast, Interior Artist
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Nomads (2004; artist; White Wolf Game Studio)
Art books
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Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith (IDW Publishing)
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Conluvio: The Art of Ben Templesmith, Vol. 2 (IDW Publishing)
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SquidGirls: Erotica Tentacular
External links
