Often compared to the comic book greats of Mike Mignola, Adam Hughes, and Kevin Nowlan, American comic book artist Ryan Sook has earned his place as powerhouse within the comic industry. The cartoonist, penciler, inker and colorist got his start working on Challengers of the Unknown for DC Comics in 1998. Over the next few years, Sook worked primarily for Dark Horse Comics, specifically building stories within the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. Additionally, Sook worked on Dark Horse Presents: Witch's Son & Ragnok, with writer John Arcudi, as well as inking in Lobster Johnson: The Killer in My Skull, and Hellboy: Box Full of Evil.
His work on The Spectre for DC Comics in 2001, garnered him widespread praise from both critics and readers. After remaining on the title for a year, Sook left to illustrate the first spinoff miniseries from Mike Mignola’s Hellboy and BPRD: Hollow Earth. Between 2003 and 2010, Sook remained at DC Comics working predominantly on cover artwork rather than interior sequential pages. This included Batman Beyond: Rebirth with Dan Jurgens, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell with Dan Slott, Hawkman with Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, and Seven Soldiers: Zatanna with Grant Morrison. Outside of DC, Sook worked on the X-Men spinoff X-Factor with Peter David along with several books for Wildstorm.
Sook received his highest critical praise in 2009 for his work on the anthology series Wednesday Comics. He illustrated a story, written by Dave Gibbons, that saw Jack Kirby’s character Kamandi ride into the City of the Apes in an attempt to aid the Tiger Army. For the 12-part serialization, Sook handled all of the art chores including lettering. Over the years, Sook has provided variant covers for such titles as Action Comics, Future Quest, Sword of Sorcery, Harley Quinn, Trinity of Sin: Pandora, Superman, and more. More recently, Sook illustrate a cover for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #48. This edition, which celebrates the the 50th anniversary of Planet of the Apes, is currently a Featured Item in Diamond Comic Distributors’ PREVIEWS catalog.
More information on the The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #48, including additional covers by Ethan Van Sciver and Georges Jeanty, can be found on Scoop.
