Dillon, Steve 1962-

PERSONAL:

Born 1962, in London, England.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Luton, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Comic book artist, writer, and illustrator.

WRITINGS:

ILLUSTRATOR; "JOHN CONSTANTINE, HELLBLAZER" SERIES; GRAPHIC NOVEL COLLECTION

Garth Ennis, Fear and Loathing, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1997.

Garth Ennis, Tainted Love, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1998.

Garth Ennis, Damnation's Flame, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

Garth Ennis, Rake at the Gates of Hell, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2003.

Mike Carey, Red Sepulchre, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2005.

ILLUSTRATOR; "PREACHER" SERIES; GRAPHIC NOVEL COLLECTION

Garth Ennis, Gone to Texas, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1996.

Garth Ennis, Until the End of the World, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1997.

Garth Ennis, Proud Americans, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1997.

Garth Ennis, Preacher Special: Cassidy; Blood and Whiskey: A Tale from the Good Ol' Days, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1998.

Garth Ennis, War in the Sun, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

Garth Ennis, Salvation, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

Garth Ennis, All Hell's A-Coming, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2000.

Garth Ennis, Alamo, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2000.

Garth Ennis, Preacher Special: Tall in the Saddle, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2000.

Garth Ennis, Dead or Alive, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2000.

ILLUSTRATOR; "PUNISHER" SERIES; GRAPHIC NOVEL COLLECTION

Garth Ennis, The Punisher, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), Volume 1, 2001, Volume 2, 2003.

Garth Ennis, Army of One, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2002.

Garth Ennis, Business As Usual, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2003.

Garth Ennis, Full Auto, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2003.

Garth Ennis, Streets of Laredo, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2004.

ILLUSTRATOR; OTHER GRAPHIC NOVEL COLLECTIONS

Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine, How to Be a Superhero, NBM Publishing, 1992.

John Wagner, Alan Grant, and others, The Complete Judge Dredd in Oz, Titan Books (London, England), 1994.

Warren Ellis, Gen 13: London, New York, Hell, Wildstorm (La Jolla, CA), 2001.

Garth Ennis, Judge Dredd: Emerald Isle, Titan Books (London, England), 2002.

Peter Milligan, Skreemer, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2002.

John Wagner, Alan Grant, and others, Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War, Titan Books (London, England), 2004.

Daniel Way, Bullseye: Greatest Hits, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2005.

Brian K. Vaughan, Geoff Johns, and others, Ultimate X-Men: Hard Lessons, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2005.

Mark Millar, Brian K. Baughan, Brian Michael Bendis, and others, Ultimate Annuals, Volume 1, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2006.

Daniel Way, Punisher vs. Bullseye, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2006.

Daniel Way, Supreme Power: Nighthawk, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 2006.

Illustrator (penciler and/or inker) of a variety of comic book series, including A1, Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer, Animal Man, Atom Special, Bullseye's Greatest Hits, Daredevil, Doctor Who, Gen 13, Global Frequency, Heartland, Hellblazer, Legion Worlds, Preacher, Supreme Power: Nighthawk, Punisher, Ultimates 2, Ultimate X-Men, Warrior, Wildcats, and Wolverine: Origins. Writer for comics, including individual issues of A1 and Punisher.

SIDELIGHTS:

Steve Dillon is a comic book artist who has also been a frequent collaborator with writer Garth Ennis. The two hail from England and Ireland respectively, and some of their earliest work together was for the Judge Dredd titles. They have since worked together on some of the most popular characters from the two biggest comic book publishers: the Punisher for Marvel Comics and Preacher for DC Comics. A reviewer for Grovel.org.uk noted that Dillon began supplying the art for Ennis's "Hellblazer" series with Fear and Loathing. The writer added that the art "is a vast improvement, though you'll still have to go to "Preacher" to witness Dillon at his best."

Antony Johnston reviewed Damnation's Flame, in the "Hellblazer" series, for Spike online, saying that "Dillon's style is economical and cinematic, but his prodigious strength lies in the storytelling. The man's a god, pure and simple, and as shown with "Preacher," he and Ennis just ‘click’—storytelling with no frills, but plenty of meat." Dillon's work has been collected into several volumes, including a great many that represent his partnership with Ennis. Rake at the Gates of Hell is a graphic novel that represents the last of the duo's collaborations on Constantine's adventures, and culminates in a direct confrontation with Satan himself. Booklist reviewer Gordon Flagg commented that Dillon's "understated drawing style puts a chilly edge on the story's horror and bestows believability on the characters." Red Sepulchre, a "Hellblazer" series by Dillon and writer Mike Carey, sends Constantine on a search for his missing niece, Gemma, who was kidnapped by the local mob kingpin. When he learns where Gemma is being held, Constantine enlists the aid of Clarice, an old women who maintains a direct portal into Hell from which she summons demons to descend on the local crime lords. "This title has crisp artwork with simple lines and a sleek, dark look," commented School Library Journal reviewer John Leighton.

Following their work on "Hellblazer," Dillon and Ennis turned to a brand-new character and series about a former clergyman and his travails with both earthly enemies and powerful supernatural forces. "Preacher" is the story of Texas preacher Jesse Custer, whose church is destroyed by—and whose body becomes possessed by—Genesis, a powerful supernatural being born of an angel and a demon and whose birth caused God to abandon heaven. Custer travels the country to try to learn more of God and of his own new powers. His traveling companions include Tulip O'Hare and Cassidy, an Irish vampire with a taste for liquor. They encounter a number of foes, including The Grail, a secret organization that controls all the governments of Earth. The stories have a distinctly Western flavor, and the ghost of John Wayne frequently appears to give Custer guidance.

Several of the collected volumes were reviewed for Artbomb.net. In reviewing the first, Gone to Texas, Matt Fraction wrote that "what Pulp Fiction was to late-nineties cinema, so "Preacher" was to comics, an overzealous crash course through larger-than-life Americana pulp lore." About Until the End of the World, Fraction said that with this collection the series "clicks," finding "its tone and timbre … adding in the backstory to our two main characters while propelling the entire plot forward."

In reviewing Proud Americans for Artbomb.net, Peter Siegel noted that although "Preacher" is filled with violence, religious fanatics, and corpses, "these are just to sell cheap seats. … ‘Preacher’ was always about friendship to me." Siegel said that the relationship between Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy is what "really makes this piece work."

In an interview with Dillon and Ennis for Sequential Tart, S.L. Osborne asked Dillon if he enjoyed doing the non-DC projects, such as "Gen13," and whether he foresees doing more projects like it. Dillon replied: "Garth's in a position where he can do work on four different projects. So he can get variety in what he does. A monthly book, especially if you're inking it as well as penciling it, is almost a full-time job. I'm lucky I'm quick enough to actually be able to fit in some other projects. Sometimes it's just nice to have a change. And you don't get much more different from ‘Preacher’ than ‘Gen13.’ I like to be able to pitch in and do projects like that."

Osborne noted that "Preacher" has "a lot of female readers" and asked Dillon and Ennis if they knew why. Ennis felt that it is because of the female character Tulip. Dillon added: "I think a lot of mainstream comics don't appeal to women because that's the male fantasy of superheroes. But in general, things like that will affect more women readers. ‘Preacher's more character-driven than it is action-driven."

About "Preacher," Dillon said he is "not bothered about people not noticing what I've been doing. It's a project that is character-driven, it's dialogue-driven. It doesn't call for flashy artwork. … I mean Garth will give me nine pages of people sitting in one place talking, and he doesn't want people distracted from what they're saying. I don't mind that. So it's not nine pages of fighting; that's different. More information has to be put across. But no, it's just nine pages of people sitting in one place. Other artists might tear their hair out over things like that, but I quite enjoy it."

The Streets of Laredo is a graphic-novel collection of stories featuring Frank Castle, known as the Punisher, a violent, sometimes obsessed vigilante highly skilled in dispensing justice at the point of a gun. A master of weapons of all kinds, Castle was driven to become the Punisher when a mobster had his family killed in retaliation for shutting down the mobster's criminal activities. The incident drove Castle to swear vengeance on the entire crime underworld, and the "Punisher" series has long followed his one-man crusade. In this collection, Castle leaves his usual turf of New York to confront a group of gun-runners in Laredo, Texas. Arriving in town under an assumed identity, Castle agitates the locals, stirring up enough trouble to make the criminals break their cover and come after him. Soon, however, the Punisher discovers that he has found more than a simple gun-running operation, and that he is facing overwhelming odds. Even the help of a newfound ally might not be enough to save him. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented: "The art is gritty, in some places gruesome, and gruff, well suited to the themes and situations."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2004, Gordon Flagg, review of Rake at the Gates of Hell, p. 961.

Publishers Weekly, February 2, 2004, review of The Streets of Laredo, p. 61.

School Library Journal, September, 2005, John Leighton, review of Red Sepulchre, p. 242.

ONLINE

2000 A.D. Online,http://www.2000adonline.com/ (June 19, 2006), biography of Steve Dillon.

Artbomb.net,http://www.artbomb.net/ (June 19, 2006), Matt Fraction, review of Gone to Texas; Matt Fraction, review of Until the End of the World; Peter Siegel, review of Proud Americans.

Grovel.org.uk,http://www.grovel.org.uk/ (June 19, 2006), review of Fear and Loathing.

Lambiek.net,http://www.lambiek.net/ (June 19, 2006), biography of Steve Dillon.

Sequential Tart,http://www.sequentialtart.com/ (June 19, 2006), S.L. Osborne, interview with Steve Dillon and Garth Ennis.

Spike,http://www.spikemagazine.com/ (June 19, 2006), Antony Johnston, review of Damnation's Flame.