Terry Austin (comics)


Terry Kevin Austin is an American comics artist, working primarily as an inker. He is best known for his work embellishing John Byrne's pencils on Uncanny X-Men from 1977 to 1981.

Early life and career

Austin grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and attended Wayne State University. He started inking comics as an assistant to Dick Giordano and Neal Adams, doing "Crusty Bunker" work for Adams' Continuity Associates. Austin came to prominence in 1976–1977, inking Marshall Rogers' pencils on a celebrated run of Batman stories for DC Comics' Detective Comics collaborating with writer Steve Englehart. During this same period, Austin inked Michael Netzer on DC's Martian Manhunter in Adventure Comics and Green Arrow/Black Canary in World's Finest Comics, as well as Al Milgrom on Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel. He later teamed with Rogers again on Marvel's Doctor Strange.

X-Men

In 1977, Austin and penciler John Byrne became the new art team on Uncanny X-Men. With writer Chris Claremont they produced a series of stories — particularly "The Dark Phoenix Saga" — which elevated the title into the top-selling American comic book.

Post X-Men

Austin left Uncanny X-Men in 1981 and has since worked on a variety of titles for both Marvel and DC, including Doctor Strange, Superman vol. 2, Justice League and Green Lantern. Austin contributed to several anniversary issues for DC including Justice League of America #200, Superman #400, and Batman #400. He was the regular inker of DC's Superman Adventures for nearly six years, from 1996–2002. His inking work since 2002 has included over fifteen years of inking the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series for Archie Comics, which he continued until the series cancellation in 2017.

Inking style and influence

Austin's inking — especially in the period of the 1970s and early 1980s — is notable for its smooth, precise rendering; and extremely detailed backgrounds, making his embellishing work easily identifiable. His style has been highly influential on a subsequent generation of inkers including Al Gordon, Andy Lanning, Scott Williams, and Rob Liefeld.

Writing and penciling

Austin has also worked as a writer, primarily for Marvel's X-Men titles and a run on Cloak and Dagger. Austin wrote and inked the Dark Horse Comics' adaptation of Splinter of the Mind's Eye published in 1995.
His rare penciling jobs can be seen on the covers of Uncanny X-Men #123 and #142, as well as his self-published book, Austin Art: 60 Pages of Drawings by Terry Austin.

Personal life

Austin resides near Poughkeepsie, New York, where he plays volleyball and gets together often with fellow comics veteran Fred Hembeck.

Awards

Austin's work has gained him frequent and notable recognition over the years, including multiple Eagle Awards for best inker, an Inkpot Award, multiple Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards for Favorite Inker, and the Inkwell Awards 2008 "Favorite Inker Award" and the 2009 "Joe Sinnott Award".

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