Ted McKeever

Infobox Comics creator
name = Ted McKeever


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nationality = American
area = Artist, Writer
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notable works = "Plastic Forks"
"Metropol"
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Ted McKeever is an award-winning American comics artist known for his dark, distorted, and highly stylized art style.

McKeever first professional work appeared in 1987, when he published the first five parts of his unfinished series "Transit" (Vortex Comics), establishing his trademark style. This was followed in 1987-1988 by his 12-part series "Eddy Current" (Mad Dog Graphics). This "12-hour book" centers on an escapee from an asylum. Obsessed with the exploits of the superhero "The Amazing Broccoli," Eddy buys a mail-order battery-powered "Dynamic Fusion Suit" and sets out to save the world. The work is quintessential McKeever: darkly humorous, showing an "ordinary" person caught up in extra-ordinary events. Some of the characters in Eddy Current reappear in "Metropol" and other later works, similarly from "Transit". This series was nominated for the Eisner Awards for Best Single-Issue (#1), Best Black-and-White Series, Best New Series, and Best Artist (for McKeever) for 1988.

His five-parter "Plastic Forks" (Epic, 1990) explored the world of animal experimentation, albeit in a surreal and comical way.

"Metropol" (Epic 1991-1992) is an epic story of the fight between angels and demons, but set in a modern industrial landscape. An apocalyptic work in which non-entity Jasper Notochord becomes involved in a surreal fight between the forces of good and evil.

"The Extremist" (Vertigo, 1993), a four-parter written by Peter Milligan, tells the tale of a woman who finds that her husband had a secret life, which she discovers upon his death. Her investigations lead her into a shocking world of extreme sex and violence.Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = The Extremist | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 71 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015]

Recently, McKeever has produced a number of works exploring alternative realities within the world of DC superhero comics. With Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier, he has produced an Elseworlds trilogy: "Superman's Metropolis", "" and "", all retellings of the DC mythos.

McKeever's artistic style is dark, distorted, and far less clean than many of his contemporaries. In addition to Milligan and Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier, McKeever has collaborated with comics creators Dave Gibbons and writer and singer Lydia Lunch. His most recent work "Enginehead" (DC, 2004), was written by Joe Kelly.

Bibliography

* "Transit" #1-5 (Vortex, 1987-88 — Unfinished)
* "Eddy Current" #1-12 (Mad Dog Graphics, 1987-88)
* "Grimjack" #47 (First Comics 1988) (Eddy Current Back-up story)
* "Fish Police" vol. 2 #8 (Comico 1988) (4 page story: "Riverfront Joe's")
* "Clive Barker's Hellraiser" #1 (Epic 1989) (18 page story: "Dance Of The Fetus")
* "Ted McKeever’s Plastic Forks" #1-5 (Epic 1990)
* "Metropol" #1-12 (Epic 1991-92)
* "Metropol A.D." #1-3 (Epic 1993)
* "Eclipso" #7-8 (DC 1993) (written by Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming)
* "The Extremist" #1-4 (DC/Vertigo 1993) (written by Peter Milligan)
* "Showcase '93" #12 (DC 1993) (10 page story: "The Creeper: A Cold Night In Hell" written by Keith Giffen)
* "Doom Patrol" #75-79, 81-82, 84-87 (DC/Vertigo 1994-95) (written by Rachel Pollack)
* "Industrial Gothic" #1-5 (DC/Vertigo 1995)
* "Engines" in "Legends of the Dark Knight" #74-75 (DC 1996)
* "" #1 (DC 1997) (8 page story: "Perpetual Mourning")
* "Superman's Metropolis" (DC 1997) (written by Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier & Roy Thomas)
* "Junk Culture" #1-2 (DC 1997)
* "Toxic Gumbo" (DC 1998) (written by Lydia Lunch)
* "" (DC, Elseworlds, 1999) (written by Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier)
* "Faith" #1-5 (DC/Vertigo 2000)
* "Flinch" #14 (DC/Vertigo 2000) (8 page story: "Grave Wisdom")
* "Vertigo Visions" (Titan Books 2000)
* "Spider-Man's Tangled Web" #18 (Marvel 2002)
* "Ultimate Marvel Team-Up" #12-13 (Marvel 2002) (written by Brian Michael Bendis)
* "Marvel Knights Double Shot" #2 (Marvel 2002) (11 page story: "Memories of Green")
* " - Elseworlds" (DC 2003) (written by Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier)
* "The Matrix Comics" #1 (Burleyman 2003) (12 page story: "A Life Less Empty")
* "The Matrix Comics" #2 (Burleyman 2004) (16 page story: "The King of Never Return")
* "Enginehead" (DC 2004) (written by Joe Kelly)
* "A1 Bojeffries Terror Tome" #1 (Atomeka 2005) (5 page story: "Eddy Current - prologue", 6 page story: "Judgement")
* "Little Book of Horror: War of the Worlds" (IDW 2005) (written by Steve Niles)
* "Doomed" (IDW 2006) (15 page story: "Cuts", written by F. Paul Wilson)
* "The Nightmare Factory" graphic novel - (Fox Atomic Comics 2007)

Covers work

* "Clive Barker's Night Breed" # 24-25 (Epic, 1993)
* "Silent Hill: Dead/Alive" #1-5 (IDW 2006) (variant covers only)
* "Zombies! Feast" #1-2 (IDW 2006) (variant covers only)

References

Other sources

*comicbookdb|type=creator|id=327|title=Ted McKeever

External links

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