Eric Shanower

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Eric Shanower in Paris in February 2007.

Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer.

Shanower attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art.^[1] His first major published works were the Oz graphic novels, which are The Enchanted Apples of Oz, The Secret Island of Oz, The Ice King of Oz, The Forgotten Forest of Oz, and The Blue Witch of Oz. They are collected in a single large volume titled Adventures in Oz. He has written and illustrated a full-length Oz novel, The Giant Garden of Oz, and a collection of short Oz stories, The Salt Sorcerer of Oz. He has also illustrated books by most of the 'official' Oz historians, including The Wicked Witch of Oz by Rachel Cosgrove Payes, The Rundelstone of Oz by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, The Runaway in Oz by John R. Neill, and The Third Book of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Other significant Oz projects include his illustrations for Paradox in Oz and The Living House of Oz, by Edward Einhorn.

Shanower's ongoing comic book serialization of the Trojan War, Age of Bronze, debuted in late 1998, published by Image Comics. As of 2005, the series had been collected in two volumes, A Thousand Ships and Sacrifice. A third volume, Betrayal, is currently being serialized.

He has also drawn a number of one shot comics, such as Ed Brubaker's Prez "Smells Like Teen President", An Accidental Death (also written by Brubaker) published by Fantagraphics in 1993. For Marvel's Epic line, he illustrated The Elsewhere Prince (1990), based on characters created by the French cartoonist Moebius.

Shanower's partner is David Maxine, owner and operator of Hungry Tiger Press, a publisher of Oz books and other Oz-related items.^[2]

Shanower won Eisner Awards for best writer-artist in 2001 and 2003, won a Gran Guinigi for Best Serialized Comic in 2006, and was nominated for the Ignatz Award for outstanding artist in 1999, for his work on Age of Bronze.