Stephen R. Bissette

Bissette was born and raised in Vermont, where he still lives, and was raised Catholic.{{cite news |url= http://www.avclub.com/article/steve-bissette-30751|title= Steve Bissette|first= Chris|last= Dahlen|date= July 23, 2009|newspaper= The A.V. Club|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141024183029/http://www.avclub.com/article/steve-bissette-30751|archive-date= October 24, 2014|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|quote= I was raised Catholic; I was the kid who would get in trouble because I would ask “How do cavemen fit into Genesis? I don’t get this.”}}

Shortly after the publication of his first work, Abyss (1976),{{gcdb|type=credit|search=Bissette|title=Stephen R. Bissette}}{{cite web|url= http://westfieldcomics.com/wow/low/low_int_013.html|title= Stephen R. Bissette Interview|first= Roger A.|last= Ash|date= August 1996|publisher= Westfield Comics|df= mdy-all}} Bissette enrolled in the first class of The Kubert School.{{cite web|first= Chris|last= Dahlen|url= https://www.avclub.com/steve-bissette-1798217824 |title= Steve Bissette|work= The A.V. Club|date= July 23, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131222000958/http://www.avclub.com/article/steve-bissette-30751|archive-date=December 22, 2013 |url-status= live|df=mdy-all|access-date= April 10, 2010}} Before his first year was completed, his work was being published professionally in the pages of Sojourn, Sgt. Rock, and Heavy Metal. In 1978, Bissette was among the Kubert School's first graduating class, along with classmates Rick Veitch, Tom Yeates, and others.

While still enrolled at The Kubert School, Bissette executed the logo for early New Jersey synth-pop band WKGB and drew the cover for the band's 1979 single "Non-Stop/Ultramarine" on Fetish Records (UK Fetish 002).{{cite web |url= http://hyped2death.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=354|title= WKGB -Non-Stop|year= 2013|publisher= Hyped to Death|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130730175520/http://hyped2death.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=354|archive-date= July 30, 2013|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|access-date= June 10, 2013}}

His early work appeared in the pages of Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated, Bizarre Adventures, Scholastic Corporation's Weird Worlds and Bananas illustrating stories written by Goosebumps founder and author R. L. Stine, and he worked with Rick Veitch on the graphic novelization of Steven Spielberg's motion picture 1941.

Bissette is best known for his multiple award-winning collaboration with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on DC Comics' Saga of the Swamp Thing (1983–1987).{{cite book|last=Manning|first= Matthew K.|last2=Dolan|first2=Hannah |chapter=1980s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9|page=206 |quote = [Alan] Moore, with help from artists Stephen R. Bissette and Rick Veitch had overhauled Swamp Thing's origin by issue #21.}}

Under the company name of Spiderbaby Grafix, he later published the horror anthology Taboo, the original home of Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell, and Tim Lucas' Throat Sprockets, illustrated by Mike Hoffman and David Lloyd. He created Tyrant, a comic book biography of a Tyrannosaurus rex,{{cite web |url= http://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bissette_stephen.htm|title= Stephen R. Bissette|date= August 14, 2009|publisher= Lambiek Comiclopedia|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120927012412/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bissette_stephen.htm|archive-date= September 27, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|access-date= December 21, 2013}} which lasted four issues. During this period, he edited the horror anthology Gore Shriek, published by FantaCo Enterprises.

Since 1991, Bissette has presented a lecture series on horror comics called "Journeys into Fear". Having since grown in scope into a five-part series, "Journeys into Fear" identifies 12th century Japanese ghost scrolls{{cite web |url= http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=dtl&colid=A10476&lang=en|title= Scroll of Hungry Ghosts|year= 2009 |publisher= Tokyo National Museum|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120927215157/http://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=dtl&colid=A10476&lang=en|archive-date= September 27, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|access-date= May 27, 2009}}{{cite web |url= http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/syuzou/meihin/kaiga/emaki/item03.html|title= Gaki-zoshi (Scroll of the Hungry Ghosts)|year= 2009|publisher= Kyoto National Museum|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130216103709/http://www.kyohaku.go.jp//eng/syuzou/meihin/kaiga/emaki/item03.html|archive-date= February 16, 2013|url-status= live|df=mdy-all|access-date= May 27, 2009}} and the 16th century Mixtec codices as early ancestors, and traces the genre from its roots in Winsor McCay's work such as Dream of the Rarebit Fiend.{{cite web |url= http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2792|title= A Horrific View of Comics: A chat with Stephen Bissette|first= Jonah|last= Weiland|date= October 29, 2003|website= Comic Book Resources|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121012140739/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2792|archive-date= October 12, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web |url= http://www.fantasiafest.com/2005/en/films/film_detail.php?id=98|title= Stephen R. Bissette's Journeys into Fear|date= July 2005|publisher= FanTasia|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120223160232/http://www.fantasiafest.com/2005/en/films/film_detail.php?id=98|archive-date= February 23, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}} In 1996–1997, Bissette contributed five covers for a comic book series about another swamp monster, Hall of Heroes' Bog Swamp Demon.

Bissette subsequently worked with Moore, Totleben, and Rick Veitch on the Image Comics' limited series 1963, their final creative collaborative effort.Erik Larsen quoted in {{cite web|last= Johnston|first= Rich|author-link= Rich Johnston|url= http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=18264&page=article|title= Lying in the Gutters Volume 2 Column 177|website= Comic Book Resources|date= September 29, 2008|quote= Same thing happened in a sense – to 1963. I called Alan about that at one point after he and Steve Bissette had a falling out and its time had passed – Alan didn't want to have anything to do with it|access-date= March 17, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090403212627/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=18264&page=article|url-status= live|df= mdy-all|archive-date= April 3, 2009}} From 1963, Bissette owns the characters Hypernaut, N-Man, and the Fury.{{cite web|first= Stephen R. |last= Bissette|url= http://srbissette.com/?p=8749|title= N-Man, Fury, Hypernaut at MoCCA!|publisher= Srbissette.com|date=April 7, 2010|df= mdy-all|access-date= April 8, 2010}}

Scott McCloud's 24-hour comic project began as a dare to Bissette in 1990. Each created a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The 24-hour comics project evolved into a challenge taken up by numerous hopeful contributors, with several published collections, and inspired other time-limited creative projects. Bissette published the story A Life in black and white in his own comic book anthology SpiderBaby Comix #2 (SpiderBaby Graphix, 1997).

In 1993, Bissette and Stanley Wiater co-edited Comic Book Rebels: Conversations with the Creators of the New Comics (Dutton, {{ISBN|1-55611-355-2}}), which featured interviews with such notable comics creators as Scott McCloud, Harvey Pekar, Dave Sim, Howard Cruse, Will Eisner, Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman, and Robert Crumb.{{cite book|last1= Wiater|first1= Stan|last2= Bissette|first2= Stephen R.|title=Comic book rebels: conversations with the creators of the new comics|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781556113543|url-access= registration|date=June 1993|publisher=Donald I. Fine, Inc.|isbn=978-1-55611-355-0}}

Bissette retired from the comics industry in 1999, alluding to what he termed a "generational shift."{{cite news |url= http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/071405/comics.html|title= Monster magnate: Stephen R. Bissette brings his harrowing yet educational comic lecture series to Fantasia|first= Matthew|last= Woodley|date= July 14, 2005|newspaper= Montreal Mirror |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060519084744/http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/071405/comics.html|archive-date= May 19, 2006|url-status= dead|df=mdy-all}} He teaches courses in Comic Art History, Drawing, and Film at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont

Since 2005, Bissette has also edited and published Green Mountain Cinema, a trade paperback journal devoted to the independent cinema scene in his home state of Vermont, as well as five volumes of Blur, collecting his film reviews and criticism.{{cite web|url= http://www.blackcoatpress.com/blur.htm|title= Blur by Stephen R. Bissette|date= n.d.|publisher= BlackCoatPress.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131210154353/http://www.blackcoatpress.com/blur.htm|archive-date= December 10, 2013|url-status= dead|df= mdy-all}}

The Stephen R. Bissette Collection at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, houses Bissette's works and memorabilia.{{cite web |url=https://www.hsu.edu/pages/academics/huie-library/resources/special-collections/stephen-r-bissette-collection/ |title= Huie Library's Stephen R. Bissette Collection |date= 2019|publisher= Henderson State University |df=mdy-all}}

File:Steve Bissette lecturing.jpg

Bissette's work with Alan Moore and John Totleben earned the 1985 "Best Single Issue" Jack Kirby Award for Swamp Thing Annual #2,{{cite web |url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby85.php|title= 1985 Jack Kirby Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120304155821/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby85.php|archive-date= March 4, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}} and the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Jack Kirby Awards for "Best Continuing Series" for Swamp Thing.{{cite web |url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby86.php|title= 1986 Jack Kirby Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120304155831/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby86.php|archive-date= March 4, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web |url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby87.php|title= 1987 Jack Kirby Awards|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120304155839/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby87.php|archive-date= March 4, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}} His work with John Totleben earned them the 1985 "Best Art Team" Jack Kirby Award for Swamp Thing. Taboo won the "Best Anthology" Eisner Award in 1993.{{cite web |url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner93.php|title= 1993 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners|publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131108070258/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner93.php|archive-date= November 8, 2013|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}

His work with Alan Moore and John Totleben earned a nomination for the 1985 "Best Single Issue" Jack Kirby Award for Swamp Thing #34. Bissette and Totleben earned nominations for the 1986 and 1987 Jack Kirby Awards for "Best Art Team" for their work on Swamp Thing. Bissette and Moore were nominated for the 1986 Jack Kirby Award for "Best Writer/Artist (Single or Team)". Bissette was nominated for the "Best Editor" Eisner Award in 1993 for Taboo and received an Inkpot Award in 1997.{{cite web |url= http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/inkpot.php|title= Inkpot Award Winners |publisher= Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120709055558/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/inkpot.php|archive-date= July 9, 2012|url-status= live|df=mdy-all}}

• Cerebus #116 (text article), 139, 159, 184–185 (1988–1994)

• Mighty Crusaders #10 (1984)

• A1 Bojeffries Terror Tome #1 (letterer) (2005)

• Elementals #9 (1986)

• Aliens: Havoc #2 (1997)
• Dark Horse Presents #37, 143 (1990–1999)
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters Special #1 (1987)

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• G.I. Combat #218 (1980)
• House of Mystery #299, 310 (1981–1982)
• Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days TPB (2000)
• Saga of the Swamp Thing #16–17, 19, 21–27, 29–30, 34–36 (1983–1985)
• Secrets of Haunted House #46 (1982)
• Sgt. Rock #311 ("A Song for Saigon Sally"), #321 ("Live by the Sword... Die by the Sword!", script; art by Thomas Yeates), #323 ("Dead Shot", script by Robert Kanigher), #335, 343, 345–346 (1977–1980)
• Swamp Thing #39–42, 44, 46, 50, 59, 64, 78, Annual #2, 4 (1985–1988)
• The Unexpected #191, 214 (1979–1981)

{{div col end}}

• Bedlam #1–2 (1985)
• Fearbook #1 (1986)
• Real War Stories #1 (1987)

• Alien Encounters #1 (1981)
• Gore Shriek #1, 4–6 (1986–1990)
• Gore Shriek Delectus #1 (1989)

• Heavy Metal #v2 #5–7, #v3 #6, 9–10, #v4 #2, #v5 #5, #v7 #3 (1978–1983)

• 1963 #2–4 (1993)

• Taboo #8–9 (1995)

• AARGH (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia) #1 (1988)

• Amazing High Adventure #4 (1986)
• Bizarre Adventures #31, 33 (1982)
• Epic Illustrated #2, 6 (1980–1981)
• Marvel Preview #18, 23 (1979–1980)
• Timespirits #4 (1985)

• SpiderBaby Comix #1-2 (1996–1997)
• Taboo #1–7 (1988–1992)
• Taboo Especial #1 (1991)
• Tyrant #1–4 (1994–1996)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{official website|http://new.srbissette.com/}}
• [http://srbissette.blogspot.com/ Bissette's previous blog]
• {{comicbookdb|type=creator|id=1536 |title=Stephen R. Bissette}}
• [http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/creator.php?creatorid=1092 Stephen R. Bissette] at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• [http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/namb20.htm#N2000 Stephen R. Bissette] at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• [https://osucartoons.pastperfectonline.com/vocabulary?keyword=Bissette%2C+Stephen+R.%2C+1955-&letter=B&searchtype=creator&showsearch=true Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database]

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{{succession box|title=The Saga of the Swamp Thing /
Swamp Thing artist|before=Bo Hampton|after=Rick Veitch|years=1983–1986}}

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{{Inkpot Award 1990s}}

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Category:1955 births

Category:American comics artists

Category:American comics writers

Category:American art educators

Category:Artists from Vermont

Category:American comic book editors

Category:Comic book publishers (people)

Category:Inkpot Award winners

Category:Living people

Category:American role-playing game artists

Category:The Kubert School alumni

Category:Writers from Vermont

Category:Comics critics