Gordon Purcell

Gordon Purcell (born February 14, 1959)[1] is an American comics artist, perhaps best known for his Star Trek work,[2] in particular his realistic renditions of the actors who play that franchise’s characters, as well as those of similarly licensed books, such as The X-Files, Xena: Warrior Princess, Lost in Space, Godzilla, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Barb Wire, and The Terminator.

Gordon Purcell
Purcell in May 2019
BornGordon Purcell
(1959-02-14) February 14, 1959
Lansing, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Penciler
Notable works
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Cover to Star Trek vol. 2 #30 (April 1992) by Gordon Purcell.

Early life

Born in Lansing, Michigan, Purcell grew up reading Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and his love of drawing was sparked by watching cartoons of Spider-Man and Batman. The first comic book he read was a Disney comic book. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with Bachelor's degrees in Studio Arts and Theater Arts.

Career

Among Purcell's first work for DC Comics was a Doctor Light story published as a Bonus Book in The Flash #12 (May 1988).[3][4] He has worked on numerous comic books, including Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Soulsearchers and Company, Flare, The Flash, Fantastic Four, Superman, Wonder Man, Hulk vs. Nova, Moon Knight, What If…?, Race Warriors, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Justice League, Ben 10, and Elvira.[2][3] He drew Star Trek: Year Four for IDW, written by Trek story editor D. C. Fontana and Star Trek: The Last Generation, written by Andrew Steven Harris. He has worked on The Phantom for Moonstone and Beyond the Wall (Roman soldiers vs. monsters and barbarians) for IDW. Purcell drew the DC Retroactive: Justice League - The '70s one-shot in 2011.[5]

Purcell claims not to have a favorite company to work for but is attracted to projects based on the editor and other creators involved with them. He calls his work on Silver Sable as a project he particularly enjoyed, saying he feels that the book was "really going somewhere" by the end of his run. Purcell cites his work on Gammarauders, stating that having to ink his own pencils taught him a lot about what information he needed to give to his future inkers. In addition, Purcell cites his Star Trek work because he was allowed to visit the sets of those shows, which were among his favorites.

In other media

Purcell appeared on the October 19, 2005 episode of the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Having had only two hours of sleep, he won $50,000.00, deciding to quit when he could not answer the question of which U.S. state signed a 1790 treaty under the threat of being declared a foreign nation. The answer was "Rhode Island". He lost on Jeopardy! on May 24, 2010.

On January 21, 2014, Purcell won a trip to Florida in the daily trivia contest that is part of TV's Live With Kelly and Michael.

On January 25, 2019, Purcell again won a trip, this time to Antigua, in the daily trivia contest that is part of TV's Live With Kelly and Ryan.

Personal life

Purcell resides in Plymouth, Minnesota.[6] He is not related to fellow comics-creators Steve Purcell or the late Howard Purcell.[7]

Bibliography

DC Comics

Paradox Press

  • The Big Book of Bad (1998)
  • The Big Book of Hoaxes (1996)
  • The Big Book of Losers (1997)
  • The Big Book of Martyrs (1997)
  • The Big Book of the Unexplained (1997)
  • The Big Book of the Weird Wild West (1998)
  • The Big Book of Thugs (1996)
  • The Big Book of Urban Legends (1994)
  • The Big Book of Vice (1999)

First Comics

Heroic Publishing
  • Flare #7 (1991)
  • Flare vol. 2 #1–2, 28–29 (2004–2005)
  • League of Champions #7 (1992)
  • Witchgirls Inc. #5 (2007)

IDW Publishing
  • Ben 10 #2 (2013)
  • Star Trek Year Four: Enterprise Experiment #1, 3 (2008)
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation / Doctor Who: Assimilation² #5–8 (2012)
  • Star Trek: Year Four #3 (2007)

Image Comics
  • Action Planet Comics #3 (1997)
  • Protectors, Inc. #1, 5–6 (2013–2014)

Malibu Comics
  • Prototype #0 (1994)
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #1–2, 4–5, 8–9 (1993–1994)
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine/Star Trek: The Next Generation #1–2 (1994)

Marvel Comics

Moonstone Books

Topps Comics
  • The X-Files #17, 20–21, 24–29 (1996–1997)
  • The X-Files: Ground Zero #1–4 (1997–1998)

References
  1. Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010.
  2. "Gordon Purcell". Lambiek Comiclopedia. March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015.
  3. Gordon Purcell at the Grand Comics Database
  4. Aamodt, Britt (2010). Superheroes, Strip Artists, & Talking Animals: Minnesota's Contemporary Cartoonists. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0873517775. DC also gave the young cartoonist a one-off assignment. They asked him to work on a bonus book (a free comic stuffed inside another comic) that would be paired with the next issue of Flash.
  5. Rogers, Vaneta (April 13, 2011). "DC Tapping Into Reader Nostalgia with Retroactive Specials". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 10, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  6. Aamodt, Britt (June 11, 2008). "From Sandman to Star Trek to Sammy the Mouse". MNartists.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Purcell, who works from his home in Plymouth...
  7. Klingelhoets, Allen (November 20, 2013). "Interview with Gordon Purcell". Jazma Online. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
    Allen [Klingelhoets]: Do others in your family also work in the comic book industry?
    Gordon [Purcell]: No--there are at least 4 people with my last name in the biz, but I'm not related to them.
Preceded by
James W. Fry		 Star Trek penciller
1990–1993		 Succeeded by
Robert Davis
Preceded by
Deryl Skelton		 Star Trek: The Next Generation penciller
1995–1996		 Succeeded by
n/a
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