Doug Mahnke has been putting ink on paper for publishers and readers since 1988. This is the shape of it.
It starts at Dark Horse in 1988. Doug co-created The Mask with John Arcudi there, and spent the better part of a decade learning the job the only way it gets learned — pages in, pages out. The desk came first, though. The desk always comes first.
Two years on Major Bummer, with John Arcudi again. The title did the joking; the drawing was dead serious.
Then, Metropolis. From 1999 Doug drew Superman — including Action Comics #775. Month in, month out: blue line to finished ink.
Next, the whole roster at once: JLA with Joe Kelly, and The Elite. Four years of crowded pages, drawn so it looked like there was always room for one more cape.
Gotham next: Batman, and Under the Hood. Then, with Grant Morrison, Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein — a monster book, which suited him just fine.
Final Crisis, then the Green Lantern epic with Geoff Johns — the largest body of work of Doug’s career. Five years, one green corner of the universe, and more pages than anyone thought to count.
The work hasn’t slowed: DC’s Rebirth era, Detective Comics #1000, and whatever the desk holds next. There’s a second act underway too, in animation development — and a first Kickstarter in the works. Same table, though. Same ink.
Comics is a team sport. These are some of the names that share the credits box with Doug’s.
1988 — today · still at the table
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