Career
Conner worked at a color separation company, which handled comics coloring prior to the industry adoption of computer programs such as Photoshop. She subsequently worked in a comic book store. At the time she lived a little over an hour from New York City, and on her days off, would travel to New York City with her father, and use his office at the advertising industry where he worked as a home base from which to call editors at Marvel Comics and DC Comics to request a portfolio review. When granted these interviews, she was told that she had potential, but needed to work on her art more. At this same time she became acquainted with professional artists through her work at the comic shop, and answered an advertisement by artist Bill Sienkiewicz, who was seeking an assistant. She took the job, which became her first comics work, while continuing to show her portfolio to editors at Marvel and DC.[2] She also illustrated storyboards for the advertising industry.[3] After about her sixth or seventh time showing her portfolio, Marvel editor Greg Wright gave Conner her first illustration assignment, an 11-page Yellowjacket back-up story in Solo Avengers #12 (November 1988).[2][4]
Her other early work includes Excalibur and Suburban Jersey Ninja She-Devils for Marvel, Strip AIDS U.S.A. for Last Gasp in 1988, and Archie and The Adventures of Bayou Billy stories for Archie Comics in 1989–90.[5][6] During this time, she worked with Marvel editor and artist Jimmy Palmiotti (now her husband), who often inks over Conner's pencils.
From 1993 to 1994 she penciled issues #1–10 of Peter David and Richard Howell's creator-owned series, Soulsearchers and Company, which was published by Claypool Comics. In 1994 she penciled Barbie Fashion #43, a Marvel Comics title that was licensed from the Mattel doll. That same year she did her first Vampirella work with Vengeance of Vampirella, a mini-comic that was bundled with an issue of Wizard magazine. The following year she pencilled issues 1-6 and 9-11 of Marvel's Gargoyles, which was based on the Disney animated television series of the same name. In 1996 she pencilled Kid Death & Fluffy Spring Break Special #1 for Topps Comics and Tomoe #3 for Billy Tucci's Crusade Comics. She also returned to Vampirella with Harris' Vampirella Lives #1–3, which teamed her with writer Warren Ellis.[4]
In 1997 she illustrated the intercompany crossover Painkiller Jane vs. The Darkness for Event Comics. It was in working on this book that Conner says that she found her niche in the industry, explaining that the licensed characters she had previously worked on, particularly Barbie and Vampirella (the latter of which she stresses she nonetheless enjoyed for the writers she worked with) had narrow emotional ranges, which limited the facial expressions she was able to render. On PKJ v. the Darkness she discovered that it was possible to render material of a dark tone that incorporated black humor.[2] Conner returned to Painkiller Jane with a #0 issue, which recounted the character's origin.
Her other comic book credits include Lois Lane, Codename: Knockout, and Birds of Prey for DC Comics, as well as Two-Step with writer Warren Ellis for the Cliffhanger! imprint of WildStorm Comics (owned by DC Comics); X-Men Unlimited for Marvel; Gatecrasher, which she co-created for Black Bull Comics; and The Pro, a creator-owned book for Image Comics with Palmiotti and Garth Ennis. In 2005, she illustrated the origin of Power Girl in JSA Classified #1-4. She also penciled a Blade comic to go with the special DVD edition.[4]
Her art has appeared on ABC'S Nightline,[6] and in The New York Times[6] and MAD magazine.[3] She has also done promotional artwork for the reality television series Who Wants to Be a Superhero? and the 2007 feature film Underdog. She does spot illustrations in Revolver magazine[3] each month. Her commercial art work includes illustrations for the New York City advertising agencies Kornhauser & Calene, and Kidvertisers, for such accounts as Arm & Hammer, Playskool, and Nickelodeon.[7] Nike, Inc. commissioned Conner and fellow comics artist Jan Duursema
Conner did modeling/art reference work for the Marvel miniseries Elektra: Assassin in the 1980s, and for artist Joe Jusko's Punisher / Painkiller Jane in 2000.
Conner, Palmiotti, and writer Justin Gray work together via their multimedia entertainment company PaperFilms. They collaborated on the Terra miniseries, which premiered in November 2008,[9] and the first 12 issues of the Power Girl ongoing series,[10] which were published between 2009 and 2010, both of which Conner penciled.[11] in 2009, Conner drew the Supergirl story in Wednesday Comics which also featured appearance by Krypto and Streaky the Supercat.[12] Following her departure from Power Girl, Conner wrote and pencilled a story published in Wonder Woman #600, which featured a team-up between Power Girl, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl. IDW Publishing released The Art of Amanda Conner in April 2012[13]
In 2012–2013, Conner drew the Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre limited series which she co-wrote with Darwyn Cooke. Cooke had insisted on having Conner as a collaborator on the series, stating that "I knew I had something to say about Laurie, and I needed somebody to collaborate with who could help realize it. The only person I know alive that could do that was Amanda. So I kind of made it a fuck-or-walk situation, you know? [Laughs.] 'We get Amanda, or I can’t do this.' So that made it incumbent upon [DC co-publisher] Dan [DiDio] to bring Amanda into it."[17] Conner and Palmiotti launched a Harley Quinn ongoing series in November 2013.[18][19]
She provided the design concepts for the DC Universe streaming Harley Quinn animated series.[20] Many of the story line ideas and dialog have been used for source material on the episodes. These concepts have also been launching points for both the Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad feature movies.[21]
Conner's art was featured in "The Perspiration Implementation", the October 19, 2015, episode of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In the episode, comic book store owner Stuart Bloom asks the women for ideas on how to attract more women to his shop, and Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) points out that an illustration hanging on one of the shop's walls, "Girl on a Leash", may not be conducive to attracting female customers. The image, which was illustrated by Conner and colored by Paul Mounts, depicts a scantily-clad woman being held on a chain leash by a muscular, whip-wielding masked man.[22] The piece was custom-drawn for the show by Conner.[23]
In 2015, Conner was voted as the #2 top female comics artist of all time.[24]
On May 18, 2019, at the Comic Con Revolution event in Ontario, California, Conner was named the 2019 recipient of the Joe Kubert Distinguished Storyteller Award, which is given to "outstanding comic book creators who exemplify both Joe Kubert's artistic talent and his commitment to nurturing the comic book community."[25]
