Tom Mandrake (born 1956)[1] is an American comics artist known for his collaborations with writer John Ostrander on several series, including Grimjack (from First Comics) and Firestorm, The Spectre, and Martian Manhunter from DC Comics.[2]
Mandrake grew up as a fan of Marvel Comics of the 1960s, as well as painters of the Brandywine School, particularly Maxfield Parrish and Howard Pyle.[3]
Mandrake began working for DC Comics where he drew backup stories for the Sgt. Rock title. In a 2001 interview, he recalled "finally landing my first real work, that was a two part story in DC's New Talent Showcase. Once again with my old buddy L.B. at the writers helm on our pirate epic 'Skydogs'."[4] For Marvel Comics, Mandrake provided finished art over layouts by Sal Buscema on the New Mutants title. Back at DC, he and writer Doug Moench created Black Mask in Batman #386 (August 1985)[5][6] and the Film Freak in Batman #395 (May 1986).[7] Mandrake was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series in 1986 after finishing his run on Batman.[8] In 1992, Mandrake and writer John Ostrander launched The Spectre series at DC Comics.[9] In issue #54 (June 1997), the creative team introduced the character Michael Holt as a new version of Mister Terrific.[10] Following the end of The Spectre series, they moved onto a Martian Manhunter series.[11] In 2001, he worked with writer Dan Mishkin on the short lived series Creeps and in 2006 on the children's book The Forest King: Woodlark's Shadow.[12] In 2007, a story-arc titled "Grotesk" reuniting Ostrander and Mandrake appeared in Batman issues #659-662.[2] An X-Files/30 Days of Night crossover in 2010 was drawn by Mandrake and co-written by 30 Days creator Steve Niles and Adam Jones, the guitarist for the band Tool.[13] Mandrake drew the DC Retroactive: Batman - The '70s one-shot (Sept. 2011)[14] and a revival of Marv Wolfman's Night Force series (May–Nov. 2012).[15] He collaborated with J. Michael Straczynski on the Sidekick series in 2013–2014.[16]
Mandrake received the Don Thompson Award in 1992 and 1993.[17]
Mandrake is married to fellow comic book artist Jan Duursema, whom he met while both were students at The Kubert School. Their wedding was held on the school's grounds.[4] The couple have a son, Jack Moses Mandrake,[18] and Sian Mandrake,[19] who is also a Kubert School-trained comics illustrator.[20]
