Steve Oliff
Born (1954-02-20) February 20, 1954
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Colourist
Notable works
Akira
Spawn
Awards"Best Colorist"
Eisner Award: 1992-1994
Harvey Award: 1990–1992, 1994–1995
http://www.olyoptics.com

Steve Oliff (born February 20, 1954)[1] is an American comic book artist who has worked as a colorist in the comics industry since 1978.

Biography

Oliff broke into professional comics by attending comic book conventions and meeting people. At one convention he met publisher Byron Preiss. Preiss gave Oliff his first major coloring job (on a Shadowjack story in The Illustrated Roger Zelazny). More work with Preiss's publications followed, including a job on a Howard Chaykin graphic novel, which in turn led to Oliff getting his first Marvel Comics' job, coloring Bill Sienkiewicz's first Moon Knight story in The Hulk! magazine.[2] From there Oliff went on to color hundreds of titles in a variety of coloring formats.

Olyoptics and Akira

His company, Olyoptics, was one of the first to use computers to do color separation. Although other companies at the time were experimenting with computers, Oliff and his crew were the first to blend the color guide artist with the separator [3]

In 1987, the Japanese manga Akira was in preparation to be translated and published by Marvel Comics's Epic Comics line. Oliff was chosen as the colorist, and he convinced Marvel that it was time to try computer color.[4] After the publication of Akira in 1988, computer coloring became increasingly prevalent in the comics industry.[3] Oliff's work in Akira earned him an Eisner Award in 1992.[5]

Writing

In addition to coloring thousands of comic pages for all sorts of companies, Oliff has written two comic books, Armature and Armature: Darkpark and Lightworld, and is currently writing the third in his series. The Armature character first appeared in ads in Spawn and Youngblood comics, and in a back-up story in issue 14 of The Maxx. From 2003 to the present, Armature has been a weekly comic strip in Oliff's local newspaper, the Independent Coast Observer.

In 2005, Oliff collaborated with Cheri Carlstedt on a history of his hometown, Point Arena, California. The Early Days of Point Arena: A Pictorial History of the City and Township was published by Olyoptics. He also edits the Mendocino County Historical Society newsletter.

Awards

Oliff won the "Best Colorist" Eisner Award in 1992,[6] 1993[7] and 1994[8] and the "Best Colorist" Harvey Award in 1990,[9] 1991,[10] 1992,[11] 1994[12] and 1995.[13]

He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1991.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  2. ↑ Vasseur, Richard. "Steve Oliff: Colorist of Gumby," Jazma Online (Sept. 22, 2007). Accessed Feb. 1, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Khoury, George. Image Comics: The Road To Independence (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2007).
  4. ↑ Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics (Laurence King Publishing, 2004).
  5. ↑ "Interview: Akira in Color with Steve Oliff". Anime News Network.
  6. ↑ 1992 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  7. ↑ 1993 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  8. ↑ 1994 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  9. ↑ 1990 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  10. ↑ 1991 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  11. ↑ 1992 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  12. ↑ 1994 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  13. ↑ 1995 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners, Comic Book Awards Almanac
  14. ↑ Inkpot Award

References

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