Ethan Van Sciver

Ethan Daniel Van Sciver[1] (/vænˈskaɪvər/;[2] born September 3, 1974[3]) is an American comics artist. He illustrated and drew covers for a number of superhero titles in the 2000s, primarily for DC Comics, including Green Lantern and The Flash: Rebirth, and New X-Men for Marvel Comics.

Ethan Van Sciver
Van Sciver in October 2010
BornEthan Daniel Van Sciver
(1974-09-03) September 3, 1974
Utah, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Penciller, Inker
Notable works
The Flash: Rebirth
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Sinestro Corps War
New X-Men
Cyberfrog
Official website
In this article, the surname is Van Sciver, not Sciver.

In the late 2010s his "ComicArtistPro Secrets" channel on YouTube focused on right-wing social commentary, through which he became a central figure in Comicsgate.

Early life

Ethan Van Sciver was born September 3, 1974[3] in Utah. He and his younger brother, alternative cartoonist Noah Van Sciver,[4] grew up in Merchantville in southern New Jersey,[1] and he graduated from Pennsauken High School in 1992.[5]

Van Sciver decided on a career in the comic-book field after seeing the 1978 movie Superman as a child, but only began to read comics intently with John Byrne's The Man of Steel in 1986. He cites Chris Claremont and Jon Bogdanove's Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men (1987) as a strong influence.[6]

Career

While in high school, Van Sciver did various art-related jobs, which included painting murals of Native Americans, drawing caricatures for mall customers, illustrating children's books, and airbrushing t-shirts.[1][5]

Van Sciver's first comics work was published in 1994, writing and drawing what he later called "a horrible little character called Cyberfrog",[6] published by Hall of Heroes and later Harris Comics.[1][7]

Mainstream publishers

His first work for DC Comics was in 1998,[7] which led to him being hired in 1999 as the artist on the series Impulse, with writer Todd Dezago.[7] This was followed in 2001 by the first of what would become several collaborations with writer Geoff Johns, on the superhero-horror one-shot The Flash: Iron Heights.[6]

Ethan Van Sciver drawing at Comicon fest, Athens, 2008

Van Sciver was hired by Marvel Comics in 2001 to work on New X-Men, a retitled and revamped series (beginning with #114) written by Grant Morrison.[7] The series' primary artist Frank Quitely was not expected to illustrate the necessary twelve issues per year, so Van Sciver was scheduled to illustrate two issues per year, which expanded to more issues as Igor Kordey was also hired as a semi-regular artist.[6] Van Sciver drew a total of four issues. In issue #133 of this series, Morrison and Van Sciver co-created the character Dust, a Sunni Muslim mutant who can transform into sand.[8]

Returning to work primarily for DC, Van Sciver worked with Johns on the six-issue miniseries Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004) which restored the Silver Age character Hal Jordan as the publisher's primary Green Lantern. They then worked together on an ongoing series featuring the character.[9] During this time Van Sciver was one of the artists who contributed to a series of instructional books for amateur comics artists, published by Wizard magazine.[10][11][12][13]

In 2006, Van Sciver penciled the cover art for metal band Winger's fourth studio album. The cover art was also sold as a poster called "Guardian of Freedom".[14]

Johns, Van Sciver, Dave Gibbons, Ivan Reis, and others produced "Sinestro Corps War", a high-profile 11-issue story appearing in DC's two Green Lantern monthly series in 2007.[15][16] Van Sciver and Johns produced the six-issue mini-series The Flash: Rebirth (2009) which – like the earlier Green Lantern mini-series – reintroduced the Silver Age character Barry Allen as the Flash.[17] The same year, he drew variant covers for DC's crossover storyline Blackest Night.[7] In 2011, as part of DC's "New 52" initiative, he was the artist – and co-writer with Gail Simone – of The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men.[7] Starting in 2016, as part of the "DC Rebirth" relaunch of DC's titles, Van Sciver drew issues of the Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps series.[18]

Van Sciver received a "special thanks" credit in the films Justice League, Zack Snyder's Justice League, and The Suicide Squad.[19][20][21]

Independent work

In 2017, Van Sciver penciled illustrations for 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, a self-help book by Canadian psychologist and social activist Jordan Peterson.[22] No longer employed by DC, in 2018 Van Sciver announced that he would instead produce his own comics,[23] and in 2019 he published Cyberfrog: Bloodhoney featuring his early character Cyberfrog, for which he had raised over $500,000 through crowdfunding.[24] A campaign in 2020 raised over $1 million for a follow-up Cyberfrog: Rekt Planet, promised to ship in 2021.[25]

Political commentary

In 2017, Van Sciver began a YouTube channel called ComicArtistPro Secrets, which originally featured demonstrations of illustration tools and techniques, but which later focused on commentary about comics, other comics creators, and fan culture.[26][27] Through that channel, Van Sciver became a central figure in Comicsgate, a movement whose members oppose what they see as forced political themes and anti-consumer practices in current mainstream superhero comics,[28][29] such as cultural diversity and progressive politics. The movement has been criticized for harassment tactics in online campaigns against those who produce these comics and work in the industry.[30][31][32] Van Sciver faced criticism over an announced collaboration with cartoonist Dave Sim, whose views about women have been described by critics as misogynistic. Van Sciver initially defended Sim's past relationship with a 14-year-old girl, likening it to that of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, until he learned more details about Sim's relationship with her, and cancelled the project.[33]

Van Sciver has also been a prominent figure in the Fandom Menace, a Star Wars fan movement with similar goals and methods to Comicsgate.[34][35] In 2018, Van Sciver expressed his displeasure at the direction that the franchise had taken by producing a video of himself opening and destroying action figures of The Last Jedi character Rose Tico.[36]

Following the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, in which eight people, including six Asian women, were killed,[37] Van Sciver referenced the incident during a livestream group discussion on film director Zack Snyder, commenting, "He'll never stop me from killing Chinese people, ever. I don't care how many movies he makes. Give me a Tommy Gun and line them up against the wall, as the great Stan Lee once said."[35][38]

In March 2023 Van Sciver publicly criticized actor Pedro Pascal for not having defended his Mandalorian co-star Gina Carano[39][40] when Lucasfilm fired her from that series in 2021[41] for comments that were interpreted as a comparison of treatment of American conservatives to Jews in Nazi Germany.[42][43][44] During the March 12, 2023 telecast of the 95th Academy Awards, Van Sciver reacted to the appearance of Pascal, who is Chilean-American, presenting an award with actress Elizabeth Olsen, by tweeting a screenshot of them with the caption "Oh, it’s this asshole. Thanks for standing behind Gina, you flabby coward."[39][40][45] The tweet drew backlash from Chilean Twitter users, resulting in thousands of comments critical of Van Sciver's original tweet. Van Sciver responded to this by posting recipes and other phrases in Spanish, and tweeting the following day, "I seem to have pissed off Chile last night. Lmfao. My bad."[39][40][46]

Awards and recognition

Personal life

As of August 2005, Van Sciver resided in Orlando, Florida,[1] where he lived for several years. As of May 2015 he lived in North Carolina, but was in the process of moving back to New Jersey to be with his girlfriend Andrea, whom he met when he was 18.[5]

He is a Republican[49] and a former Mormon.[50][51][52]

Bibliography

As artist unless otherwise noted.

Non-fiction

Splatto Comics
  • Jawbreakers: Lost Souls TPB (2019), cover art
  • Jawbreakers: GØD-K1NG TPB (2019), cover art

ALL CAPS Comics
  • Cyberfrog: Bloodhoney (2019), artist and writer
  • Cyberfrog: The Diary of Heather Swain (2019), artist and writer
  • Cyberfrog: Unfrogettable Tales #1–2 (2020), artist and writer

DC Comics

Hall of Heroes
  • CyberFrog #1–2 (1994), writer/artist
  • Fuzzy Buzzard and Friends (April, 1995), writer/artist

Harris Comics
  • CyberFrog Vol 2 #0–4 (1996), writer/artist
    • CyberFrog : Censored #1 (1996) one-shot, writer/artist
    • CyberFrog: Reservoir Frog #1–2 (1996) miniseries, writer/artist
    • CyberFrog vs Creed #1 (1997); CyberFrog (co-writer/artist)
    • CyberFrog: 3rd Anniversary #1–2 (1997) Special miniseries, writer/artist
    • CyberFrog: The Origin - Ashcan Preview #1 (1997) one-shot, writer/artist
    • CyberFrog: Amphibionix #1 (1999) one-shot, writer/artist
  • Vampirella: Crossover Gallery #1 (1997)
  • Vampirella / Shadowhawk: Creatures of the Night (1995) #1

Marvel Comics
  • Deadpool Classics TPB The Day the World Got Ill #20
  • Heroes Reborn: Remnants 1
  • Heroes Reborn: The Return TPB 1
  • New X-Men TPB 1–4
  • New X-Men Omnibus (HC) 1
  • X-Men (II) • New X-Men (I) • X-Men Legacy (I) #117–118, 123, 133
  • Heroes Reborn Remnants #1 (2000)
  • Heroes Reborn The Return #1 (1997)
  • New X-Men #117–118, 123, 133 (2001–2002)
  • Weapon X Omnibus (HC): The Return #1
  • Weapon X TPB (I) #1
  • Weapon X: The Draft – Wild Child (2002)
  • Wolverine #179 (2002)

Cover work
  • Heroes Reborn Remnants #1
  • New X-Men TPB By Grant Morrison Ultimate Collection 2
  • X-Men (II) • New X-Men (I) • X-Men Legacy (I) #124–125, 128, 130–131, 134, 146
  • Isom #2 Cover B by Rippaverse Comics

WildStorm
  • Claw of the Conquered #1a, 1b (2006–2007) (cover artist)

Wizard
  • Entertainment, Wizard (2005). Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 01 "The Best of Basic Training: Volume 1". Wizard Entertainment. ISBN 0976287404. (co-writer)
  • Entertainment, Wizard (2005). Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 02 "Heroic Anatomy". Wizard Entertainment. ISBN 0976287455. (co-writer)
  • Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 03 "Character Creation". Wizard. 2005. ISBN 0976287471. (co-writer)
  • Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 04 "Storytelling". Wizard Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0977861309. (co-writer)

References
  1. Storniolo, Mike (August 13, 2005). "Ethan Van Sciver: In Brightest Day..." Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2008. (No date on article; date appears in the website's articles listing.)
  2. "Interview with Ethan Van Sciver", YouTube, June 4, 2007, retrieved July 25, 2022
  3. 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.
  4. "Noah Van Sciver". Lambiek Comiclopedia. April 14, 2012. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016.
  5. Sinatra, Frank (May 8, 2015). "Homegrown Talent Van Sciver Draws Green Lantern, Batman, And More". All Around Pennsauken. Archived from the original on February 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  6. Collins, Sean T. (July 21, 2008). "CCI: Spotlight on Ethan Van Sciver". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  7. Ethan Van Sciver at the Grand Comics Database
  8. Strömberg, Fredrik (2014). "Race and Ethnicity". In Booker, M. Keith (ed.). Comics Through Time. Vol. 4. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. p. 1710. ISBN 9780313397509.
  9. Cowsill, Alan (2010). "2000s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Geoff Johns' story was beautifully brought to life by penciller Ethan Van Sciver.
  10. Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 01 "The Best of Basic Training: Volume 1". Los Angeles, California: Wizard Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0976287404.
  11. Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 02 "Heroic Anatomy". Los Angeles, California: Wizard Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0976287455.
  12. Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 03 "Character Creation". Los Angeles, California: Wizard Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0976287471.
  13. Wizard How to Draw - TPB vol. 04 "Storytelling". Los Angeles, California: Wizard Entertainment. 2005. ISBN 0977861309.
  14. "KIP WINGER Honored by United States Government And Military". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. February 16, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  15. Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 330
  16. "Top 25 Comic Battles - #6 The Sinestro Corps War". Comic Book Resources. 2008. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009.
  17. Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 337: "Writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver...joined forces again to relaunch Barry Allen as the Flash."
  18. Marston, George (April 5, 2016). "Rebirth Brings Hal Back to the Green Lantern Corps". Newsarama. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Hal Jordan will be flying with a familiar co-pilot as recent Green Lantern writer Robert Venditti will continue to write his adventures in the new ongoing series Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. Also joining him is classic Green Lantern artist Ethan Van Sciver.
  19. Justice League. (2017) End Credits
  20. Zack Snyder's Justice League. (2021) End Credits
  21. The Suicide Squad. (2021) End Credits.
  22. Peterson, Jordan (2018). 12 Rules for Life. Toronto, Ontario: Random House of Canada. p. iii. ISBN 978-0-345-81602-3.
  23. Arrant, Chris (June 13, 2018). "Ethan Van Sciver Exits DC Comics". Newsarama. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018.
  24. "Ethan Van Sciver's CYBERFROG:BLOODHONEY Comic Book". Indiegogo. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  25. "Ethan Van Sciver's CYBERFROG 2: REKT PLANET". Indiegogo. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  26. Krishna, Rachael (March 22, 2018). "There's An Online Harassment Campaign Underway Against People Advocating For Diversity In Comics". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018.
  27. Elbein, Asher (April 2, 2018). "#Comicsgate: How an Anti-Diversity Harassment Campaign in Comics Got Ugly—and Profitable". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018.
  28. Lacina, Bethany (March 15, 2019). "The smash success of 'Captain Marvel' shows us that conservatives are ignoring the alt-right". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  29. "Ethan Van Sciver talks Comicsgate, the industry and his love of cybernetic amphibians". Culture of Gaming. September 13, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  30. Ennis, Tricia (September 7, 2018). "Widespread creator outcry won't be enough to end Comicsgate". Syfy. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  31. Riesman, Abraham. "Comicsgate Is a Nightmare Tearing Comics Fandom Apart — So What Happens Next?". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  32. "There's An Online Harassment Campaign Underway Against People Advocating For Diversity In Comics Called #Comicsgate". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  33. Johnston, Rich (January 11, 2019). "A New Year's Ballad of Dave Sim and Ethan Van Sciver". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2019. Van Sciver had no idea however, it seems. Initially, he compared the situation to that of Elvis and Priscilla Presley...Upon further review and investigation, I'm just going to write CYBERFROG REKT PLANET my damn self.
  34. Burwick, Kevin (July 17, 2019). "Daisy Ridley Doesn't Think Disgruntled 'Star Wars' Fans Need to Be So Vicious". Movieweb. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  35. Goldberg, Matthew (March 3, 2021). "The Rise of the True Fan: Hate Groups, Radicalization, and Star Wars". The CTEC Newsletter. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  36. Orange, Alan B. (April 29, 2018). "Watch Disgruntled 'Star Wars' Fan Hilariously Unbox Unwanted Rose Tico Toys". Movieweb. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  37. Hollis, Henri; Abusaid, Shaddi; Stevens, Alexis (March 16, 2021). "'A crime against us all': Atlanta mayor condemns deadly spa shooting spree". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  38. "(Untitled)". Rewriting Ripley Pod. March 18, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022 – via Twitter.
  39. Caipillán, Constanza Bello (March 14, 2023). "Adam Levine 2.0: Chilenos arremeten en masa contra Ethan Van Sciver tras burla hacia Pedro Pascal" (in Spanish). biobiochile.cl. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  40. Bravo, Daniela (March 14, 2023). "'Consíganse un mejor héroe': Dibujante de Marvel y DC Comics desató la furia de los chilenos tras burlarse de Pedro Pascal" (in Spanish). Teletrece. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  41. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 11, 2021). "Lucasfilm Calls Gina Carano Social Media Posts 'Abhorrent'; Actress No Longer Employed By 'Mandalorian' Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  42. Lenker, Maureen Lee (February 10, 2021). "'The Mandalorian' star Gina Carano faces backlash for controversial Instagram posts". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  43. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 11, 2021). "'The Mandalorian' Actress Gina Carano & UTA Part Ways In Wake Of Social Media Controversy". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  44. Gonzalez, Umberto (February 11, 2021). "Gina Carano Dropped by UTA After Uproar Over Social Media Posts". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  45. Van Sciver, Ethan (March 12, 2023). "(Untitled)". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  46. Van Sciver, Ethan (March 13, 2023). "(Untitled)". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  47. "Inkwell Awards Ambassadors". Inkwell Awards. March 22, 2011.
  48. "2008 Eisner Nominations Announced". Comic Book Resources. April 14, 2008. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018.
  49. Johnston, Rich (August 14, 2017). "No, Ethan Van Sciver Is Not A Nazi". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018.
  50. Van Sciver, Ethan (January 12, 2019). "(Untitled)". Twitter. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  51. Van Sciver, Ethan (January 29, 2018). "(Untitled)". Twitter. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  52. Van Sciver, Ethan (October 27, 2016). "(Untitled)". Twitter. Retrieved August 17, 2019.

Interviews
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