Ashley A. Woods (born October 15, 1985[1]) is a comic book artist from Chicago, Illinois,[1] known for her work on the Tomb Raider, Niobe, and Ladycastle series.[2][3]
Ashley A. Woods | |
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Born | |
Occupation(s) | Comic Creator, Illustrator, Storyboard Artist, Creator & Writer |
Website | https://ashleyawoods.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ninjatrip/ |
Early life
editWoods was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois[4] and developed an interest in anime, movies, comics and video games at a young age. Her favorite character was Sailor Moon, along with video games like Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Pandemonium!, Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man.[5]
She decided to pursue an art education when she was 15[5] and attended the International Academy of Design and Technology, receiving her degree in Film and Animation in 2007. After graduation, she presented her work in gallery shows across the States and Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan before deciding to leverage contacts she'd made on the comic-con exhibit circuit and at local gatherings of industry professionals.[1]
Career
editInspired by blending military and fantasy themes, Woods created, wrote, and fully illustrated her action-fantasy comic, "Millennia War", during her senior year of high school and freshman year of college and self-published the first issue of the series in March 2006. The series currently has seven issues and a graphic novel."[1]
Her breakthrough work came in 2015,[6] when she began working with Sebastian A. Jones and Amandla Stenberg on the series Niobe: She is Life after meeting them at the Black Comic Arts Festival in San Francisco, California six months earlier.[1][5][7]
In 2016, she illustrated the four-issue limited series Ladycastle for Boom! Studios.[8] Published over the first half of 2017, the series brought her popular attention, leading SyFy to call Woods a "breakout artist".[9]
Dark Horse Comics hired Woods to pencil the four-issue limited series Tomb Raider: Survivor's Crusade, published November 2017 through February 2018.[3][10]
She next provided cover work for the Image Comics title Bitter Root, Excellence (Skybound & Image Comics), Marvel's Shuri from Black Panther, and interiors for the Viking comic Heathen, with Vault Comics, which also has a movie in the works. She then expanded to television and worked on the Jordan Peele and J. J. Abrams-produced TV show, Lovecraft Country, based on the drama/horror novel by writer Matt Ruff. Her latest work can be seen in the upcoming Jupiter Invincible with Pulitzer Prize winning author Yusef Komunyakaa which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival June 2021 and Wonder Woman Black & Gold for DC Comics July 2021.
Bibliography
edit- Millennia War #0-6 (Creator, Artist, and Writer) (2006-2009)
- Niobe: She is Life #1-4 with writers Sebastian Jones and Amandla Stenberg (2015-2016)[11]
- Eraathun #2 (Cover) (2016)
- Lady Castle #1-3 with writer Delilah S. Dawson [12][13] (January - May 2017)[14]
- Tomb Raider: Survivor's Crusade #1-#4 (November 2017 - February 2018)[10]
- Bitter Root (Cover) (2018)
- EXCELLENCE (Cover) (2019)
- MARVEL Action Black Panther #5 (Cover) (2019)
- HEATHEN #9 (Cover) (2019-2020)
- HEATHEN #9-12 (Interiors) (2019-2020)
- Lovecraft Country (TV Show) (2020)
- Jupiter Invincible (Cover & Interiors) (2021)
- Wonder Woman Black & Gold (Interiors) (2021)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Jackson, Cheryl V. "Black female characters, artists fight for place in comic book world". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "New Talent At Marvel Comics - Ashley A Woods". Bleeding Cool. 2015-08-26. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ a b Avila, Mike. "Watch: Ashley A. Woods draws Ladycastle characters". Syfy. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ (June 5, 2017), "'Who Are The New Superwomen of the Universe'," Newsarama. Retrieved 2017-12-13
- ^ a b c Freeman, Ian (December 15, 2016), "Changing The Complexion Of Geek Culture: Ashley Woods" Archived 2017-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, The Urban Daily. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
- ^ Workneh, Lilly (September 1, 2015), "Amandla Stenberg’s New Project Is A Tribute To All Badass Black Women', The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
- ^ Knight, Rosie (May 18, 2017), "NIOBE, a Milestone for Black Women in Comics, is Changing the Face of Comic Book Heroes", Nerdist. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
- ^ (November 21, 2016), "Delilah Dawson and Ashley Woods on Building 'Ladycastle'", ComicsAlliance. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
- ^ (June 2014), Ladycastle artist Ashley A. Woods interview, SyFy. Accessed September 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Polo, Susana (July 26, 2017), "Lara Croft is ‘losing control’ in the next Tomb Raider comic," Polygon. Retrieved 2017-21-13
- ^ Hennum, Shea. "McFarlane and Larsen team up for an exhilarating Spawn bloodbath". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ Hennum, Shea. "For female heroes written by actual women, look beyond Marvel and DC". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ Sanghani, Radhika (2 September 2015). "Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg making 'badass' black feminist comic". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ "Ladycastle," MyComicShop. Retrieved 2017-12-13
External links
edit- Official website
- Ashley A. Woods at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Lady Castle interview at ComicsAlliance
- Lady Castle interview at SyFy
- Tomb Raider interview at Pete's Basement
- Review of Woods' work on Tomb Raider at Multiversity Comics
- Review of Woods' work on Tomb Raider at Comics Beat