Paul Ryan (cartoonist)
From 2005 until his death in 2016, Ryan penciled and inked the daily newspaper comic strip The Phantom for King Features Syndicate.
Ryan was a member of his National Guard pistol team, studied karate and fencing in his younger days, and at one time took up archery and weight training.
[5] As a young man, Ryan found a job in the Graphics Department of Metcalf & Eddy Engineering in Boston, where he worked for 11 years.
[8] In 1961, Ryan became a big fan of the Fantastic Four of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, having "bought the first issue at the tender age of 11.
Charlton accepted Ryan's story, encouraging him that a career in comics was within reach, but the title was cancelled before "BREED" saw print.
[11] Ryan said that his only formal training in comics came in that 1983-1984 span, working as Bob Layton's assistant while also preparing his penciling samples for Marvel.
[12] Soon, Ryan was getting assignments of his own, starting with inking The Thing #27 (September 1985)[10] and then moving on to penciling Iron Man #202, Squadron Supreme, The Eternals, and a Thor graphic novel.
"[7] Other Marvel highlights included pencils for Avengers West Coast (shortly after inking John Byrne's art on several issues of that title) and Ravage 2099, a character he co-created with Stan Lee.
[19] He penciled art for Byrne's scripts on Iron Man for about a year beginning in 1991, including an arc called "The Dragon Seed Saga" which featured the Mandarin.
"[21] Shortly after Paul Ryan left Marvel, he moved over to DC Comics where he became the artist on Superman: The Man of Tomorrow and The Flash.
[25] Paul Ryan and writer David Michelinie are the only comic book creators to have contributed to the wedding issues of both Spider-Man (Peter Parker) marrying Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21[16][17] and Superman (Clark Kent) marrying Lois Lane in Superman: The Wedding Album.
"[7] He was a contributing artist on the NASCAR/Superman custom comic and on Celebrating the Century, a stamp collecting book which DC produced for the United States Postal Service.
[7] Ryan became a regular contributor of covers and finished interior art to Fantomen for the next five years, a job which would position him well for his next major assignment.
Following Barreto's sudden death in late 2011, Ryan returned to the Sunday feature briefly until a replacement, Terry Beatty, was found.
Called by DePaul in its entirety "The Death of Diana Palmer Walker", this epic storyline was considered at that time to be the longest in duration of all The Phantom newspaper plots.
Frew Publications later presented the entire story as "The Python Strikes Back," which comprised the 140-page issue number 1602 of their long-running reprint series The Phantom.
(In May of 2021, DePaul and Manley began an adventure called To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines, which was the first part of a much larger story that subsequently surpassed "The Death of Diana Palmer Walker" in length.
The story DePaul developed from that prompt ended with Guran still chief, but acknowledging the worthiness of his challenger, Kipawa, as a possible successor one day.
[27] Rich Johnston praised Ryan for his artwork on The Phantom: "Here it seems he has come into his own, a richer and more luxurious style that is less tempered by the effects of Marvel or DC editorial with a greater influence from Europe.
Speaking about his work as a comic book penciler, Ryan described his process: "I read the stories and 'see' what it should look like in my mind, do a thumbnail sketch of the picture in my head and then go to full size drawing paper."
"[5] Ryan's art was characterized by a strong story-telling sense, careful attention to design and perspective, and solid knowledge of anatomy—on a strip that he at one time drew for publication 365 days a year.
"[6] Ryan confessed to having run around his neighborhood as a youngster with a makeshift Superman cape tied around his neck ("I got beat up a lot", he joked),[8] and his emotional identification with comic characters continued into his professional years: "I find that while I'm illustrating a story I become so focused that I feel as if I'm [actually] in the story, taking the part of each of the characters as I draw them," Ryan said.
DePaul lauded the ardent professionalism of his late partner, and stated that "Paul considered it a privilege to work on a classic character created by the great Lee Falk, in 1936.
He listened to everyone who wanted to talk to him, he kindly signed all the stuff that was thrown at him and he was incredibly generous and honest in the tales he told about working on The Phantom.
"[29] Writer Larry Hama, Ryan's friend and collaborator at both Marvel and DC Comics, praised him as "an impeccable draftsman, a solid visual storyteller, and really, really nice guy."
Hama continued, "I always knew that a plot I sent him would be drawn with a keen attention to detail, aspects of the story would be improved upon, and my mistakes would be corrected.
"[30] Mark Evanier reminisced: "Some years ago, Paul and I were going to collaborate on a new comic book based on a leftover idea of Jack Kirby's.
"[31] That's Entertainment manager Ken Carson noted the many store events at which Ryan had appeared over the span of twenty years, and reflected on his personality and wit: "He was a meticulous craftsman, but Paul enjoyed friendly banter as he sketched & signed for fans—and he had a mischievous sense of humor!
The King Features announcement also included some details of his personal life: "In addition to his love of storytelling through his comics and his real true passion for being a cowboy, Ryan cherished spending time with his family and was fondly referred to as 'Uncle Paul.'
Manley also noted that he and Paul Ryan are listed in a small and notable group of artists who have professionally drawn the adventures of both Batman and The Phantom.
