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{{short description|Comic book or graphic novel line artist}}
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|title= Inker
|image   = Staff Sergeant Blake Ellis, Sheel Creek, Tennessee, inking in the pencil tracings. Culture, Hydrography, and Contours... - NARA - 531175.tif
|caption = An American military cartographer inking over the pencil tracings of a map
}}
The '''inker''' (sometimes credited as the '''finisher''' or '''embellisher''')<ref>"Bullpen Bulletins," ''Marvel Two-in-One'' #52 (Marvel Comics, June 1979).</ref> is one of the two line artists in traditional [[comic book]] production.

After the [[penciller]] creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing it with a [[pencil]], an ink [[nib (pen)|pen]] or a brush with black ink. Inking was necessary in the traditional printing process as presses could not reproduce pencilled drawings. Another specialist, the [[letterer]], handles the "inking" of text and word balloons, while the [[colorist]] applies color to the final inked art submitted by the inker.<ref>[[Fox, Margalit]] (April 5, 2013). [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/arts/carmine-infantino-who-revamped-batman-and-the-flash-dies-at-87.html?_r=1& "Carmine Infantino, Reviver of Batman and Flash, Dies at 87"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>

== Workflow ==
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While inking involves tracing pencil lines in a literal sense, it is an act of creative interpretation rather than rote copying. Inkers fine-tune the composition by adding the proper thckness to lines, creating visual contrast through [[shading]], and making other artistic choices. A pencil drawing can have many shades of grey depending on the hardness of the [[graphite]] used, and the pressure applied by the artist, but an ink line generally can be only solid black. Accordingly, the inker has to translate pencil shading into patterns of ink, for example by using closely spaced parallel lines, feathering, or [[Hatching|cross-hatching]]. The result is that the final look of a penciller's art can vary enormously depending on the inker.

An experienced inker paired with a novice penciler might also be responsible for correcting anatomical or other mistakes, modifying facial expressions, or changing or improving the artwork in a variety of other ways. Alternatively, an inker may do the basic layout of the page, give the work to another artist to do more detailed pencil work, and then ink the page themself (as [[Joe Simon]] often did when inking [[Jack Kirby]],<ref name="Simon" /> or when [[Michael T. Gilbert]] collaborated with penciler [[P. Craig Russell]] on the [[Elric of Melniboné#Adaptations|Elric of Melniboné series]]).

The division between penciller and inker described here is most frequently found where the penciller and inker are hired independently of each other by the publisher. Where an artist instead hires their own assistants, the roles are less structured; an artist might, for example, ink all the faces of the characters while leaving the assistant to ink in the backgrounds, or work with the inker in a more collaborative fashion. Among Neal Adams' [[Crusty Bunkers]], one inker may have been responsible for the characters' heads, another doing bodies, and a third embellishing backgrounds.<ref name="netzer">[[Michael Netzer]]. [http://michaelnetzer.com/rEvolution/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=233&Itemid=1 "The Lives and Time of Crusty Bunker," Michael Netzer Online, September 17, 2007]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210004639/http://michaelnetzer.com/rEvolution/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=233&Itemid=1 |date=February 10, 2012 }}. Retrieved July 5, 2008.</ref> The inking duo [[Ian Akin|Akin]] & [[Brian Garvey (comics)|Garvey]] had a similar arrangement, with one inking the figures and the other the backgrounds.

=== Digital inking ===
One can [[Traditional animation#Digital ink and paint|ink digitally]] using computers, a practice that has started to become more common as inkers learn to use powerful drawing and editing tools such as [[Adobe Inc.|Adobe]] [[Adobe Illustrator|Illustrator]] and [[Adobe Photoshop|Photoshop]], [[Inkscape]], [[Corel Painter]], and [[Clip Studio Paint|Manga Studio]]. A [[graphics tablet]] is the most common tool used to accurately ink digitally, and use of [[vector graphics|vector-based]] programs precludes [[Dots per inch#DPI or PPI in digital image files|pixelization]] due to changes in resolution. However, the process is more time-consuming.

{{As of | 2015}} some companies put scanned pencils on an [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP site]]. The inker downloads them, prints them in blue, inks the pages, scans them in and loads the finished pages back on the FTP site for the company to download. While this procedure saves a company time and shipping costs, it requires artists to spend money on computer equipment.

== History ==
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For a long time, inking was considered a minor part of the comics industry, only marginally above [[letterer|lettering]] in the pecking order. In the early days of comic books, many publishers hired "packagers" to produce entire books. Although some "star" creators' names (such as [[Joe Simon|Simon]] and [[Jack Kirby|Kirby]] or [[Bob Kane]]) usually appeared at the beginning of each story, the publisher generally did not care which artists worked on the book. In the early days, the creator of the feature would get credit for as long as they worked on the feature, but when they were replaced by other artists, no name credit would be given to them. Packagers instituted an [[assembly line]] style method of creating books, using top talents like Kirby to create the look and pace of the story and then handing off the inking, lettering, and coloring to largely anonymous – and low-paid – creators to finish it.

Deadline pressures and a desire for consistency in the look of a feature led to having one artist pencil a feature while one or more other artists inked it. At [[Marvel Comics]], where the pencil artist was responsible for the panel-by-panel breakdown of the story plot, an artist who was skilled in storytelling would be encouraged to do as many books as possible, maximizing the number of books they could do by leaving the inking to others. By contrast, at other companies where the writer did the panel-by-panel breakdown in script form, more artists inked or even lettered their own work. [[Joe Kubert]], [[Jim Aparo]] and Alex Toth would usually pencil, ink and letter, considering the placing of word balloons as an integral part of the page, and artists such as [[Bill Everett]], [[Steve Ditko]], [[Kurt Schaffenberger]], [[Murphy Anderson]], and [[Nick Cardy]] almost always inked their own work (and sometimes the work of other pencilers as well). Most artists, however – even experienced inkers of their own work like [[Lou Fine]], [[Reed Crandall]], [[Will Eisner]], and [[Alex Toth]] – at times hired or allowed other artists to ink their drawings. Some artists could make more money by pencilling more pages and leaving the inking to others; different artists with different working methods might find it more profitable to both pencil and ink, as they could place less information and detail in the pencil drawings if they were inking it themselves and could put that detail in at the inking stage.

Due to the absence of credits on most Golden Age comic books, many inkers of that period are largely forgotten. For those whose names are known, it is difficult to compile résumés. Inkers like [[Chic Stone]], [[George Papp]], and [[Marvin Stein]] embellished thousands of pages during that era, most of which are still unidentified.

==Crediting==
In the early 1960s, [[Marvel Comics]] began giving the inker credit in each of their publications and other publishers began to follow suit. This allowed finishers like [[Dick Ayers]], [[Joe Sinnott]], [[Mike Esposito (comics)|Mike Esposito]], [[John Severin]], [[Syd Shores]], and [[Tom Palmer (comics)|Tom Palmer]] to earn a reputation as inkers as well as pencillers. In addition, penciller–inker teams like Kirby and Sinnott, [[Curt Swan]] and [[Murphy Anderson]], [[Gene Colan]] and Palmer, and [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]] and [[Terry Austin (comics)|Terry Austin]] captured the attentions of comic book fandom.

==Industry awards==
In 2008 Marvel and DC inker [[Bob Almond]] founded the [[Inkwell Awards]], which is an award established to celebrate the craft of inking and to lift the profile of the art in general. The [[Inkwell Awards]] has gained much publicity and counts notable inkers such as Joe Sinnott, [[Nathan Massengill]] and [[Tim Townsend]] as members and associates.

== Notable inkers ==
{{div col}}
* [[Dan Adkins]]
* [[Mike Allred]]
* [[Murphy Anderson]]
* [[Terry Austin (comics)|Terry Austin]]
* [[Brett Breeding]]
* [[Vince Colletta]]
* [[Vince Deporter]]
* [[Tony DeZuniga]]
* [[Mike Esposito (comics)|Mike Esposito]]
* [[Joe Giella]]
* [[Dick Giordano]]
* [[Al Gordon (comics)|Al Gordon]]
* [[Dan Green (artist)|Dan Green]]
* [[Mark Irwin]]
* [[Billy Graham (comics)|Billy Graham]]
* [[Klaus Janson]]
* [[George Klein (comics)|George Klein]]
* [[Paul Neary]]
* [[Kevin Nowlan]]
* [[Tom Palmer (comics)|Tom Palmer]]
* [[Jimmy Palmiotti]]
* [[Branko Plavšić]]
* [[Josef Rubinstein]]
* [[Joe Sinnott]]
* [[Alex Toth]]
* [[Frank Frazetta]]
* [[Frank Miller (comics)|Frank Miller]]
* [[Bob Smith (comics)|Bob Smith]]
* [[Karl Story]]
* [[Art Thibert]]
* [[Rade Tovladijac]]
* [[Dexter Vines]]
* [[Scott Williams (comics)|Scott Williams]]
* [[Al Williamson]]
* [[Wally Wood]]
* [[Bernie Wrightson]]
{{div col end}}

== Notable penciller–inker partnerships ==
* [[Curt Swan]]/[[George Klein (comics)|George Klein]] – Worked for decades on DC's [[Superman]] titles. Commander R. A. Benson, USN (Ret.) wrote "[I]t was Swan with Klein who created the definitive Superman image [that] typified the Silver Age".<ref>[http://www.captaincomics.us/ Captain Comics forum post] formerly at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200803200420/https://www.gizty.com/]}} Last access attempt Oct. 12, 2006.</ref>
* [[Curt Swan]]/[[Murphy Anderson]] – Notably on the early 1970s [[Superman]] titles, the team is often referred to as "Swanderson."<ref>Gelbwasser, Mike. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200803200420/https://www.gizty.com/ (May. 8, 2020).]}} Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.</ref>
* [[Jack Kirby]]/[[Joe Simon]] – possibly the first true tandem, in their heyday they defined [[Captain America]], [[The Red Skull]], [[Sandman (Wesley Dodds)|Sandman]] and [[Sandy Hawkins|Sandy]], [[Manhunter (comics)#Paul Kirk|Manhunter]], the [[Boy Commandos]], romance comics, and much more.<ref name="Simon">[http://www.acomics.com/ink3.htm "The Twenty Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books: #16, Joe Simon," Atlas Comics.] Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.</ref>
* [[John Severin]]/[[Will Elder]] – EC war and science fiction
* [[Jack Kirby]]/[[Dick Ayers]] – Ayers probably being Kirby's most prolific partner, the pair produced hundreds of pages of Western and monster stories before the Marvel superhero era began.<ref>[http://www.acomics.com/ink5.htm "The Twenty Greatest Inkers of American Comic Books: #6, Dick Ayers," Atlas Comics.] Accessed Feb. 13, 2009.</ref>
* [[Jack Kirby]]/[[Joe Sinnott]] – the early years of the ''[[Fantastic Four]]''
* [[Ross Andru]]/[[Mike Esposito (comics)|Mike Esposito]] – the pair worked together on-and-off for over 40 years, for DC and Marvel, on such titles as ''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'', ''Wonder Woman,'' the ''[[Metal Men]]'', and ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]''
* [[Dick Ayers]]/[[John Severin]] – ''[[Sgt. Fury]]''
* [[Gene Colan]]/[[Syd Shores]] – 1960s ''[[Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)|Daredevil]]''
* [[John Buscema]]/[[Tom Palmer (comics)|Tom Palmer]] – 1960s ''[[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]]''
* [[Neal Adams]]/[[Tom Palmer (comics)|Tom Palmer]] – late 1960s ''[[Uncanny X-Men|X-Men]]'' and ''[[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]]''
* [[Neal Adams]]/[[Dick Giordano]] – late 1960s/early 1970s era ''[[Batman (comic book)|Batman]]'', ''[[Detective Comics]]'', and ''Green Lantern/Green Arrow''
* [[Gene Colan]]/[[Tom Palmer (comics)|Tom Palmer]] – ''Daredevil,'' ''[[Tomb of Dracula]]'', ''[[Doctor Strange]]''
* [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]]/[[Terry Austin (comics)|Terry Austin]] – a run on the ''[[Uncanny X-Men]]''
* [[Frank Miller (comics)|Frank Miller]]/[[Klaus Janson]] – ''[[Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)|Daredevil]]'' and ''[[Batman: The Dark Knight Returns]]''
* [[George Pérez]]/[[Romeo Tanghal]] – the ''[[Teen Titans|New Teen Titans]]''
* [[Ron Frenz]]/[[Brett Breeding]] – many projects but most notably late 1980s ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'', ''[[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]]'', and late 1990s ''[[Avengers Next]]''
* [[Stephen R. Bissette]]/[[John Totleben]] – Alan Moore's ''[[Swamp Thing]]''
* [[Jim Lee]]/[[Scott Williams (comics)|Scott Williams]] – ''[[Uncanny X-Men]]'', ''[[WildCATS]]'', and ''[[All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder]]''
* [[Joe Quesada]]/[[Jimmy Palmiotti]] – many projects, notably ''[[Ash (comics)|Ash]]'' and ''[[Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)|Daredevil]]''
* [[Ed McGuinness]]/[[Dexter Vines]] – known as "eDex,"<ref>Redington, James (April 15, 2005). [http://www.comicsbulletin.com/news/111355431723887.htm "Local Convention to Host the Only National Team Appearance of ''Superman/Batman'' Creative Team"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515010335/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/news/111355431723887.htm |date=2011-05-15 }}. [[Comics Bulletin]].</ref> they've partnered on (among others) ''[[Civil War (comics)|Civil War]]'', ''[[Superman/Batman]]'', and ''[[JLA Classified]]''
* [[Bryan Hitch]]/[[Paul Neary]] – Known for their run on "[[The Ultimates]]", written by [[Mark Millar]].
* [[Greg Capullo]]/[[Danny Miki]] – Known for their run on Todd McFarlane's "[[Spawn (comics)]]" in the mid 1990s.
* [[Jan Duursema]]/[[Dan Parsons]] – Known for [[Dark Horse Comics|Dark Horse]] Star Wars comics "[[Republic]]","[[Star Wars: Legacy|Legacy]]", and"[[Dawn of the Jedi]]" in the early 2000s.

== See also ==
* [[Script (comics)]]
* [[Penciller]]
* [[Letterer]]
* [[Colorist]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* Atlas Comics (retailer). [http://www.acomics.com/ink1.htm "The 20 Greatest Inkers of American Comics Books"]
* [[Tom Brevoort|Brevoort, Tom]]. [http://www.marvel.com/blogs//entry/778 "What an Inker does"], Marvel.com (June 19, 2007)

[[Category:Visual arts occupations]]
[[Category:Comics inkers| ]]
[[Category:Comics terminology]]
[[Category:Comics creators| ]]