Detail from Black Panther #17, pg. 20 (Feb. 2000). Sal drew me in these three panels dancing with Hulk and Queen Divine Justice. I'm the guy in the striped shirt with the inking quill behind my ear.

(l-r)Sal Velluto, Bruce Canwell, Ernie Pelletier, and moi from the All Time Classic NY Comic Convention (June 9-11, 2000).

(l-r) George Perez and me at the Chicago Con (June 21-23, 1996) Photo: Kevin West

Sal Velluto and Priest create and render me as a sorcerer In Black Panther #39, 2002.

Born on January 4th, 1967 In Seoul, Korea Bob relocated to the US of A alter only a few weeks.  Bob soon discovered comics and became a 'Marvel zombie' at the age of nine. This led to the never-ending accumulation of a vast comic book collection but, most notably, the success at eventually acquiring the entire run of the AVENGERS series, having been inspired by the art of George Perez.  This work motivated him to learn the craft and develop the skills of sequential art storytelling with the goal of becoming a professional comic book artist.  Bob, his brother Mike, and his friends, all of whom shared a similar interest, formed the homemade 'Torpedo Comics' (which used their own and Marvel characters) and it allowed him the practice necessary in the early years, lasting until the sophomore year of high school, when life REALLY got in the way.

Bob later attended UMass Dartmouth taking up illustration as his major. After scoring well on his senior project, a sci-fi/ fantasy/ horror anthology told with se­quential art storytelling as a graphic novel, Bob graduated (and got married!) in 1990 with a BFA in Illustration. After two years of collecting numerous rejection letters for his penciling and inking samples, Bob broke Into the biz professionally thanks to the efforts of Bernie Wrightson and Jim Starlin.  After several years of attending the annual Wrightson Halloween bash (a tradition begun after Interviewing Bernie over the phone for a college project and being invited to attend) Bob had displayed his inking samples to Bernie's pal Jim, and Jim convinced his editor to hire Bob as Terry Austin's! replacement on WARLOCK AND THE INFINITY WATCH in 1992.

After two years on his first comic title Bob moved on to other projects and has done work in some capacity at Marvel every year since until 2002.  He has also had runs on various titles working for the likes of Penny-Farthing Press, Malibu and Acclaim Comics as well as occasional projects for DC Comics and other publishers.

Bob is the inking half of the Sal Velluto art team collaboration on such projects as Marvel's critically-acclaimed BLACK PANTHER,'99-'02 (leading to an "Ooks" & two "Squiddies" awards for Best Inker), DC's JSA and Penny-Farthing Press' CAPTAIN GRAVITY & THE POWER OF THE VRIL. Some of Bob's recent work has been for Harris Comics (VAMPIRELLA:REVELATIONS), A First Salvo (DANGER'S DOZEN, SAGA SIX), and the Wlldstorm monthly New Line series A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.  After five years Bob returned to his 'roots' in 2007 and inked Mike Lilly on Marvel's cosmic series ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST- QUASAR.  Since then he debuted at IDW on the nominated series STAR TREK: THE LAST GENERATION, and has even been working again with Sal on the relaunched Valiant Entertainment's ARCHER & ARMSTRONG: FIRST IMPRESSIONS and on Egmont's THE PHANTOM (Fantomen in Sweden).

Besides inking, in recent years Bob has made an effort to draw more attention to the craft of inking in order to bring more recognition and respect for its history and artists.  He has acted in an official capacity as a 'master of the obscure' at the Appendix of the Marvel Universe handbook site as well as for the writers of various Marvel handbooks, sharing info and identifying the artists of the posted/ printed sample art, including inkers.  He has also acted in an unofficial capacity assisting COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE as a resource in a similar fashion since 2006.  Earlier that year this effort led to Bob writing his regular column for SKETCH MAGAZINE, "Inkblots" starting with Issue 30.  And the natural progression from that development led to his creation of the INKWELL AWARDS in late 2007 for "Inkblots" which debuted the spring of '08 with the goal of bringing attention to and obtaining an appreciation for such often unsung work.

Some of Bob's favorite artists (besides Sal and George!) are John Byrne, Frank Miller, Gene Day, Michael Golden, Klaus Janson, Joe Rubenstein, Terry Austin, Neal Adams, Jim Starlin, Jim Steranko, Mark Farmer, Tom Palmer, Bob Layton, Adam Hughes, Bernie Wrightson, Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Carlos Pacheco, Jeff Jones, pre-manga Chris Bachalo, Mike Perkins, Howard Chaykin, Mark Texeira, Tom Raney, early Bill Sienkiewicz, Alex Ross, & numerous others.  Bob's a proud 'Jarvis-head' and he spends any free time playing Marvel Heroclix.  Bob lives In New Bedford, MA with his wife Diane, son Nathan and cats Tux & BJ.

• For Bob Interviews, features, & Shop Talk Links, click here!
• For more Convention and Signing Photos click here!
• For even more photos click here!

Bob with John Buscema at The All-Time Classic NY C.B. Con (June 2000)	Bob's 6 year old son, Nathan (October 2002)
Me with Stan the Man at San Diego Comicon (August 1993)	Me with Gil Kane at the Pittsburgh Comic Con (April 1996)