Timothy Truman


Timothy Truman is an American writer, artist and musician. He is best known for his stories and Wild West-style comic book art, and in particular, for his work on Grimjack, Scout, and the reinvention of Jonah Hex, with Joe R. Lansdale.

Biography

Truman was born in 1956 in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. After graduating from Gauley Bridge High School in 1974, he attended the Columbus College of Art and Design while also attending West Virginia University. From 1979 to 1981 he attended The Kubert School in New Jersey.
He currently lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was an instructor at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design from 2003 to 2006.

Roleplaying games

After graduation, he moved to New York City and worked in the fantasy role-playing game industry for a few years providing illustrations for various companies, including working for TSR, Inc. as a staff illustrator.
Along with Flint Henry, Truman co-authored Rifts Dimension Book 1: Wormwood, which author Shannon Appelcline states was "critically acclaimed for the vibrant backgrounds".
In 2015, Truman contributed, among other artists, to bring inner illustrations to the tabletop role-playing game Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of, first published in 2016 by British company Modiphius Entertainment.

Comics

Truman's first professional comics work was a series of backup stories in DC Comics' Sgt. Rock title published from 1981 to 1983. His first major work was Grimjack with writer John Ostrander, for the independent comics company First Comics. Grimjack first appeared in Starslayer #10, before moving to his own series after issue #18, and continued for 81 issues.
In 1985, he created Scout, which was followed by Scout: War Shaman, a futuristic western. A year later, he relaunched the Hillman characters Airboy and The Heap for Eclipse Comics. He also developed The Prowler, a Shadow type character, and adapted The Spider for Eclipse.
At DC Comics he created Hawkworld, a reinvention of Hawkman in 1989. An ongoing series with the same name was launched the following year. With author Joe R. Lansdale, he reinterpreted Jonah Hex as a horror western. In it, their creation of villain Edgar Autumn elicited a lawsuit from musician Edgar Winter.
Truman was chosen by Dark Horse Comics to illustrate a newly completed Tarzan novel and wrote a story arc for the comic book. He also wrote nearly the entire run of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for Valiant Comics. For the defunct science fiction imprint of DC, Helix, he created The Black Lamb. He also worked on a typical pulp adventure Guns of the Dragon, featuring Enemy Ace and Bat Lash and scripted a Creature Commandos limited series. At Dark Horse Comics, he wrote Star Wars, Conan, and Conan The Cimmerian.

New projects

In 2018 Truman launched a successful Kickstarter campaign, Scout Marauder, to expand on the storyline of his character Scout. The promotion was a success, raising over $44,000.00 from supporters. The campaign was projected to be completed in February 2019. As of July 2024, the project is still in production.

West Virginia

Truman's work, Wilderness: The True Story of Simon Girty, Renegade was a two-volume black and white graphic novel depicting the American settler's western frontier.
Tecumseh! a graphic novel based on the Chillicothe Ohio Outdoor Theater Production is a colored graphic novel that shows the play from beginning to end. It renewed interest in the warrior in Appalachia.

Music

A longtime fan and musician, Truman has integrated his love of music into comics and illustration. While working for Eclipse Comics, Truman included a flexi disc recording inside Scout #19 that provided a soundtrack to one of the scenes in the comic. He also released an album through Eclipse Records with his band The Dixie Pistols entitled Marauder. The album included a short comic book featuring the wedding of Emanuel Santanna that took place between the first series Scout and the second series Scout: War Shaman.
While writing the biography of one of his favorite guitarists, Carlos Santana, for Rock-It Comics, Truman found out that the musician had been a longtime fan of his comic, Scout, whose main character, Emanuel Santanna, is the namesake of the famous guitarist. Naming the characters after favorite musicians was a common convention that Truman used throughout the Scout series.
Truman has also had a long relationship with the band the Grateful Dead creating artwork for CD covers, tour posters, limited-edition T-shirts and a color comics page in each issue of the Grateful Dead Almanac.
Truman built a recording studio in his home and while producing recording sessions for Cherokee singer/songwriter Terry Strongheart, they decided to form a new band with some of Truman's friends and Strongheart's daughter called the Terry Strongheart Band. Two CDs have been recorded, the first entitled Tears and the follow-up Indian School.
Truman provided illustrations for the posthumous Rory Gallagher release Kickback City. Truman said he first heard Gallagher's music in 1973 while a junior in high school.
Timothy Truman is often confused with the music composer Tim Truman who wrote the theme to Melrose Place and composed the score to Miami Vice's final season among other important contributions to the music industry in movies and television.

Avatar Press

  • ''On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks''

    Bantam Spectra

  • ''The Ray Bradbury Chronicles: Volume 3''

    Dark Horse Comics

  • Dark Horse Presents #47, "Jungle of the Giants!"
  • Star Wars: Episode I Anakin Skywalker, one-shot collected in Star Wars Episode I: Adventures
  • Star Wars
  • *Outlander collects:
  • ** "Outlander"
  • *Emissaries to Malastare collects:
  • ** "Emissaries to Malastare"
  • *The Hunt for Aurra Sing collects:
  • ** "The Hunt for Aurra Sing"
  • Star Wars: The Bounty Hunters - Aurra Sing, one-shot collected in Star Wars: Bounty Hunters
  • Conan
  • *The Blood-Stained Crown and Other Stories collects:
  • ** "Seeds of Empire"
  • ** "The Blood-Stained Crown"
  • *The Hall of the Dead and Other Stories collects:
  • ** "Dogs of the Hills"
  • ** "The Sons of Bel"
  • *The Spear and Other stories collects:
  • ** "Conan: The Spear"
  • ** "They Shall Be Lords Again"
  • ** "Silent to the Sea"
  • ** "Two Wizards and a Funeral"
  • ** "The Sorrow of Akivasha"
  • *Rogues in the House and other stories collects:
  • ** "Rogues in the House Part 1: Rogues at the Door"
  • ** "Rogues in the House Part 2: Red House, Red Priest"
  • ** "Rogues in the House Part 3: The Pits of Refuge"
  • ** "Rogues in the House Part 4: Man vs. Beast"
  • *The Hand of Nergal collects:
  • ** "The Spawn of Nergal"
  • ** "Darkness Over Yaralet"
  • ** "Flesh for the Gods of the Night"
  • ** "The Hand of Nergal"
  • Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, one-shot, "The Road of Kings" collected in Conan and the Midnight God
  • Conan and the Songs of the Dead
  • *Conan and the Songs of the Dead collects:
  • ** "The Root of all Evil"
  • ** "The Ring of Fire"
  • ** "The Eye of the Demon"
  • ** "Lair of the Worm"
  • ** "Dark Gods"
  • MySpace Dark Horse Presents #11, "Conan: Trophy" collected in Conan and the Daughters of Midora and other stories
  • Conan the Cimmerian
  • *Cimmeria collects:
  • ** "Cimmeria"
  • ** "Hunter's Moon"
  • ** "Mark of the Wolf"
  • ** "Path of Mist"
  • ** "The Skrae"
  • ** "The Wolf's Promise"
  • ** "Homecoming"
  • ** "Darkness and the Night"
  • *Black Colossus collects:
  • ** "The Scorpion"
  • ** "The Mercenary"
  • ** "The Commander"
  • ** "The Face on the Coin"
  • ** "The Battle of Shamla Pass"
  • ** "Black Altar"
  • *Free Companions collects:
  • ** "Home For the Hunt"
  • ** "Free Companions"
  • ** "Kozaki"
  • *Iron Shadows in the Moon and Other Stories collects:
  • ** "Iron Shadows in the Moon"
  • King Conan: The Scarlet Citadel
  • King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword
  • King Conan: Hour of the Dragon
  • ''King Conan: The Conqueror''

    DC Comics

  • Sgt. Rock
  • * "To the Last Man"
  • * "Deep Prey"
  • * "The Pass"
  • * "Deadly Victory"
  • * "Samurai"
  • * "...War Spoils"
  • Wasteland #10, "Mother!"
  • Detective Comics #598, "Tribute: People of Note Pay Homage to Batman"
  • Secret Origins vol. 2 #43, "Adventures Inside Earth"
  • Hawkworld
  • *Hawkworld collects:
  • ** "Flashzone"
  • ** "Freefall"
  • ** "Phoenix Flight"
  • Hawkworld vol. 2
  • * "Predators"
  • * "Enter... Hawkman!"
  • * "Winged Fury"
  • * "Partners"
  • * "War of the Shadows"
  • * "Strange Worlds"
  • * "Birds of Prey"
  • * "Talons"
  • * "Hawkwoman Caged!"
  • * "Flight's End"
  • Sgt. Rock Special, one-shot
  • The Kents
  • *The Kents collects:
  • ** "Bleeding Kansas"
  • ** "Brother Versus Brother"
  • Guns of the Dragon
  • Creature Commandos
  • * "A Spear of Silence"
  • * "From Here to Heaven is a Scar"
  • * "Dead Center: Deep as Death"
  • * "Hide Witch Hide"
  • * "When the Earth Moves Again"
  • * "The Last Wall of the Castle"
  • * "The Other Side of This Life"
  • * "War Movie"
  • Martian Manhunter vol. 2 #21, "Revelations Part 2: Beware My Power!"
  • Green Lantern Annual vol. 3 #9, "Mother of Heaven" "The Lady of Battle"
  • JLA: Gatekeeper #1–3
  • Convergence: Hawkman
  • *Convergence: Crisis Book 1 collects:
  • ** "Revelations"
  • ** "Revelations II"