Early life and career Charles Vess began drawing comic art as a child. He graduated with a
BFA from
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 1974. While at VCU, Vess' comics appeared in the
Fan Free Funnies, a comic tabloid published by the student newspaper. His first professional position was as a commercial animator for Candy Apple Productions in Richmond, Virginia, which he held for approximately two years. In 1976 he moved to New York City and became a freelance illustrator. He contributed illustrations to publications including
Heavy Metal, Klutz Press (now an imprint of
Scholastic Press), and
National Lampoon. One notable publication from this early period was
The Horns of Elfland () published by Archival Press in 1979, which Vess wrote and illustrated. From 1980 to 1982 Vess worked as an art instructor at the
Parsons School of Design in New York City. During that period, his work appeared in one of the first major museum exhibitions of science fiction and fantasy art, held at the
New Britain Museum of American Art in 1980.
Mainstream fantasy By the late 1980s Vess had found a niche in the world of fantasy comic art with publications such as
The Raven Banner: A Tale of Asgard written by
Alan Zelenetz and published by
Marvel Comics in 1985,
The Book of Night, published by
Dark Horse Comics in 1987, He painted the cover of the debut issue of
Web of Spider-Man (April 1985), wrote and drew a backup story in
The Amazing Spider-Man #277 (June 1986), and crafted the
Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth graphic novel (1990). In 1991 he illustrated the official comic-book adaptation of
Steven Spielberg’s
Hook and had an eleven issue run (#129–139) as cover artist of
Swamp Thing by
DC Comics in 1993. and worked on three issues of Gaiman's critically acclaimed
The Sandman series.
Sandman #19 ("
A Midsummer Night's Dream") is a meta-fictional adaptation of
William Shakespeare's play and in 1991, that issue won the
World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story, the only comic book to hold the honor, as award organizers subsequently amended the rules to specifically exclude comics. Vess contributed eight drawings for a prose-based inset that appeared in
Sandman #62 ("
The Kindly Ones: 6") and illustrated the final issue of the series,
Sandman #75, a second Shakespeare adaptation ("
The Tempest"). He drew the covers for the
Books of Faerie spin-off series ''Molly's Story'' (1999).
Stardust Between 1997 and 1998 the collaboration between Vess and Gaiman continued in the four-part series
Stardust, a prose novella to which Vess contributed 175 paintings. The series was collected and published in trade paperback form by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.
Stardust won an
Alex Award from the
American Library Association. It received a
Mythopoeic Award, and Vess was given the 1999
World Fantasy Award for Best Artist for his work on the series. In 1999, Vess's own
Green Man Press produced a portfolio as a benefit for his wife Karen, injured in a car accident, titled
A Fall of Stardust, which contained two
chapbooks and a series of art plates.
Blueberry Girl Between 2004 and 2007 Vess adapted a poem by Neil Gaiman into a children's book,
Blueberry Girl. The book was published by
HarperCollins in 2009.()
Tales and Sagas Beginning in 1995 Vess self-published a biannual series of comics entitled
The Book of Ballads and Sagas through his Green Man Press. The book was published in October 2018, and won a 2019 Locus Award for Best Art Book and a 2019 Hugo Award for Best Art Book. Harris describes the process of working with Vess as follows:Through the lens of Charles' art, the Silken Folk of my stories are neither entirely human, nor overly insectile: and their beauty is slightly monstrous, yet altogether bewitching. I think illustrations give a different dimension to a text: translating them from simple print into the stuff of dreams (and nightmares). In the case of
Honeycomb, Charles has brought my dreams to life. I can think of no finer magic than this. ==Influences==