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 (1993), 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 (November 1983), before moving to his own series after issue #18 (July 1984), 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 (May 1987) 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 (2013). 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. ==Bibliography==