Mark Schultz

Mark Schultz is an American comic book creator who is best know for his creator-owned series Xenozoic Tales.  Schultz's style matches those of classic artists like Burne Hogarth, Hal Foster, Alex Raymond, and Al Williamson.  It is unfortunate that his work on Star Wars has been limited to a few interior pages and a handful of covers.

Xenozoic Tales is a series set in a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs rule.  It was first introduced in Kitchen Sink Press' Death Rattle #8 and quickly received its own ongoing title.  Schultz is known to be a slow artist and only 14 issues of Xenozoic Tales were published in ten years.

Xenozoic Tales #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1987)

Mark Schultz provided two covers for Dark Horse's Classic Star Wars title.  Both covers show our heroes fighting creatures, which is a great fit for Schultz because he is use to drawing prehistoric animals.  The cover for Classic Star Wars #8 shows an unconscious Luke Skywalker in the tentacle of a Demonsquid while Han Solo comes to Luke's rescue.  The Demonsquid looks more like an octopus than a squid, but the depiction on the cover matches the creature inside the book.

Classic Star Wars #8a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1993)

The cover for Star Wars #17 shows Luke Skywalker trying to free who he believes is Tanith Shire against another tentacled menace.  The acknowledgement page inside says the cover is by Mark Schultx.

Classic Star Wars #17a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1994)

Star Wars (1998) #13 - 18 contain the story arc, Emissaries to Malastare.  Star Wars #17 contains the first appearance of Quinlan Vos who would go on to be the main character for many of the future story arcs.  Mark Schultz only provides covers for the first 5 issues in this 6-part story.  These covers were done after Mark Schultz's last issue on Xenozoic Tales and show much of the dynamic anatomy that Schultz was known for in that series.

Star Wars #13a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1999)

Star Wars #14a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (January 2000)

Star Wars #15a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 2000)

Star Wars #16a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 2000)

Star Wars #17a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 2000)

Mark Schultz is working on a new Xenozoic Tales comic.  Having collected the entire 14 issues of the first series, I am looking forward to seeing more of his work on his signature series.