Lou Manna has been a professional artist for the past 25 years. He began his career as an assistant to comic book artist Jim Janes on DC Comics' popular series THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES. Later, Lou went on to assist artist Rich Buckler, working with him on Marvel and DC Comics titles such as All STAR SQUADRON and WORLD'S FINEST and WHAT IFs.

After about two years of assisting, Lou was ready to make a break and he began to get regular assignments at DC Comics working for a few years on DC's mystery line of books, The House of Secrets, The Unexpected, and The House of Mystery. This led to Lou getting a call from Marvel Comics where he went on to draw a few Spider Man books, and later on the popular X-Men character Rogue.

At this time Lou was asked to plot and draw the first revival of Wally Wood's cult series the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. agents. He was responsible for plotting and illustrating the new series and was the associate editor on the titles as well. The books received rave notices but the series was plagued with problems and was around for only a few issues.

Lou went back to DC Comics where he began a run on Roy Thomas's series, The YOUNG ALL-STARS and Lou penciled the INFINITY INC. ANNUAL, as well as a few issues of that title. Lou also drew a few issues of DC's Who's Who series.

Lou left the comic field and entered the corporate world when he accepted a position as the Creative Service Director of the Chase Manhattan Bank, where he was responsible for the look of the creative service department and the increasing high end work in both their advertising and media center. He later moved on to become the Graphics Manager of Accenture, a world-class consulting firm. Lou went on to work for dozens of other clients, including Barkley's Bank, Oppenheimer Capital, The New York Mets, Elmherst General Hospital, and many others.

But his love for the comic media always stayed with him, and he often produced small jobs for independent companies just to keep his creative hand in the comic world.

In 2000, Lou decided he wanted back in and drew a self-published creator owned series named Salem St. James. Lou did it to prove to himself that he could turn out work again on a regular basis and he has been working more and more on comic related projects ever since. He later went on to work for Benington books producing a comic on political figures, which included President Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and Colin Powell. He also produced and continues to produce a series of Illustrated History Books on STATEN ISLAND for the STATUE OF LIBERTY CULTURAL ARTS ASSOCIATION AT GATEWAY. He has written and drawn 5 books so far, with several more planned. Lou also got a chance to work on one of his favorite characters, when Moonstone books asked him to draw two 48 page graphic novels on THE PHANTOM, which were released in the summer of 2003 and 2004. Lou also went on to draw the highly acclaimed series SOULCATCHER in 2005.

Entering a new stage in his creative life, Lou has accepted several new projects that appeal to his interest and has found several areas in which he can produce high-end professional quality art. Storyboards, Posters, Concepts, Comic Books, Spot Illustrations, Toy Designs, Characters and other work all are in the range of Lou's ability.

He has been a true professional for over 25 years, never missing a deadline and always producing a wide range of work. He hopes his next 25 years will bring him new and exciting projects to keep him busy for years to come.


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