Paul Neary

Paul Neary (18 December 1949 – 10 February 2024) was a British comic book artist, writer and editor.

His first work was for Warren Publishing in the 1970s before working with Dez Skinn at Marvel UK as well as work for 2000 AD. He later became editor-in-chief of Marvel UK in the 1990s but is now best known for inking Bryan Hitch's work on The Ultimates for Marvel Comics.

Biography
His first published work was in Warren's anthology title, Eerie, working on various stories and series including "Hunter" and its sequels, before drawing various Future Shocks for 2000AD for various writers, including Alan Moore.

In 1979 he started working on Hulk Weekly for Marvel UK which had just been drastically revamped by Dez Skinn. During this time he drew various strips for Marvel UK, including Hulk and Nick Fury, plus helping new artists such as Alan Davis.

During the early 1980s he created Madman for Dez Skinn's Warrior before becoming a regular inker for Alan Davis's work for DC Comics. Their most notable work at this time being a run drawing Batman for Detective Comics.

Neary became closely associated with Davis, inking his work from titles such as Uncanny X-Men to Captain Britain. Their working partnership lasted until his death.

Neary became editor-in-chief of Marvel UK from c. 1990–1993, helping launch a number of US-sized titles in addition to the company's ongoing UK range. This began with Death's Head II and was followed by titles such as Hell's Angel (changed to Dark Angel after a copyright battle with the Hells Angels), Warheads, Digitek and Motormouth (later Motormouth and Killpower). Sales of the comics were initially high but over-expansion soon brought an end to Marvel UK's US line, with Panini Comics buying the company's assets, including Doctor Who Magazine.

Neary had been concentrating on inking since then. He has inked Bryan Hitch's work on The Authority and regularly worked with Hitch on The Ultimates for Marvel Comics.

Paul Neary died after a long illness on 10 February 2024, at the age of 74.

Awards

 * 1989:
 * won Best Art Team Eisner Award for Excalibur (with Alan Davis)
 * won Favourite Artist (inker) US Eagle Award
 * 1999: nominated for Favourite Comic Book Artist (inking) Eagle Award
 * 2000: nominated for Favourite Comic Book Artist (inks) Eagle Award
 * 2005: won Favourite Comic Story Eagle Award for The Ultimates volume 2 #1–9 (with Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch)
 * 2006: won Favourite Comic Artist: Inks Eagle Award