Collection: Jim Lee Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Jim Lee is a Korean American comic book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. Born in Seoul, South Korea in 1964, he entered the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and The Punisher War Journal, before gaining popularity on The Uncanny X-Men. X-Men No. 1, the 1991 spin off series premiere that Lee penciled and co-wrote with Chris Claremont, remains the best-selling comic book of all time, according to Guinness World Records. Jim Lee attended Princeton University and received a degree in medicine, but he couldn't shake his true passion. Jim Lee wanted to draw comic books. Jim sent submissions to Marvel and was hired shortly after. His first work was on Alpha Flight, and from there he went to Punisher: War Journal, and then finally the posh illustrating gig on Uncanny X Men. His freshness and new style led to record sales, and Jim Lee was soon offered the job to pencil a brand new X-title simply called X-Men. This happened in 1991, and the 1st issue sold over one million copies, becoming the best selling comic book of all time.

Jim Lee later decided to leave Marvel and help form a new comic company called Image Comics. His own imprint became known as Wildstorm Productions, and it produced numerous hits including Wildcats, Deathblow, Team 7, Stormwatch, and Gen 13. In 1996, Jim Lee returned to do some work at Marvel and he ended up producing Heroes Reborn which led to a massive increase in Marvel sales. Jim then worked on a Wildcats/X-Men crossover, as well as other Wildstorm titles. Not long after, Jim merged his imprint with DC and has began doing work for them. Most recently, Jim has teamed up with writer Jeff Loeb on a fantastic Batman run for DC Comics. Jim Lee is currently credited with some or all of the artwork in 936 separate Comic Book issues.