Tim Sale was born on May 1 1956 in Ithaca, New York. His father was the literary critic and author Roger Sale. His uncle was author Kirkpatrick Sale. He spent most of his childhood in Seattle. He attended the University of Washington for two years before moving to New York City and attending the School of Visual Arts. He began his artistic career in 1983, providing artwork for the comic book adaptation of the novel series MythAdventures and then the comic book adaptation of the shared universe book series Thieves' World. In 1988 he drew an issue of the comic book Grendel. He later became the series' regular artist.
It was in 1991 that DC Comics editor Elliot S! Maggin hired Tim Sale for the mini-series Challengers of the Unknown. The writer on the miniseries was screenwriter Jeph Loeb, who co-wrote the films Teen Wolf (1985) and Commando (1987), among other movies. Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb would become frequent collaborators, including Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, Superman for All Seasons, and others. At DC Comics would work on such projects as the 1992 story arc "Blades" in Legends of the Dark Knight, the story arc "Misfits" in Shadow of the Bat, and the Wildstorm title Deathblow,
In 1995 Tim Sale illustrated the Wolverine/Gambit miniseries at Marvel. It was from 1996 to 1997 that Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb created the miniseries Batman: The Long Halloween. The yearlong miniseries received considerable acclaim and is now regarded as a classic. In 1998 they collaborated on the miniseries Superman for All Seasons. That same year Tim Sale contributed to the anthology Grendel: Black, White and Red.
In 1999 Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb collaborated on the sequel to The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory. That same year they contributed a story to Vampirella: Rebirth no. 1. Over the next few years the duo would work on such projects for Marvel as Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue, and Hulk: Gray. In 2003 they contributed a backup story to JSA All Stars no. 2. In 2004 they collaborated on Catwoman: When in Rome, and the first issue of Solo. Their last comic book collaboration was on Captain America: White for Marvel. When Jeph Loeb became a writer and co-executive producer on the NBC TV series Heroes, Tim Sale's artwork would be featured on the show.
Beyond his collaborations with Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale also worked on Superman Confidential, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers, and Tales of the Batman: Tim Sale. He provided covers for The Foot Soldiers no. 3, Adventures of Superman no 597, Batgirl no. 21, Detective Comics no. 763, Harley Quinn no. 13, JSA no. 29, The Spectre no. 10, Flinch no. 5, El Diablo no. 1-4, Queen & Country no. 1-4, Detective Comics no. 777-796, Batgirl no. 69-73, and various issues of Batman vol 3.
Tim Sale was one of the greatest comic book artists to emerge in the past few decades. His style was different from anyone else in the industry and immediately identifiable. His style was tight and he often made use of strong contrasts between light and dark in his work. He was not afraid to use caricature from time to time in his art. More than anything else, Tim Sale's art emphasized the characters and moved the story forward. In some respects his artwork was more reminiscent of painting than traditional comic book artwork.
Tim Sale was well loved by his fellow comic book creators, and his fans as well. He was known for his kindness and friendliness to his fans, and many left conventions with sketches he had done. If so many comic book professionals and fans are mourning Tim Sale, it's not simply because he was a great artist. It is because he was a great man.
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