Citrus Heights, California, located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento, is a relatively young area; in fact, the fruit-inspired fledgling city only recently achieved its cityhood in 1997. While Citrus Heights may be young, that doesn’t mean the city’s youth isn’t well-equipped. Citrus Heights tutors can prepare all students for full scholastic achievement and bright futures.
Though Citrus Heights inspires bright futures and images of cheerful and seemingly endless sunny summer days, this cheery burgeoning municipality is the hometown of one of the Dark Knight’s–aka Batman’s– most prolific comic artists, Kelley Jones.
Growing up, Jones was inspired by his brother’s comic book issues of Marvel’s Greatest Comics and Marvel’s Collector’s Item Classics. He began sketching and drawing his versions of the superheroes and villains, and at a comic convention in San Francisco, Kelley was able to show his work to Marshall Rogers, a famous comic book artist well-known for his Batman illustrations. Rogers, impressed by the young man’s talent, encouraged Kelley, telling him he could one day be a great Batman artist in his own right.
Kelley’s extensive career has seen him through major and indie comics companies, work with established and original characters, exciting collaborations with authors like Neil Gaiman on The Sandman series and Doug Moench on multiple Batman tales including Batman: Dark Joker the Wild and the vampire Batman trilogy beginning with Batman & Dracula: Red Rain. Moench and Jones’ work together suits Jones’ dark, gothic style which lends itself well to grislier adaptations of characters, like the more horror-oriented Dark Knight of their design.
Well-known for his revamping of the character, Deadman, and his gothic portrayal of Batman, Jones’ style tends to favor style and mood over realism. Jones’ career has seen multiple collaborations and crossovers, series and retellings. More recently, Jones has drawn the series The Crusades, collaborating with writer Steven T. Seagle, as well as the four-issue miniseries The 13th Son and the graphic novel adaptation of The Messengers and the mini-series Conan: The Book of Thoth, both for the comics company, Dark Horse.
Talent and passion are two sides of one coin, and Kelley Jones has clearly honed his natural gifts to pursue his zeal for comics and illustration. A former citizen of Citrus Heights, Kelley Jones is testament to what focus, hard work, and determination can accomplish. Citrus Heights tutoring can help students succeed in the classroom, allowing them the opportunity to pursue their passions and hone their talents, much like Citrus Heights’ own Kelley Jones.