Gary Chaloner

Gary Chaloner was born on 30 March 1963 in Sydney, Australia, and has built a multifaceted career as a comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He is best known for creating his own characters—The Jackaroo, Flash Damingo, Red Kelso, and The Undertaker Morton Stone—and for his later work reviving Will Eisner’s John Law. Chaloner began self-publishing in 1985 as part of the Cyclone Comics collective. His early professional credits include illustrating an issue of Mike Baron’s *Badger* for First Comics, work on Eternity’s *Ninja High School*, and the writer/artist role on *Planet of the Apes: Urchak’s Folly*. With writer Stephen Jewell, he drew Epic Comics’ *The Olympians*. In 1994, he served as Australian editor for Dark Horse’s *Dark Horse Down Under* anthology, which featured his creation The Undertaker Morton Stone with artist Ashley Wood. He later inked a story in Marvel’s *Generation X Annual* and drew a Batman story for DC’s *Power Company*. A significant collaboration began in 2002 when he worked directly with Will Eisner to develop new stories for John Law, Lady Luck, and Mr. Mystic, first published online and then collected by IDW in 2004. In 2005, Chaloner founded the Ledger Awards (now the Comic Arts Awards of Australia) to recognize achievement in Australian comics; he stepped down from the organizing committee in 2023 to focus on his health and new creative projects. His later work includes writing and drawing *Breckinridge Elkins: Mountain Man* for Dark Horse’s *Robert E. Howard’s Savage Sword*. Chaloner remains active in the industry, with credits spanning 1990 to 2025.