Persephone AKA Red by Nick Manabat - Wetworks Sourcebook (1994)

I have FINALLY managed to get a published piece of Nick Manabat artwork and it's a beauty! This piece in particular always stuck out in my mind from this book as I loved the character of Red/Persephone and Nick's style. I was a huge fan of Nick when he first popped up at WIldstorm in those early days of Image. He even got the flipside of Jim Lee's Deathblow comic with his Cybernary title, a brilliant looking cyber-punk tale, heavy on the blacks and tech. I loved the original stories from that Cybernary mini-series and enjoyed the art immensely. I knew Nick would be one to watch. Tragically, he was cut down in his prime and his potential wasted when he died at 23. I worked at a comic shop at the time and I remember being stunned since he was so young. It was really sad. It was the first time I realized that cancer can strike anyone, anywhere, at any age. Before that, I only knew of elderly people who died of cancer, such as my great-grandmother. But 23? That seemed crazy. Definitely opened my eyes to it, and was probably why I have since helped other artists with cancer in any way I can, including organizing benefit auctions for them or just participating by buying from them in their time of need or sending Paypal donations. Cancer is an evil destroyer of lives, period.

Nick's official artist bio from comicbookdb.com sums it up better than I could, and rather simply, so I'm pasting that in here:

"Nick Manabat (1972-1995) was a Filipino American comic book artist who co-created Cybernary with writer Steve Gerber in 1992 for Wildstorm Productions. His illustration technique was marked by bold use of blacks in a heavy metal style.
Cybernary was launched as a back-up story to Jim Lee's hugely successful Deathblow comic series, but Manabat's blossoming career and life were cut short after losing his fight against lymphoma in 1995."


So Nick was another great artist taken too soon by cancer. Because of the sudden nature of the illness and death, none of his artwork made it out into collectors' hands. He was taken before he became the star he should have been. What was found of Nick's artwork was returned to Nick's family in the Philippines and the rest was lost at WIldstorm or given to artist friends of his while still here. So even the family doesn't have it all, and there is little of his work out there. The few collectors like myself that have tried to track down any art or leads know firsthand that it usually ends in a dead end. Then a fellow collector met the family and struck up a relationship. After about 10 years after Nick passed, they sold a small portion of art to that collector including the Wetworks Sourcebook pinups (including this one) and some unfinished sketches and prelims. They are still holding onto all of Nick's Cybernary art and have no plans to part with it. While I understand, it saddens me even more to know I'll never get to see any of it in person. That was the work that really showed his brilliance. But at least I got one of the 4 finished/published pieces that are out there, and that will have to do.


This piece was used in the Wetworks Sourcebook, where it was first published sideways as a double page spread with text boxes of data and such. But it was reprinted again in the Wildstorm Fine Arts Gallery book that showcased the best pieces everyone had to offer in the beginning of Wildstorm, and the pages in there are just art and color, no text. (Beautiful book for Wildstorm fans;) So I am including scans from both below, but the Gallery book version looks best of the 2 published, as it is about the art only. I also included close up shots to show the detail and beauty of Nick's work here. Enjoy!