Kei Zama

For other uses, see Kei (disambiguation) and Zama.

"I'm excited to be celebrating Pride Month with Star Wars! For real, I'm definitely a big fan of the prequel trilogy; I have such a special fondness for Episodes I to III, so drawing characters from The Phantom Menace for this cover was a very cool experience."

―Kei Zama^[3]

Kei Zama is a Japanese comic book artist who has worked on several Star Wars projects for Marvel Comics as an illustrator and cover artist, including War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss 1, Life Day 1, and Doctor Aphra (2020) 21. They enjoy the prequel trilogy films and appreciated the experience of drawing characters from the 1999 prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace for the Pride Month variant cover of Darth Vader (2020) 24.

Biography[]

"Star Wars comic covers I did so far. Especially 4-LOM and Zuckuss cover is my favorite!! I love bug bros"

―Kei Zama^[4]

Kei Zama is a Japanese comic book artist.^[2] They^[1] are a Star Wars fan, especially of the prequel trilogy films.^[3] Zama's favorite female Star Wars character is^[5] the Mandalorian^[6] Bo-Katan Kryze, indicating they would love to be able to draw her or some clone troopers on a project someday.^[5] They also collect Star Wars: The Black Series action figures,^[7] many of which feature prequel era characters.^[6]^[7]

DarthVader2020-24-variant-Zama — Zama's Pride Month variant cover for *Darth Vader* (2020) 24

Zama penciled and inked War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss 1, a one-shot comic issue released as part of the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters crossover event featuring issues from the Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, Star Wars: Darth Vader, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, and Star Wars comic series. The issue was written by Daniel José Older and released by Marvel Comics on August 4, 2021.^[8] The artist was especially fond of drawing^[4] the bounty hunters^[6] 4-LOM and Zuckuss for the cover.^[4] Zama also illustrated "Gift of Light," the third story included in the one-shot comic book Life Day 1, which was written by Jody Houser and released by Marvel Comics^[9] on November 24, 2021,^[10] after having been announced as the story's artist the week before.^[11]

The artist created a Japanese creator cover variant for the twenty-first issue of the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic series, written by Alyssa Wong and released by Marvel Comics. They were first revealed to be working on the cover on February 16, 2022, in a StarWars.com preview,^[12] while the issue itself was later released on June 29 of that year.^[13] Zama's linework for the piece was colored by Rachelle Rosenberg.^[14] The artist also drew a Pride Month variant cover for the twenty-fourth issue of the Star Wars: Darth Vader comic series,^[3] an installation that was written by Greg Pak and released by Marvel Comics on the same day.^[15] The artist's line work for the cover was colored by Rosenberg,^[16] and a StarWars.com preview first announced them as the cover's artist on March 15, 2022.^[17] They were grateful for the opportunity to work on the project to celebrate Pride Month, especially fond of their experience drawing characters from^[3] the 1999 prequel trilogy film^[18] Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, including^[3] the Naboo^[19] Sabé, Saché, and Yané.^[3] On May 4, 2023, out of the Star Wars covers they had illustrated up until this point, they felt War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss 1 was their favorite.^[4]

Works[]

Bibliography[]

Year	Title	Contribution
2021	War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss 1	Penciller and inker^[8]
2021	"Gift of Light" — Life Day 1	Penciller and inker^[9]
2022	Darth Vader (2020) 24	Pride Month variant cover artist^[3]
2022	Doctor Aphra (2020) 21	Japanese creator variant cover artist^[12]