Biography

Although Palmer has done a small amount of pencilling work (as well as some cover art and some coloring work), the vast majority of his artistic output since the 1960s has been as a comic book inker

Inker

The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...

. Especially noteworthy is Palmer's extensive work for Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

, including well-remembered runs paired with pencillers Neal Adams

Neal Adams

Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...

 on Avengers

Avengers (comics)

The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...

and Uncanny X-Men

Uncanny X-Men

Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...

; Gene Colan

Gene Colan

Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...

, on titles such as Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange

Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Strange Tales #110 ....

, Daredevil

Daredevil (Marvel Comics)

Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...

, and Tomb of Dracula

Tomb of Dracula

The Tomb of Dracula is a horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces...

; and John Buscema

John Buscema

John Buscema, born Giovanni Natale Buscema , was an American comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate...

, on the The Avengers. He also inked the entire run of John Byrne's X-Men: The Hidden Years

X-Men: The Hidden Years

X-Men: The Hidden Years was a comic book series set in the Marvel Comics universe, which starred the company's popular superhero team, the X-Men...

.

Palmer's brushy, detailed, and illustrative inking style hearkens back to vintage newspaper comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 strips like Steve Canyon

Steve Canyon

Steve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon ran from January 13, 1947 until June 4, 1988, shortly after Caniff's death...

and Tarzan

Tarzan (comics)

Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.-Comic strips:...

;, and has influenced later generations of inkers like Klaus Janson

Klaus Janson

Klaus Janson is a German-born American comic book artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies...

, Josef Rubinstein

Josef Rubinstein

Josef "Joe" Rubinstein is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.-Career:...

, and Bob McLeod.

Over the course of his career, Palmer has won several awards, including the 1969 Alley Award

Alley Award

The Alley Award was an American series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, under executive secretary Jerry Bails, and later Paul Gambaccini and David Kaler, the award...

 for Best Inking Artist. Palmer was also named the #3 Inker of American Comics by Atlas Comics.

Palmer's son Tom Palmer, Jr. is a comic book professional who was an editor for DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

.