Travis Charest (born 1969) is a Canadian comic book penciller, inker and painter, known for his work on such books as Darkstars, WildC.A.T.s, Grifter/Shi, WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Golden Age, The Metabarons, and The Ambassadors. He is known for his detailed line work and muted color palette, and is a much sought-after cover artist, having done extensive cover work for many other books, such as various Star Wars series from Dark Horse Comics. His work has influenced artists such as Chrissie Zullo, Shelby Robertson, and David Marquez.

Charest was born in 1969 on a farm in the small Canadian town of Leduc, Alberta. His parents held various jobs, though he has stated that his mother and sister were skilled designers, and attributes his early childhood interest in drawing to them.

His earliest exposure to genre illustration came through Metal Hurlant, which his uncle collected. American comics were not among his earliest reading, and his initial drawings were of life, such as animals.

Charest did not initially know how to parlay his drawing ability into a career, as there were no schools where he lived for such an endeavor, and did not foresee it as a profession. He worked a number of dead-end jobs, and it was while living on his own at age 18 or 19, and became friends with people who read comics, that he realized he could make a career out of it. Charest cites Mike Mignola, Adam Hughes, and Brian Bolland among his artistic influences, as well as many artists from the early 20th century.

Charest spent six months continuously producing new sample art and sending them to various publishers, including Marvel Comics and DC Comics. He was selling plumbing supplies at the time he got his big break in the comics industry. In 1992 he got his first paid work, when DC Comics hired him to provide the art for a Flash story in Showcase '93 #3 (March 1993). Charest drew the book from a full script, which he said meant that he did not have to make as many storytelling choices as he would have with a plot script, explaining in a 2020 interview, "My weak point is storytelling, I'm not a great storyteller. I'm good with cars and atmospheric things."

He followed that initial Flash story with another one that appeared in Flash Annual #5 (August 1992), which he calls "my first real thing", and then a story focusing on an arm wrestling match between the Hulk and the Thing written by Peter David in Incredible Hulk Annual #18.

In 1993 Charest became the regular artist on Darkstars, illustrating issues 4 - 7. The job was Charest's first monthly work, and saw him take over the book from Larry Stroman, the inaugural artist of the book and designer of the look of the Darkstars. The book's creative staff had wanted a Storman emulator, but series writer Michael Jan Friedman describes their change of mind when they came across Charest's work, telling Comics Scene in a 1987 interview, "When Larry left, we were thinking of finding someone who could work in his style. But then when Travis came along, we saw his art was nothing like Larry's—but his stuff could be great. We wanted him to put his own stamp on this book, and I think he has really done it. Charest expressed surprise at how he obtained his first monthly series work so soon after breaking into the field, stating in a 1987 interview in Comics Scene, "I never thought I would get my own book this fast. I was sure I would be doing fill-in work for a long time—it was a surprise to get this big a break...The whole thing, from phoning me to Darkstars, took about three months. Any time I look at my covers or the Flash Annual, I sit there and go, 'Holy smoke! I've got a book!' At Christmas [1991], I was selling plumbing supplies—now I'm pencilling a book I think will take off."

During this same period he also produced cover work for other DC titles such as The Outsiders, Batman, and Detective Comics.