Editor's note: The Norman Rockwell Museum provided source material to Resource Library for the following article. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material, please contact The Norman Rockwell Museum directly through either this phone number or web address:



 

LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel

November 10, 2007 - May 26, 2008

 

Labels from the exhibition

 
Jessica Abel
What Can I Get You Miss? 2006
Set in Mexico City, La Perdida is the compelling tale of a young American woman hoping to find a sense of personal and cultural identity in the country of her estranged father. Energized by new experiences in an exciting, unfamiliar world, she remains in Mexico far longer than planned, and is ultimately drawn into dire circumstances that leave her and her friends forever changed. Carla begins her turbulent adventure in this series of brush and ink drawings as she struggles to place a simple lunch order in Spanish.
 
Illustration for La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Jessica Abel
The Terrible Pain 2006
A fictional story originally published in serialized form, La Perdida was inspired by creator Jessica Abel's own experiences in Mexico City, where she and her husband, fellow graphic novelist Matt Madden, lived from 1998 to 2000. The artist's Mexico diaries filled with letters written to family, friends, and readers provided detailed descriptions of events that would later appear in her art. An inspirational visit to the home of Frida Kahlo is remembered in this drawing, which reflects young Carla's admiration for the artist.
 
Illustration for La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Jessica Abel
It's Raining 2006
An avid comic book reader since childhood, Jessica Abel "devoured" everything from Wonder Woman to Casper and Richie Rich in her youth and created illustrated books of her own design. During her years at the University of Chicago, she published comics in Breakdown, a student anthology, and in 1992, Artbabe was born. Initially self-published and produced for seven years, this series of fictional short stories in comic book form has been collected in two volumes, Soundtrack and Mirror, Window. Jessica Abel is the recipient of prestigious Harvey Awards and Lulu Awards for her achievements in comics.
 
Illustration for La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Jessica Abel
So We Had Fun 2006
When creating comics and graphic novels, Jessica Abel begins by writing and revising her scripts on the computer. After text segments are established, thumbnail sketches including word balloons are drawn for each page. Loose sketches are gradually refined and scenic details are added before the lettering process begins. Once designs are finalized, panels and drawings are inked. As is evident here, depth within frames can be established by using bold, fluid brush strokes to emphasize foreground elements, and by creating the detailed delineation of backgrounds with a steel nib pen. Spot blacks provide an effective balance of light and dark within each composition.
 
Illustration for La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Jessica Abel
Bye 2006
Illustration for La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Jessica Abel
After a Few Days 2006
Illustration for La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Sue Coe
Sheep of Fools 2005
A true believer in the power of media to affect change, Sue Coe is one of the foremost political artists working today. Born in Tamworth, England, she studied at the Royal College of Art in London, and has dedicated her career to bringing significant social issues to light in visual form. Working primarily in drawing and printmaking and in illustrated books and comics, she is a graphic witness to realities that are often overlooked or avoided, particularly relating to civil and animal rights.
 
Sue Coe's unflinching art documentaries have provided thought-provoking commentary about subjects as diverse as factory farming and the meat packing industry, apartheid, the AIDS epidemic, sweat shops, the prison system, and the politics of war. A frequent contributor to World War 3 Illustrated, she has also published her imagery in The Progressive, Mother Jones, Blab, The New York Times, Time, and Newsweek, and sales of the artist's paintings and prints have benefited many important causes. This gently unsettling scene of a shepherd and his flock appears on the title page of Sheep of Fools, a precursor of all that is to come.
 
Title page illustration for Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody
Gouache, watercolor, and collaged lithograph on board
Courtesy of Gallery St. Etienne, New York
 
Sue Coe
Goats Before Sheep 2005
Sue Coe's Sheep of Fools documents the horrific conditions that animals endure within the commercial sheep farming industry. In storybook format, a series of annotated songs with rhyming couplets describe the processes and economies behind the slaughter of sheep throughout history. Factual detail, derived from intensive study, is blended with allegorical symbolism and an expressionist graphic style that exudes power. Color is sparingly used, as the artist believes it can counter the impact of strong content.
 
Illustration for Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody
Gouache, watercolor, and varnish on paper
Courtesy of Gallery St. Etienne, New York
 
Sue Coe
Abandon Ship (Sheep) 2005
"As an artist," Sue Coe has commented, "I have done much social realismfor magazines and newspapers in the United States covering war and AIDS and many other neglected ills, but the main body of my work has been about animals, especially farm animals. I don't think there was one defining moment, it was many moments." As a girl, Coe lived next door to a factory farm for pigs and just a block away from a slaughterhouse. The ever-present cries of the animals were unforgettable, an early memory that has inspired deep empathy and has informed her art.
A work of biblical proportions, this drawing references the separation of "the sheep from the goats" in Matthew 25:31-46, and offers a contemporary reminder that four hundred thousand sheep die from the stress of travel each year.
 
Illustration for Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody
Graphite, gouache, and watercolor on board
Courtesy of Gallery St. Etienne, New York
 
Sue Coe
Unloading 2004
Illustration for Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody
Graphite, gouache, and watercolor on board
Courtesy of Gallery St. Etienne, New York
 
Sue Coe
Fleeced 2004
Illustration for Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody
Graphite, gouache, and watercolor on board
Courtesy of Gallery St. Etienne, New York
 
Robert Crumb
Zap #12 (Cave Wimp) 1988
The founder of the underground comix movement, Robert Crumb is an icon of 1960s counterculture and one of the most distinctive comic artists of all time. His brilliant drawings earned him immediate cult status, and his influential art and career has unfolded largely outside the mainstream. When they first appeared, Crumb's images reflected the mood of the era by rejecting conformity and socially accepted mores.
 
Inspired to draw by his older brother Charles, who was an avid comic book fan, Crumb self-published his first issue of Zap Comix in 1968. Originally sold in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, from a baby stroller pushed by the artist and his wife, Zap #1 was unlike any other comic. It read, "Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only," and premiered Crumb's legendary Mr. Natural and Keep On Truckin' art. After its initial success, Zap began publishing the work of other comic creators and appeared sporadically over the years-the best known of the underground genre.
 
Illustration for Zap #12
Ink on paper
Courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries (HA.com)
 
Robert Crumb
Yum YumBook 1963
Drawn when he was just nineteen years old, Robert Crumb's Yum Yum Book tells the tale of Oggie and the Beanstalk, an adult adaptation of the classic fable. "Amidst the pushing, shoving, creeping, hopping, crawling, scurrying, slithering mob," its text reads, "moved a sad, hung up toad named Ogden." Oggie eventually found love, as did the artist himself. Crumb met his first wife, Dana Morgan, shortly after completing this rare early work, though the book was not published until 1975.
 
Illustrated book
Ink and colored pencil on paper
Courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries (HA.com)
 
Howard Cruse
There Was No Help 1995
Howard Cruse was raised in Springfield, Alabama, the son of a preacher and a homemaker who valued education and encouraged his penchant for drawing from childhood. An avid comic book reader in his youth, he published his first cartoons in
The Baptist Student while still in high school, and gained popular acclaim in the 1970s through his art for underground comics.
 
Cartooning offered the opportunity to address societal issues that were personally meaningful to the artist "without inhibiting editorial constraints." He has served as the editor of Gay Comix, an anthology featuring the art of gay and lesbian cartoonists, and is the creator of Wendell, a strip about an irrepressible homosexual man that appeared in The Advocate, a gay newsmagazine.
 
Illustration for Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Ink on paper
Collection of Howard Cruse
 
Howard Cruse
Four Hours?! 1995
Stuck Rubber Baby tells the tale of Toland Polk, a young man coming of age in the American south during the 1960s, whose growing awareness of racial injustice and his own homosexuality places him at a crossroads. The book, which took four years to complete, represents an extraordinary personal commitment for the artist that was well worth his efforts. "In drawing the book, I was doing something with emotions and feelings that had been built up for twenty years. I had watched the civil rights movement play out in Birmingham during my high school and college years, and it changed my life. It made me aware of the impact that street activism can have on a culture." In the wake of that experience, "when the gay movement started gaining speed, I was motivated to be a part of it because I knew it could actually accomplish something." The graphic novel format provided a canvas on which to express his ideas.
 
Illustration for Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Ink on paper
Collection of Howard Cruse
 
Howard Cruse
Orley?? 1995
Illustration for Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Ink on paper
Collection of Howard Cruse
 
Howard Cruse
Jesus! 1995
Howard Cruse's precise, volumetric drawings take readers on a cinematic journey through each scene in his book. Extreme close-ups call attention to nuanced gestures and expressions that engage readers with his fully realized characters. A 1962 photograph of the artist's long-time friend provided the visual inspiration for Toland's sister, Melanie, who appears on this page. "Whenever possible, I tried to find a real, flesh-and-blood human being to use as the basis for any new character in Stuck Rubber Baby, the better to short circuit (or at least inhibit) the unconscious importation of old stylistic habits."
 
Illustration for Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Ink on paper
Collection of Howard Cruse
 
Howard Cruse
The Walk Gave Us Talking Time 1995
Illustration for Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Ink on paper
Collection of Howard Cruse
 
Howard Cruse
You Did Seem Upset 1995
Illustration for Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse
Ink on paper
Collection of Howard Cruse
Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
Strange Tales c1965
Strange Tales was the name given to a popular, long-running series published by Marvel Comics that showcased science fiction and suspense stories and introduced the mysterious Doctor Strange. The issues here are the product of collaboration between two comics giants-Stan Lee, a noted author and a visionary chairman of Marvel Comics, and Steve Ditko, an acclaimed comic book artist and writer. Spider-Man is just one among their many superhero creations.
 
Marvel Comics
Courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Museum
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 1 1947
Known as one of the most innovative and influential comic contributors of all time,
Will Eisner is the creator of The Spirit, a legendary weekly serial that began publication in 1940. Chronicling the adventures of masked crime-fighter and urban detective Denny Colt, The Spirit appeared as the lead story of a sixteen page comic book insert in Sunday newspapers for a decade, until1952.
 
Many storytelling conventions that are used by comic artists today were originated in Will Eisner's series. The Spirit offered a detailed view of a gritty metropolis, inspired the artist's own observations in his native New York. Populated by regular people who might otherwise be overlooked, his stories are real-life dramas that play out on city streets, in tenements, and in smoke-filled back rooms. Creative experimentation with a range of narrative styles-from crime drama, film noir, and mystery to adventure, romance, and comedy-kept readers intrigued and coming back for more.
 
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 2 1947
Will Eisner considered himself "a graphic witness reporting on life, death, heartbreak, and the never ending struggle to prevail." His childhood years were also formative ones for comics. Born in 1917 in New York City, Eisner read newspaper comic strips as a boy, a popular form of entertainment. At that time, many comic classics of the golden age had not even debuted, and the term "comic book" had not yet been coined.
To supplement his family's income, Eisner sold newspapers on Wall Street and brought home several papers each day. An avid reader, he noted that his "first true influences were the stories by Horatio Alger[whose] message was that you can rise above your circumstances and find success through your own diligence and hard work. As a kid in the ghetto, that spoke directly to me."
 
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 3 1947
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 4 1947
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 5 1947
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 6 1947
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
Baxter's Perfect Crime 7 1947
Illustration for The Spirit, January 5, 1947
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
The Street Singer 1 1978
Published in 1978, A Contract with God is one of the first and most influential American graphic novels. A hallmark publication, the book is comprised of four thematically linked short stories set in a Bronx tenement in Depression era New York. Semi-autobiographical, Will Eisner's wrenching tales about the urban struggle for survival are drawn from the artist's own childhood memories and experiences.
 
Inspired by the 1930s book length visual narratives created by graphic artists Frans Masareel and Lynd Ward, Eisner became interested in the broader storytelling potential of sequential art. He also recognized that aging fans of the comic medium were seeking "something more than two heroes, two supermen, crashing against each other. I began working on a book that dealt with a subject that had never been tried by comics before," he said, "and that was man's relationship with God." In a futile attempt to engage a mainstream publisher, he called the book a "graphic novel."
 
Illustration for A Contract With God, and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
The Street Singer 2 1978
A story of loss and longing, The Street Singer appeared as the second vignette in the original publication of A Contract with God. The artist's masterful full-page and multiple-image drawings remember the wandering minstrels who sang songs and arias in the alleys between buildings during the Depression. "As a boy, I often tossed a penny down into our back alley for the man who regularly appeared there to sing.To me, he brought a bit of theatrical glamour to the grim alley."
 
Illustration for A Contract With God, and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
The Street Singer 4 1978
Illustration for A Contract With God, and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Will Eisner (1917-2005)
The Street Singer 5 1978
Will Eisner spent his professional life combining and refining words and pictures. His early work in newspaper comics and comic books allowed him to entertain millions of readers weekly, but he always felt there was more to say. He pioneered the use of comics for instructional manuals for American soldiers, covering three major wars, and later used comics to educate children. At an age when he could have retired, he decided instead to create literary comics. "Acceptance has not been easy," he wrote, "but I have seen it arrive in my lifetime."
 
Illustration for A Contract With God, and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner
Ink and gouache on paper
Collection of The Will Eisner Estate
 
Brian Fies
One Question Hangs in the Air 2006
An award-winning graphic novel, Mom's Cancer is based upon the artist's copious documentation of the diagnosis and treatment of his mother's metastatic lung cancer. Poignant and direct, the story reveals how serious illness affects both patients and their families as they cope with their emotions and their new roles as caregivers.
 
An accomplished science writer and journalist who always loved to draw, Brian Fies introduced Mom's Cancer as a serialized Internet comic in 2004 as a way of sharing his personal experiences with a broader audience. Readership grew rapidly, often by word of mouth. "Many readers wrote to tell me how surprised and relieved they were to learn they weren't alone," said Fies, who is gratified that his family's story has offered others solace and inspiration.
 
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
Push, Balance, Pull 2006
As a science and technical writer for such publications as Sky & Telescope, Physics World, and Power Engineering, Brian Fies typically breaks down complex concepts to make them more accessible for readers. In creating Mom's Cancer, he distilled a vast number of experiences and observations to their essence in order to communicate them effectively. "I work on that. In both writing and cartooning, my first inclination is to do too much."
 
Fies refined drawings and compositions are subject to a rigorous editing process. He often creates several drafts of each image, striving to include fewer lines and less clutter in every iteration.
 
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
I Used to Wonder 2006
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
Nurse Sis and I Talk 2006
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
When the Big Day Comes 2006
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
The Impressive Hospital Doctors 2006
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
Mom Smoked 2006
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
A Small Surprise 2006
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Brian Fies
Chemotherapy 2006
This image and the concept of creating a graphic novel were inspired by a sketch made when Brian Fies accompanied his mother to a chemotherapy treatment. Drawn on location at a medical facility, it captured the experience in a single frame, complete with personal and pharmaceutical accoutrements. Wanting to use the expressive power of words and images to tell his family's story, he broached the idea with his mother, who was supportive. In 2005, she wrote the book's afterword. "To have my soft underbelly exposed was difficult," she said. "Then I realized that I was still anonymous-just 'Mom' unless I chose to tell someone. My pride in Brian's work and fascination with the depth of the story made the telling worthwhile." She had given the book her blessing, but passed away just days before it was completed.
 
Illustration for Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Milt Gross (1895-1953)
Right Kind of Immigrants c1930
Milt Gross was a comic artist, illustrator, and animator whose well-loved humorous strips were among most uproarious of all time. Born in the Bronx in 1895, Gross began his career in the artists' bullpen at The New York Journal but his popularity soared with Gross Exaggerations, an illustrated column that appeared in the New York World. The feature's Yiddish-inspired language twists and retelling of classic stories, from Nice ferry-tail from Elledin witt de wanderful lamp to Jack witt de binn stuck, were enormously popular, and were gathered in Nize Baby, a 1926 book that became a color comic strip for the Sunday papers.
 
In the 1930s, Gross worked for Heart Publications and offered beleaguered Americans more than a dose of humor with Count Screwloose of Tooloose, Dave's Delicatessen, Otto and Blotto, and That's My Pop! A celebrity in his time, he also wrote scripts for Hollywood movies, worked in radio, and created animated cartoons featuring his own characters.
 
Editorial cartoon
Watercolor and ink on board
Collection of Craig Yoe
 
Milt Gross (1895-1953)
Auto Safety Drive c1930
Editorial cartoon
Ink on paper
Collection of Craig Yoe
 
Milt Gross (1895-1953)
He Done Her Wrong 1930
A masterpiece of the artist's career, He Done Her Wrong is a wordless illustrated book that Gross himself coined The Great American Novel (with no words). His swift-moving picture story of a trapper hero who saves a dance hall heroine from a fate worse than death is told with skill and verve, and filled with visual puns inspired by the vaudeville tradition and silent movies.
 
Illustrated book inscribed with an original pencil drawing
Collection of Craig Yoe
 
Niko Henrichon
Get Away 2006
In the spring of 2003, a pride of starving lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo after being abandoned with hundreds of other animals during bombing raids on city. After digging their way to freedom, they roamed the devastated streets of Baghdad and were later shot by American troops. Lushly illustrated by Niko Henrichon, Brian K. Vaughn's emotionally charged text was inspired by these events and "born out of the fact that I had a lot of conflicted feelings about the war. The book is about me exploring those questions."
 
Pride of Baghdad opens with a peaceful scene of a sun-drenched savanna, disrupted only by a bird's urgent warning that "the sky is falling." A lion stares in disbelief with no premonition of what is to come in this compelling contemporary parable.
 
Illustration for Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Ink and blue pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Niko Henrichon
So This is Paradise? 2006
As in classic fables, animals offer multiple viewpoints in Pride of Baghdad, and deliver the tale's emotional message. The vulnerability of even the most Disneyesque in style rather than content, the narrative follows the tale of Zill, Safa, Noor, and Ali, a family of lions who give voice to universal human emotions.
Illustration for Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Ink and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Niko Henrichon
Don't Thank Me Yet 2006
An emerging graphic novelist, Niko Henrichon is also an illustrator of The Adventures of P.T. Barnum, 19th Century Agent for the U.S. Government, which appeared in 2003. He found the script for Pride of Baghdad to be precise and detailed, and kept the book's panels to a minimum "to produce fluid storytelling, nice compositions, and rich backgrounds."
 
After refining his initial sketches, Henrichon began the process of creating full size images on standard Bristol comic board. His drawings are first laid down lightly in non-reproducible blue pencil and then inked. "I can use a broad range of tools like pencils, markers, and brushes, and keep the line art very light." Shadows and atmospheric effects are added during the coloring process. The artist's warm palette reflects a sense of the desert that surrounds the city of Baghdad.
 
Illustration for Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Ink and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Niko Henrichon
Get Out of Here Now 2006
Illustration for Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Ink and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Niko Henrichon
Baghdad City Scape 2006
Illustration for Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Ink and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Marc Hempel
Breathtaker 1990
Breathtaker tells the story of Chase Darrow, a woman whose affections are known to kill. A mutant pursued by the government because of her ability to drain life from her lovers, she is hunted by The Man, the world's first superhuman, who is willing to bring her in dead or alive. Mark Hempel's vibrant cover illustration conveys the magnetism of the story's heroine, who renders her victims powerless.
 
Cited by animators, filmmakers, and artists as an influential work for its unique approach to visual storytelling, Breathtaker stands out as a successful collaboration between two talented artists. Mark Wheatley's emotional narrative suited Hempel perfectly, allowing plenty of room for personal expression. The artist enjoys the opportunity to interpret stories filled with drama and conflict, a contrast to his more humorous or satirical comics like Naked Brain and Tug and Buster.
 
Cover illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Gouache, color pencil, and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Marc Hempel
Breathtaker 1990
Cover study for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink, marker, and pencil on paper
Collection of the Insight Studios
 
Mark Wheatley
Breathtaker 1990
An award-winning creator of "radical comic books," Marc Wheatley loved reading the tales of Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman that were passed among neighborhood children during his youth. He began developing his storytelling abilities in the fifth grade, determined to write and draw his own comic book issues to fill in the gaps between the few serialized publications that he owned at the time. His love of stories was inspired adventure fiction like The Swiss Family Robinson (1812), which he taught himself to read at the age of six, and by the works of Talbot Mundy (1879-1940) and Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Mark Wheatley wrote the text for Breathtaker, an inspired action/adventure story that draws upon themes of love and loss.
Mark Wheatley's comic book creations include Frankensein Mobster, EZ Street, and Titanic Tales, and his interpretations of established characters like Baron Munchausen, Dr. Strange, The Flash, and The Spider have brought them to life for new generations.
Manuscript pages for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
The Man 1988
Character studies for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink and crayon on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
Chase Darrow 1988
When creating Breathtaker, artists Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley worked closely to establish the nuances of personality, physical characteristics, and body language for their characters. Model sheets, such as those on view, provide guidelines by illustrating how characters will appear from different viewpoints as they move through the panels and pages of a book.
 
Character studies for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink, gouache, and crayon on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
Chase Darrow 1988
Revised character studies for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink, gouache, and crayon on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
Think You Can Handle Everything 1990
An avid fan of animated cartoons as a boy, Marc Hempel "skipped the scribble stage," and at age two, began creating detailed drawings of the world around him. He studied painting at Northern Illinois University, where he developed an interest in contemporary art and learned about "life, people, and creativity." The energy in expressionist painting has made its way into his imagery for comics, which is infused with emotion. The artist began working professionally before he graduated from college, publishing comics and illustrations in Gasm, Questar, and Marvel's Epic Illustrated among others.
 
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink, gouache, and collage on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley
Think You Can Handle Everything 1990
A blending of talents, Breathtaker was created by Mark Wheatley, who wrote the script and colored pages, and Marc Hempel, who conceptualized, penciled, inked, and lettered the book's drawings. Hempel's strong graphics, reproduced on clear acetate, provides a framework for Mark Wheatley's eye-catching watercolor painting, which lies beneath it.
 
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Watercolor and ink on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
Who's Alive? 1990
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Pencil and ink on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley
Who's Alive? 1990
Illustration for Breathtaker
Watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley
I Can Give 1990
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
I Can Give 1990
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink and marker on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley
Would Death Do It? 1990
As a teenager living in Portsmouth, Virginia, Mark Wheatley sought an outlet for personal expression in words and pictures. His fanzine, Nucleus, otherwise known as
The Center of the Comic World, answered that need. Founded in 1969, it featured works by established and emerging creators in diverse artistic styles, and voiced concerns about a range of comics issues.
 
Marc Hempel enjoyed reading Nucleus as a high school student and decided to submit a portfolio for consideration. Impressed, Wheatley published Hempel's art on the pages of the publication's last issue, in 1974. The two stayed in contact during the years that followed, and in 1980, Wheatley invited Hempel to work with him at Insight Studios,
his design, illustration, and art production company. The team's early successes included Mars, Blood of the Innocent, and Jonny Quest. Though their direct partnership at Insight Studios ended in1988, they have continued to work jointly on other projects, including Breathtaker.
 
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Watercolor and gouache on board with acetate overlay
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
Chase! 1990
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink and collage on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
Falling 1990
Illustration for Breathtaker by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel
Ink and collage on paper
Collection of Insight Studios
 
Marc Hempel
The Sandman 1994
A long-time fan of The Sandman-Neil Gaiman's legendary comic book series chronicling the adventures of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams-Marc Hempel met the author at a comics convention and discussed the possibility of collaboration. Hempel later created art for eleven of the thirteen issues of The Kindly Ones, which were released in 1994 and 1995. The story unfolds as Morpheus becomes prey of the Furies, avenging spirits who torment those who spill family blood.
 
Promotional illustration for Sandman
Watercolor and airbrush on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Pink Lotus 2001
Mark Kalesniko was born and raised in Trail, British Columbia, where he began his studies in art at the David Thompson University Center. After a move to California, he took classes in character animation at the California Institute of the Arts, and began working as a layout artist for the Walt Disney Company on such animated films as The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Mulan, and Atlantis.
 
In the 1990s, the artist began creating comics and graphic novels focusing on mature themes. His first, published in 1991, was Adolph Hears a Who, a reflection on Hitler's last moments. Others have included S.O.S., the story of an Asian girl lost at sea; Alex, a semi-autobiographical work about an animator who returns to his home town; and Mail Order Bride, which explores the dynamics within an inter-cultural relationship.
 
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Airport 2001
Mail Order Bride offers insightful visual commentary on the fragile nature of a cross-cultural relationship. The artist's elegant drawings recount the tale of Kyung Seo, a young Korean woman who travels to a small Canadian town to meet Monty Wheeler, her future husband. Distant and filled with unmet expectations, their relationship unfolds in Monty's claustrophobic comics and toy shop, and in the dreary apartment that they inhabit. Kyung tries to liberate herself from an unsatisfying existence by studying art and forming new relationships, but ultimately comes to accept the realities of her mail order marriage. In this stark image sequence, Monty prepares to meet his bride.
 
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
Mark Kalesniko
In Town 2001
Mark Kalesniko takes a non-moralistic approach to narrative storytelling and maintains a sense of impartiality toward his subjects. "I like stories that are subtle and characters that are realistic. No one is completely bad or good," he notes. "I create the characters and let them tell me what they want to do. I leave my judgments behind and let readers come to their own conclusions." The artist's works are filled with a sense of insecurity and unease. "I don't see many people skipping down the street. Most of us live in a world of some worry."
 
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Hardworking 2001
The nuances of human emotion are evident in Mark Kalesniko's spare, cinematic drawings, which reveal the psychological underpinnings of his characters. The integration of language is carefully considered in his art. In this image, Hardworking references one of the attributes by which Asian brides are marketed to their suitors.
 
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Kimono 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
The Artist 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Bar 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
I Was Doing Some Thinking 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Domestic 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
I Want My Bride Back 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Mark Kalesniko
Alone 2001
Illustration for Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko
Ink on board
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #7 2004
At the age of four, Peter Kuper read Crockett Johnson's classic book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and decided that he would become an artist. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to New York in 1979 to study at The Art Students League and at Pratt Institute. While in art school, he created comics, but found that there were few outlets for his work. He decided, with boyhood friend and fellow artist Seth Tobocman, to publish a magazine that would serve as a forum for his ideas and for the creations of others. World War 3 Illustrated, a political comics anthology, was founded when he was just twenty-one years old. "Instead of waiting for someone else to do it," he said, "we found a printer and put the thing together."
 
Though his repertoire has expanded since that time, political commentary continues to resonate for the artist. A wordless allegory that serves as a cautionary tale for our world, Sticks and Stones chronicles the rise of an empire and the consequences of hubris.
 
Illustration for Sticks and Stones by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #9 2004
In Peter Kuper's Sticks and Stones, a primordial rock creature born of a volcano awakes to a barren world. By virtue of his might, he overtakes a band of laborers and exploits the resources of others, causing dire outcomes for all. A silent political parable echoing Old Testament themes, Sticks and Stones speaks clearly, conveying its powerful message with images alone. Wordless books are understood across cultures without the barrier of language, and are an important form of expression for the artist. The System, Eye of the Beholder, Mind's Eye, and Spy vs. Spy, drawn for MAD magazine since 1997, are among his other forays into wordless comics.
 
Illustration for Sticks and Stones by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #10 2004
Illustration for Sticks and Stones by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #11 2004
Illustration for Sticks and Stones by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #44 2004
Versatile and experimental in his approach to art, Peter Kuper created intricate stencils to establish stark environments and strong, graphic figures in Sticks and Stones. After cuts were painstakingly made on his template, his stencils were airbrushed, and other textural elements were added to his drawings by hand.
 
Illustration and airbrush template for Sticks and Stones by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #51 2004
Illustration for Sticks and Stones by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #44 1996
Peter Kuper's creation of comics to inspire social awareness and change places him within a great tradition of political artists and satirists. His interests have also inspired his service as an art director of INX, a syndicated political illustration group that provides issue-driven images to newspapers nationwide.
 
The System is a silent graphic novel about class warfare in the big city. His beautifully designed symbolist narratives describe the interconnected realities of corrupt law enforcement, dishonest industrialists, petty criminals, and political scandal. Cleverly interlocking plots unfold simultaneously and without words, a hallmark of the artist's keen storytelling abilities.
 
Illustration for The System by Peter Kuper
Airbrush, watercolor, colored pencil, and collage on paper
Collection of Scott Eder
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #53 1996
Illustration for The System by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and colored pencil on paper
Collection of Scott Eder
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #54 and #55 1996
Peter Kuper's art frequently comments upon the inequities that he encounters, both at home and abroad. An inveterate traveler, the artist has had lengthy stays in Europe, Central America, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. Since 2006, he has lived in Oaxaca City, Mexico with his family, where he has created artworks documenting that country's political struggles.
 
Illustration for The System by Peter Kuper
Airbrush, watercolor, and colored pencil on paper
Collection of Scott Eder
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #56 1996
Illustration for The System by Peter Kuper
Airbrush and colored pencil on paper
Collection of Scott Eder
 
Peter Kuper
Untitled #43 1996
Illustration for The System by Peter Kuper
Airbrush, watercolor, colored pencil, and collage on paper
Collection of Scott Eder
 
Peter Kuper
It Was No Dream 2003
First published in 1915, The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka (1883-1924), and his most famous literary accomplishment. A symbolic tale, it begins as traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, awakes to find that he has been transformed into a "monstrous vermin." Interested in all aspects of comics, Kuper explores the art form's literary potential in this expressionist retelling of a classic story. The subject interested Kuper
from another perspective as well. "Before the idea of becoming an artist was even a scribble in my mind, I was determined to become an entomologist, or 'bugger,'" he said.
 
Illustration for The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Ink and collage on scratchboard
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Back to Sleep 2003
Illustration for The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Ink and collage on scratchboard
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Cover Illustration 2003
Illustration for The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Ink and collage on scratchboard
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
I'm Walter Kurtz 2007
Walter Alan Kurtz was born on September 22, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio, just like his creator. The artist's alter ego in Stop Forgetting to Remember, Kurtz was among the cartoonists who helped redefine the medium of comics, and who ushered in a surge of interest in the graphic novel. A successful illustrator whose work appeared in newspapers and magazines, he was most completely devoted to cartooning. Peter Kuper arrived at Walter Kurtz's name by melding those of other comic artists, like Harvey Kurtzman, the EC cartoonist and MAD magazine editor, and Jacob Kurtzberg, Jack Kirby's birth name. Walt Disney, Walt Kelly, and Wally Wood inspired Kurtz's first name.
 
Kuper's autobiographical graphic novel features compelling, semi-fictional characters, which allowed him the freedom to depart from reality when it benefited the story. The book invites readers to look back at his formative years, contrasting his life today as a husband, father, and professional artist, with the unencumbered experiences of his youth. In this series of images, Kurtz speaks to directly readers about his frustrations about the perception of comics in society.
 
Illustration for Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Biography of Walter Kurtz
by Peter Kuper
Ink and collage on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Lets Take a Trip Down Memory Lane 2007
In Stop Forgetting the Remember, Peter Kuper enlisted the formal conventions of comics to recapture a decade in his life. Diverse panel shapes, movement lines designed to direct a reader's attention, cinematic perspectives, dreams sequences, and time shifts provided "a world of ways to tell the story." On this page, Kurtz brings readers back to 1972 by becoming an observer of his own adolescent experiences.
 
Illustration for Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Biography of Walter Kurtz
by Peter Kuper
Ink and collage on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
It Just Kills Me 2007
Stop Forgetting to Remember was a thirteen-year project for the artist that has gone through several permutations. Some of the stories in the book first appeared in Stripped, which was optioned by HBO for development as an animated show that did not come to fruition. After another attempt to get an animated series off the ground, the artist set the material aside. "Still," Kuper said, "the possibilities kept tapping on my shoulder over the years and I hated to let so many ideas sit in a drawer." The current interest in graphic novels, and the opportunity for broad distribution through a major publisher, gave him the heart to "put another solid couple of years" into the project.
 
Illustration for Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Biography of Walter Kurtz
by Peter Kuper
Ink and collage on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Peter Kuper
Oh-Hi! 2007
In 1971 on a family trip through Stockbridge, Peter Kuper visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, which was then located in the center of town. An admirer of Rockwell's work, he asked where the artist lived and located his home. Equipped with a portfolio of robot drawings, Kuper knocked on the studio door, and Rockwell answered. "After looking carefully at my pictures," Kuper said, "Rockwell advised me to draw from life more, which I have taken to heart."
 
Kuper was also familiar with Rockwell's likeness because it appeared in advertisements for The Famous Artists School that were frequently published in comics. Seen here on the back of a 1966 issue of Strange Tales, the image was appropriated for the back jacket of Peter Kuper's most recent book. In a clever parody, Kuper sits in for Rockwell, and a painting of the infamous Wormboy looks out from his easel.
 
Illustration for Stop Forgetting to Remember: The Biography of Walter Kurtz
by Peter Kuper
Ink and collage on scratchboard
Collection of the artist
 
Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993)
Chief Beeferman 1959
Among the most influential comic artists of all time, Harvey Kurtzman grew up in New York and drew comics in chalk on his neighborhood's streets when he was just a boy. A student at the High School of Music and Art, he had his first drawing published in Tip Top Comics in 1939, and at the age of eighteen, entered the commercial comic book market. He worked as a freelance artist and writer during his early years in the field but found his niche at EC Comics in 1949, creating art for fiction and horror titles, and editing Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales.
 
The founding editor of MAD, Kurtzman shaped the publication's style and sensibility through twenty-three comics and five magazine issues, from 1952 to 1955. Later, the magazines Trump, Humbug, and Help! also benefited from his talents. The Harvey Award, instituted in 1988, honors his legacy and is awarded annually to outstanding comic art works and their creators.
 
Illustration for The Jungle Book
Ink on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of The Estate of Harvey Kurtzman
 
Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993)
About This Prisoner 1959
First published in 1959 as a low-budget pocket book, Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book is an important milestone in the development of the comic book as a mature medium. A virtuoso in image and word, he wrote, drew, and lettered each of the book's four stories, which offer unforgettable reflections on American popular culture.
 
Illustration for The Jungle Book
Ink and gouache on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of The Estate of Harvey Kurtzman
 
Harvey Kurtzman
Mednick 1959
Illustration for The Jungle Book
Ink and gouache on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of The Estate of Harvey Kurtzman
 
Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993)
I Didn't Do It! 1959
Illustration for The Jungle Book
Ink and gouache on paper with acetate overlay
Collection of The Estate of Harvey Kurtzman
 
Matt Madden
I Was Thinking 2001
In Odds Off, Matt Madden tells a circular tale of a young couple navigating personal challenges within their relationship and their lives. Their unease with the present and ambivalence about the future is clearly imagined in his naturalistic drawings, which are engaging and direct.
 
An illustrator and comic book artist, Madden was not trained in studio art. He came to the comics medium because of his interest in the power of stories, whether in art, literature, or film. A comparative literature student in college, he spent time "doodling in the margins of my class notes-not a practice to be dismissed." These informal notations helped him to explore the use of light, line, and perspective, essential elements in drawing. "I became a cartoonist piecemeal, like many of my peers," he said. With no standard manual to follow, he honed his technical skills and aesthetic sensibility through imitation and the encouragement of more experienced artists. He began his career by self-publishing mini-comics, and shares the knowledge that he has acquired with aspiring artists at the School of Visual Arts and at Yale University, where he teaches classes.
 
Illustration for Odds Off
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Matt Madden
Good Night 2001
In this sequence of images, the artist gradually moves readers from reality to the world of dreams. This peaceful scenario sits in contrast to a page that shares its format later on in his book. After a restless night of separation from his girlfriend, the artist's male subject is adrift on his own.
 
Narrative style is a subject that Madden has particular interest in. He is the author and illustrator of 99 Ways to Tell a Story, a creative and comprehensive compendium offering eye-opening visual approaches to telling the same tale. The book was inspired by Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, a melding of twentieth century avant-garde literature and comics. An invaluable teaching tool, it has been translated into French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Korean, and Dutch.
.
Illustration for Odds Off
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Matt Madden
Adrift 2001
Illustration for Odds Off
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Matt Madden
A Boy 2001
Illustration for Odds Off
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Matt Madden
RRRIP! 2001
In comics, words like "RRRIP!" function as verbs and introduce onomatopoeia, an imitation of the sound being described. A long-standing comics convention, words that suggest sound are designed to suit their meaning through an artist's use of line, shape, color, and movement. On this page, Matt Madden uses a sound word three times before allowing readers to see the source of all the noise.
 
Illustration for Odds Off
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Matt Madden
Hup! It's Time 2006
Illustration for Odds Off
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
Frans Masereel (1889-1972)
Mein Stundenbuch: 165 Holzschnitte 1928
Born in Belgium, Frans Masereel was a visionary graphic artist and twentieth-century master of the woodcut. Deeply affected by the horrors of World War I, he aligned himself with journalists and artists who followed a pacifist credo and illustrated two anti-war magazines, Les Tablettes and La Feuille. Though he illustrated books by Leo Tolstoy, Hermann Hesse, Oscar Wilde and other noted authors, he was most admired for his novels in pictures, which he published himself.
 
In the introduction to Mein Stundenbuch, Thomas Mann writes that the woodblocks "are a silent film in black and white without titles. [Masereel's art] is part of a distinguished tradition of Northern European woodcarvings whose heritage can be traced through Lucas van Leyden and Albrecht Dürer well into the Middle Ages." He described the book as being "rich in things seen and experienced, happiness and torment in which we are all caught up. [The protagonist] is the artist, unrestricted by class, untouched by social prejudice, who lives after his own heart."
 
Illustrations for Mein Stundenbuch
Collection of The New York Society Library
 
Frank Miller
Captain America 1985
An author, artist, and film director, Frank Miller is a highly-regarded comics creator whose celebrated career has spanned thirty years. Noted for the film-noir quality of his art, Miller worked for Gold Key and DC Comics before joining Marvel, where he became a rising star. A master of the super-hero genre, he drew Spectacular Spider-Man and John Carter: Warlord of Mars, developing many notable characters including Daredevil, Electra, and Ronin. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, published in 1986 by DC Comics, re-imagined and revived interest in the masked crime-fighter.
 
Home Fires is a dramatic Captain America tale written by Roger Stern, with art by Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein. In the story, a mysterious group of arsonists known as "We the People" have been burning New York City apartment buildings and demand six million dollars to stop their campaign of terror. Captain America investigates and assists city firefighters in true superhero style. A1941 creation of artists Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America is the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a timid young man who reaches the pinnacle of physical perfection after drinking an experimental serum in order to aid the United States War Effort.
 
Illustrations for Captain America: Home Fires, Marvel Fanfare #18
Ink on paper
Courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries (HA.com)
 
Frank Miller
Sin City & 300
In 1991, Frank Miller began work on Sin City, a series of dark tales set in the fictional town of Basin City, a lawless outpost in the American Northwest. Adapted as a feature length motion picture in 2005, Sin City was directed by Miller himself with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez. In 2007, the film 300 was based upon his serialized comic about the Battle of Thermopylae as seen through the eyes of King Leonidas of Sparta-a story inspired by the 1962 film, The 300 Spartans, which Miller enjoyed as a boy. He is currently directing a movie adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit.
V for Vendetta, The Road to Perdition, X-Men 2: X-Men United, From Hell, Batman Begins, and A History of Violence are other movies that began as graphic novels.
 
Movie posters
Courtesy of Norman Rockwell Museum
 
Terry Moore
Come On, Smart Guy!
Terry Moore played lead guitar in a rock band and had a career as a television editor making commercials, music videos, and documentaries before becoming a comic artist. First published in 1993, his acclaimed series, Strangers in Paradise, was the first comic book that Moore had ever drawn. His concept for the story evolved through the process of developing a comic strip for newspaper syndication. Though his strip did not find a publisher, Moore visited comic shops and discovered a new wave of small presses producing interesting work. He spent a year researching the comic book business while writing and drawing the first issue of his story, which appeared as a three issue mini-series published by Antarctic Press. Strangers in Paradise, the series' title, was borrowed from a popular 1955 song by crooner Tony Bennett.
 
In 1994, Moore launched Abstract Studio, his own imprint, and began publishing regular comic book issues. Two years later, Strangers in Paradise won an Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series, and has remained in publication for thirteen years. Followed by a legion of devoted fans, Moore's work is available in seven languages and a variety of formats, from trade paperbacks and hardcover collected editions to pocket books.
 
Illustration for Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore
Ink and blue pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Terry Moore
What Are You Doing?
Terry Moore's engrossing stories are written, drawn, and inked by the artist himself, and complex relationships of his fully realized characters are at the heart of his long-running tale. Katina (Katchoo) Choovanski, an artist who likes museums, music, and Coca-Cola; David Qin, an art student who is determined to become a part of her life; and Francine Peters, an accountant who is adverse to exercise, diets, and unexpected visits from her mother, are intimately engaged with each other and the many avid readers of the series.
Stereotypes are avoided in his sensitive, realist portrayals of women and their lives.
 
Moore began his series with a clear sense of his two main female characters. "I have a piece of art that is the very first drawing I ever did of the cast," he said. Created before he began writing the story, "It was a picture of Francine sitting on the couch with her boyfriendeating out of a tub of ice cream, with Katchoo in the background by herself, painting a canvas."
 
Illustration from Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore
Ink and blue pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Terry Moore
My Maiden Voyage 2002
A masterful draughtsman, Terry Moore adopted the curvilinear, floral designs of the Art Nouveau style to create this cover reflecting Francine's struggles with identity and ambivalence about her relationship with Katchoo. The art of the past is referenced in Moore's books, which feature works by such kindred spirits as Gustave Doré (1832-1883), Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), and Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944).
 
Cover illustration from My Maiden Voyage by Terry Moore
Ink and blue pencil on paper
Collection of Lisa Thamasett
 
Terry Moore
Home 2007
As Strangers in Paradise draws to a close, the artist's mysterious character, David, succumbs to a brain tumor and dies. Portrayed here in a dreamscape, he is beckoned to another time and place. The last issue of Moore's story was published in May 2007, and for the artist, it had run its course. Though ending his popular series was difficult, he is working with HBO to bring his characters to life for television, and is taking on new challenges as the writer of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Runaways, both for Marvel Comics.
 
Illustration from Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore
Ink and pencil on paper
Collection of Lisa Thamasett
 
Terry Moore
The Point Is, She Found Me
Illustration from Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore
Ink and blue pencil on paper
Collection of Lisa Thamasett
 
Dave Sim
Jaka's Story 1990
Dave Sim is the creator of Cerebus the Ardvark, the longest self-published comics series ever produced. Beautifully drawn and richly articulated, his story premiered in 1977 and was established at the outset to run for three hundred issues. The artist's epic visual narrative, which concluded after more than twenty-five years in 2004, follows "one man's pyramidal search for truth in a world made up of lies."
 
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Sim has been a comics fan since early childhood. In his teen years, with no formal training, he began submitting art to fanzines and later published The Now and Then Times, a magazine featuring his interviews with noted artists. The Beavers, a comic strip for his regional newspaper, was created in 1976. Passionate about his work as an independent publisher, he shares his knowledge with those wishing to follow his path in the Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing. "The most appealing thing to me is the complete creative freedom," he said. "If you read a mini-comic or a small press comic you are guaranteed to be reading what someone specifically wanted to write and draw." This elegant cover illustration for Jaka's Story offers a poignant look back at his heroine's life as a girl.
 
Book jacket illustration for Jaka's Story by Dave Sim
Ink and blue pencil on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
Church & State, Volume 1 1990
Book jacket illustration for Church & State, Volume 1 by Dave Sim
Ink and blue pencil on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
She Had No Awareness 1988
Reminiscent of an old engraving, this vivid snapshot of Jaka recalls the young girl's fall from a favorite playground horse that she visited each day. In conceiving the book, the child emerged first as an important figure. "I had wandered to a small wooded area, familiar to me from my childhood, which contained a small playground," the artist said. "Seated on a nearby bench, I regarded a piece of equipment, oblong in shape, adorned with a metal horse's head. Young Jaka was there, fully realized, a font of information (as is any young girl) regarding her life and times." The book's cadence emerges in a rhythmic flow of single and multiple panel pages with varied amounts of text.
 
Illustration for Jaka's Story by Dave Sim
Ink, gouache, and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
I Don't Know if You Understand 1988
Sometimes sympathetic, and at other times, extremely callous, Cerebus is a mythic, misanthropic aardvark engaged in the religious and political struggles of the fictional world of Estarcion. At various times in Sim's narrative, he is a mercenary, a prime minister, a Pope, a houseguest, a bartender, and a messiah.
 
Illustration for Jaka's Story by Dave Sim
Ink, gouache, and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
Dave Sim and Gerhard
It's Your Decision 1988
Dave Sim's artistic collaborator, Gerhard, joined Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc. in 1984, and since then, has created the lush, detailed backgrounds that appear in Cerebus books. Stories are written by Sim, who pencils and inks his characters and creates lettering. As a background artist, Gerhard draws and inks the extraordinary spaces that surround Cerebus characters, bringing architecture and environments to life.
 
A former art supply store clerk and freelance artist, Gerhard met the creator of Cerebus when making a delivery of materials to his home. After viewing some of Gerhard's art, Sim invited him to assist with backgrounds, coloring, and mechanicals. At first, Gerhard was worried about ruining the page behind the characters and satisfying deadlines. "Primarily, my main concern is putting the characters in context and then trying to figure out how to do that before lunch time," he said. Floor plans, models, and a computer modeling program help the artists to stage lighting and "camera angles," and strong contrast is maintained to accentuate characters and text. Drawn with a crow quill pen, backgrounds are carefully researched and sometimes reference real places. In Jaka's Story, Jaka and Rick's dwelling is based loosely on Sim's first apartment.
 
Illustration for Jaka's Story by Dave Sim
Ink, gouache, and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
Dave Sim and Gerhard
Littlecollege 1988
Illustration for Jaka's Story by Dave Sim
Ink, gouache, and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
Dave Sim and Gerhard
Rick 1988
Illustration for Jaka's Story by Dave Sim
Ink and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
As We Rattled Inland 2001
An extensively researched story that has become part of the Cerebus tale, Form & Void found inspiration in the life of Ernest Hemingway and is based upon the journals of the author's fourth wife, Mary, who documented their last African safari.
 
Illustration for Form & Void by Dave Sim
Ink and pencil on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
The Excitement of the Days 2001
Illustration for Form & Void by Dave Sim
Ink and gouache on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
Untitled 2004
Illustration for The Last Day by Dave Sim
Ink and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
 
Dave Sim and Gerhard
The Light 2004
Illustration for The Last Day by Dave Sim
Ink and collage on board
Collection of Dave Sim and Gerhard
Art Spiegelman
Four Mice 1992
In 1992, Art Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for Maus: A Survivor's Tale, his groundbreaking graphic novel about the Holocaust, in which Jews are portrayed as mice and Nazis as cats. He began working professionally at the age of sixteen, and became associated with the underground comix movement. He designed Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids, and other novelties for Topps Bubble Gum Co., and in 1980, founded Raw, an influential comics magazine with his wife, Françoise Mouly. More recently, the couple has co-edited Little Lit, a series of comics anthologies for children. In the Shadow of No Towers, the artist's response to the events of September 11, was created as a two-year cycle of color comics pages in 2004, and later released in graphic novel form.
 
Signed lithographs
Collection of The Cartoon Research Library, Ohio State University
 
Barron Storey
To Mommy, My Mother
Born in Dallas, Texas, Barron Storey is a visionary artist who studied at the Art Center School in Los Angeles and at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where the teachings of Robert Weaver (1924-1994) deeply inspired him. His award-winning artworks have appeared on the covers and pages of Time, National Geographic, Saturday Review, and Reader's Digest, among others, and his paintings are held in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. The artist's more personal works and comics, which are featured here, document his life and the world around him. This powerful drawing speaks of his deceased mother, a devoted human rights activist who tragically committed suicide.
 
Illustration for Baby Blaze Juggler by Barron Storey
Ink and graphite on paper and board
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
Like You, Mother?
A gifted and influential teacher, Barron Storey has taught aspiring artists at the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, and currently, at the California College of the Arts and San Jose State University. Multi-talented, he is also a musician and a playwright who encourages diverse approaches to personal expression. Several noted graphic novelists have been among his students, including Peter Kuper, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Daniel Clowes.
 
Illustration for Baby Blaze Juggler by Barron Storey
Ink on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
A British Machine Made Me a Winner
Mixed media on board
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
Dear Dad & The Best Motorcycle in the World
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
The Best Motorcycle in the World
Ink and graphite on paper and board
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
Portraits of Despair 2003
A sequel to his Sandman series, Neil Gaiman's Endless Nights is a book in seven chapters, each illustrated by a different artist. Barron Storey interpreted the book's fourth chapter, a collection of fifteen wrenching vignettes on the subject of despair. His gripping psychological portrayals were unlike any that had appeared in The Sandman before. "He's a true original," commented Gaiman, "and there aren't many of those around."
Illustrations for The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman
Ink, gouache, and colored pencil on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
Life After Black 1992
The second of Barron Storey's journals to be published, Life After Black is a sequel to his Marat/Sade Journals. Since 1976, the artist has created more than one hundred forty-five visual journals. "As with novelists," he said, "my work is a construct of personal experience and a lifetime of reading and watching and listening to writers, artists, poets, and all who had a story to tell, an image to share. I am obsessive about image making, filling my journals with responses to these things. [They] do have a loose structure related to their chronological origins-sometimes narrative, sometimes sequential-but the images are, for the most part, non linear in any sense that compares with novels." For the artist, visual journals provide everything from personal therapy to research and development for his illustration and comics work, and he works in them daily.
 
Graphic album by Barron Storey
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
The Living Arts 1992
Graphic album by Barron Storey
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
Koshari Spirit Journal 1992
Graphic album by Barron Storey
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
Barron Storey
Quotes, Studies, and Complaints 1989
Graphic album by Barron Storey
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Barron Storey
Continuation 1990
Graphic album by Barron Storey
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lynd Ward (1905-1985)
Gods' Man 1929
Lynd Kendall Ward was an American artist and storyteller who illustrated almost two hundred books for children and adults. When in the first grade, Ward discovered that his name spelled "draw" backwards and decided that he wanted to be an artist. He studied art at Columbia Teachers College in New York, and upon graduation, sailed for Europe. During his year in Germany, he attended the Leipzig Academy for Graphic Arts, where he learned printmaking, book design, and wood engraving, and was exposed to the art of Belgian artist Frans Masereel (1889-1972). Masereel's artistry served as inspiration for God's Man, Ward's first graphic novel, which was published in 1929. He went on to publish four others, including Veritgo, the last and most ambitious.
 
Told in one hundred thirty-nine wood engravings, Gods' Man tells a story without words about an artist's struggle with his craft, his seduction and abuse by society, and his escape to innocence.
 
Illustrations for God's Man
Wood block prints on paper
Collection of the Ward Family
 
Lauren Weinstein
Girl Stories 2006
Lauren Weinstein's Girl Stories tells the human and intensely funny tale of a young woman's coming of age. Drawn and narrated with sincerity and self-effacing humor, her engaging story embraces awkward moments that are impossible to avoid in the journey toward adulthood. The painful immediacy of teenage life is revealed in this partly autobiographical work, which addresses universal concerns about social standing, self image, and the opposite sex.
 
Cover illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
This is Totally Embarrassing 2006
Intimate, honest, and approachable, Lauren Weinstein's art draws us into the world of a teenager who is not quite ready to give up her childhood reveries. While growing up in Brookline, Massachusetts, Weinstein love to draw "in big pads on the ground with huge Barbie games going at the same time." In the fifth grade, she began a journal to satisfy an assignment but became engrossed in visual storytelling for the love of it. By the time her drawing book was filled, her colorful stories featured every member of her class.
 
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
I Recommend Finding Someone You Trust 2006
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
You Can Also Make Clothes for Barbies 2006
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
Once a Barbie Enters My Realm 2006
Barbie reconditioning was a regular event during Lauren Weinstein's youth. She cut their hair, painted their faces, and made these icons of American culture the actors in her plays.
As a student at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Weinstein studied painting but found a formal, conceptual approach to creating works of art unsatisfying. Frustrated and unsure of what to do, she accepted the opportunity to create comic art for a school publication, and her drawing about "going to Red Lobster and being really depressed felt natural and cathartic." After graduation and a move to New York, Weinstein began creating teen comics for Gurl.com, which brought a lively reader response and greater visibility. The success of these strips prompted an editor from Henry Holt and Company to reach out to her, and through a seven year process, Girl Stories was born. The artist's comics and illustrations have also appeared in The New York Times, LA Weekly, McSweeney's, The Chicago Reader, and Glamour.
 
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
Barbies 2006
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
Am I Fat? 2006
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
The Chanukah Blues 2006
Illustration for Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
 
Lauren Weinstein
Dream Land 2007
After years spent drawing and writing about reality, Lauren Weinstein has begun to explore the worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her soon-to-be released book, The Goddess of War, is a graphic novel about a woman whose work is never done and a metaphor for our times. As the lead in Flaming Fire, an electro-folk-doom rock band, Weinstein appears in costume and experiments with fictional identities while taking a break from the solitary life of a working cartoonist.
 
Illustration for Goddess of War by Lauren Weinstein
Ink and watercolor on paper
Collection of the artist
Lauren Weinstein
Visual Journals
Visual journals have played an important role in Lauren Weinstein's life since childhood. The artist "draws obsessively" on trains and in public places, capturing gestures and details that may emerge later in her comics. Her sketchbooks advance her facility in drawing and provide a visual record of her experiences and ideas.
 
Free from editorial constraints, Weinstein's journals capture life's moments with an inspiring dose of humor and pathos. The artist's fictional fifth grade narratives, honeymoon travels in Greece, and determination to draw with her "other" hand after breaking her left arm are all captured on the pages of these treasured books.
 
Mixed media on paper
Collection of the artist
 
LitGraphic: Artists Speak
These six films, which are five-minutes each in length, feature commentary by graphic novelists Brian Fies, Marc Hempel, Mark Kalesniko, Peter Kuper, Lauren Weinstein, and Mark Wheatley. Original works by these and other artists is currently on view in LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel.
 
©2007 Norman Rockwell Museum. All rights reserved.

 

To return to the article for the exhibition, please click here.

(above: Terry Moore, "My Maiden Voyage." Cover illustration for "Strangers in Paradise" #51, July 2002. ©2002 Terry Moore. All rights reserved.)

 

(above: Mark Kalesniko, "Airport." Illustration for "Mail Order Bride." ©2001 Mark Kalesniko. All rights reserved.)


(above: Brian Fies, "Chemotherapy." Illustration for "Mom's Cancer." ©2006 Brian Fies. All rights reserved.)

 


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