Creator BiographiesThese biographies originally appeared in COMICS FESTIVAL! 2005, and as such are a little out-of-date now. For more recent biographical information on many of these creators, please visit the main Comics Festival! page at http://www.torontocomics.com/tcaf/fcbd. Atilla Adorjany: Attila’s work has appeared in all areas of the print and entertainment industries from magazines, gaming and comic books, to film, TV and video games. Attila’s forthcoming projects include BLUE SKIES, THE NIGHT and BREATHE, and cover art for VICTORY (Image Comics). He partners here with
Chris Weaver for Weaver’s first work in comics.
J. Bone: A talented Toronto-area artist and writer, Bone is the co-creator of the series ALISON DARE (Oni Press), and artist on MUTANT, TEXAS (Oni Press) and MR. GUM (Oni Press), all of which are currently available in trade paperback. He has contributed to numerous series for publishers including Marvel, Dark Horse and DC Comics.
Paige Braddock: In 1991 Braddock began the series “Jane’s World”, syndicated by United Features Syndicate before giving up on newspaper strips for the comic book format. There are currently three JANES WORLD trade paperbacks in print covering the strip material and beyond. Braddock is also the Creative Director at Charles Schulz's studio in Santa Rosa, CA.
Chester Brown: Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown broke into the alt-comix scene in 1980 with his self-published comic “Yummy Fur”. His best-known work is the outstanding graphic novel LOUIS RIEL: A COMIC STRIP BIOGRAPHY (2002, Drawn & Quarterly), and he appeared in the all-comics issue of McSWEENEY’S. Other collections of his work include THE PLAYBOY, I NEVER LIKED YOU, and THE LITTLE MAN (all Drawn & Quarterly). In 2005 Drawn & Quarterly will begin publishing the definitive edition of Brown's most infamous work, ED THE HAPPY CLOWN.
Darwyn Cooke: A storyboard artist for the “Batman Adventures” and “Batman Beyond” animated series Darwyn has since become a widely recognized name in comics. His comics work began with BATMAN: EGO (DC Comics) and spread to such titles as X-STATIX and SPIDER-MAN: TANGLED WEB (Marvel Comics). Darwyn also provided a stunning redesign for the character Catwoman in the graphic novels CATWOMAN: THE DARK END OF THE STREET
and CATWOMAN: SELINA’S BIG SCORE. Darwyn's most recent project is the two-volume graphic novel series DC: THE NEW FRONTIER (DC Comics). The story HUMPDAY IN HOGTOWN was written by Toronto writer/illustrator
Brian McLachlan, author of NO DEAD TIME (Oni Press), and inked by Toronto illustrator
Michael Cho.
Max Douglas/Salgood Sam: Max Douglas, aka Salgood Sam, is a Canadian illustrator and sequential artist with over 15 years professional experience. Recently Sam self-published a one-man graphic novel, REVOLVER. Sam is also working with Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer on the series SEA OF RED (Image Comics).
Ray Fawkes: Toronto based writer/artist Ray Fawkes’ first published work is the graphic novel SPOOKSHOW (Cyberosia Publishing). Fawkes is currently co-writing the Vertigo Comics mini-series MNEMOVORE with screenwriter Hans Rodionoff, and is the co-creator of the “Apocalipstix” feature, which has appeared in the RUMBLE ROYALE anthology (and this book!).
James Jean: A member of the Meathaus collective, Jean’s work in comics comes primarily as a cover artist for the series FABLES, BATGIRL, and GREEN ARROW (DC Comics). A School Of Visual Arts graduate, he has received an Eisner Award for best cover-artist, the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, SPIN and Playboy magazine. The first collection of his work will be PROCESS RECESS (Adhouse), a full colour hardcover collection from across his career. A special edition of this book with a bookplate featuring his COMICS FESTIVAL! cover illustration will be made available at TCAF.
Eric Kim: Canadian illustrator Eric Kim is a member of the HIVE art collective and an illustrator working in the role-playing game industry. His first professionally published comics work is LOVE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (Oni Press), with two volumes already released and a third planned for spring 2005.
Hope Larson: Coming from the field of fine arts, Larson was was dragged into comics by the likes of Scott McCloud. Although Larson has self-published numerous comics and stories, her first professional published work will appear in FLIGHT 2 (Image Comics). Hope’s work will also appear in the forthcoming anthology YOU AIN’T NO DANCER.
Larson partners with filmmaker and comics afficionado
Jason Azzopardi. This is his first work for comics.
Steve Manale: Steve is an illustrator whose clients have included YTV, Nickolodeon and The Raptors. His comic strip THE SUPERSLACKERS appears weekly in the Toronto Star's Brand New Planet.
Kagan McLeod: Kagan McLeod is a graphic artist for Canada’s National Post, and his illustrations can be seen there weekly. His series INFINITE KUNG FU mixes all of his pop-culture loves into one great story, and a collected edition is planned for late 2005/early 2006. Kagan’s work has also appeared in the anthologies RUMBLE ROYALE and BIG DUMB FUN (Odd God Press).
Bryan Lee O'Malley: Bryan Lee O'Malley served as artist for HOPELESS SAVAGES: GROUND ZERO (Oni Press) before moving on to his graphic novel LOST AT SEA from Oni Press. O'Malley's new series, also from Oni Press is SCOTT PILGRIM (2 Volumes). SCOTT PIGRIM has recently been optioned for development as a motion picture by Universal, with Edgar Wright attached to direct.
Ramon Perez: The majority of Ramon’s artistic catalogue can be found in role-playing games and related publications. His first comics projects have seen him work on HULK: GAMMA GAMES (Marvel) and THE INCREDIBLES (Dark Horse). Ramon, along with co-creator Rob Coughler, are the masterminds behind the popular weekly webcomic BUTTERNUTSQUASH, with a collection of the webcomic series due in 2005.
Jason Pultz: Creator of the popular deadpan webcomic COMIC STRIP featuring "a bear, a drunk cowboy and a evil macintosh computer," Jason will debut his new book, a collection of COMIC STRIP at this year's TCAF.
Dave Roman: Dave Roman is the writer/co-creator of the comic book series QUICKEN FORBIDDEN (AiT/Planet Lar) and TEEN BOAT (self-published). He works for Nickelodeon Magazine and is the comics editor for Nick Mag Specials. He has also written stories for DC Comic's DEXTER'S LABORATORY and is featured in the new BIZARRO WORLD anthology.
Jim Rugg: Jim is the creator of the hit STREET ANGEL series published by Slave Labor Graphics. STREET ANGEL made several ‘Best of’ lists for its debut last year and 2005 will see the release of the trade paperback edition. Look for Rugg’s new character Afrodisiac in the pages of the PROJECT: SUPERIOR (Adhouse). He is joined here with his co-writer, Brian Maruca.
Seth: Seth is a talented Canadian artist and illustrator, Known primarily for his autobiography-tinged series PALOOKA-VILLE, his sketchbook VERNACULAR DRAWINGS, and his graphic novels IT'S A GOOD LIFE IF YOU DON'T WEAKEN and CLYDE FANS. The material appearing in this book is an excerpt from Seth's upcoming October 2005 graphic novel WIMBLEDON GREEN, from Drawn & Quarterly.
Ben Shannon: Ben Shannon is an illustrator and muscian whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, National Geographic World, and The Globe & Mail. Shannon’s comic work can be found in the RUMBLE ROYALE anthology, and the BIG DUMB FUN (Odd God Press) anthology.
Dave Sim: Dave Sim became an institution in independent comics when he set out to complete the 300 issue self-published monthly series CEREBUS (Aardvark/Vanheim) which reached its conclusion in March 2004. CEREBUS is currently available in 16 volumes, and Sim has recently released DAVE SIM: COLLECTED LETTERS 2004, containing all of his correspondence following the end of Cerebus. Dave is currently co-publishing FOLLOWING CEREBUS magazine.
Kean Soo: Kean Soo is the man behind the popular journal comic keaner.net, self publishing the EXIT MUSIC series, and even more recently launched the much-anticipated webcomic site “The Secret Friend Society” with Hope Larson where he pens his new series “Jellaby”. Kean contributed to the first FLIGHT anthology (Image Comics), and is a contributor to and co-editor of it’s sequel, FLIGHT 2 (Image Comics).
Leslie Stein: Leslie Stein was born in Evanston, IL and now resides in New York City. Her works BAGHEAD and YEAH, IT IS were first serialized on the internet, and 2004 saw the print-format publication of YEAH, IT IS by Alternative Comics with assistance from the Xeric Foundation. Stein is the recipient of an award for "Outstanding Acheivement in Cartooning" from The School of Visual Arts, New York.
Cameron Stewart: Co-creator of the series SEAGUY (DC Comics) with writer Grant Morrison, Stewart’s artistic resume includes a stint on HELLBOY: WEIRD TALES (Dark Horse), CATWOMAN: RELENTLESS (DC Comics) and INVISIBLES: THE INVISIBLE KINGDOM (DC Comics/Vertigo). He is co-creator and artist of the series “Apocalipstix” which has appeared in RUMBLE ROYALE, and is currently illustrating SEVEN SOLDIERS: GUARDIAN for DC Comics.
J. Torres: Toronto-based writer J. Torres began his comic book career in 1995 with COPYBOOK TALES (Slave Labor Graphics). He then went on to write for numerous comics companies, highlights including ALISON DARE (Oni Press), SIDEKICKS (Oni Press), TEEN TITANS GO! (DC Comics), and LOVE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (Oni Press). Torres’ work has been nominated for The Eisner Awards, The Harvey Awards, and The Shuster Awards.
Chip Zdarsky: Chip is the creator of PRISON FUNNIES. Chip Zdarsky is the creator of MONSTER COPS. Chip Zdarsky is always last on the bio pages.
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SECRET BONUS PAGES:Despite a huge page count, we still needed to chop a few submissions out of Comics Festival! for space reasons. Here for the first time are strips from Dash Shaw and Jason Pultz that didn't see print in 2005. Enjoy!Dash Shaw, Page XX:
JASON PULTZ, Page XX:
"Welcome to Comics Festival!
That's how we kicked off our first Comics Festival! book in 2005. We think we did a good job with our lofty goals, and we'd like to thank all of the creators who were a part of the book, and all of our sponsors. In particular, we'd like to thank our brilliant cover artists Darwyn Cooke (right) and James Jean (left) for giving us one of the nicest-looking Free Comic Book Day titles ever. You can click on both images to see full-sized versions. Also, if you're so-inclined, giant poster versions of both covers are available for sale in The Beguiling's webstore.
