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Sam Kieth was born on January 11, 1963 and is an American comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of The Maxx and Zero Girl.  Kieth’s first published work was “a story in the back of a Comico comic” when he was “about seventeen”; it was “about a killer rabbit named Max the Hare”. He came to prominence in 1984 as the inker of Matt Wagner’s Mage, and a year later as the inker of Fish Police. In 1989, he penciled the first five issues (the “Preludes & Nocturnes” story arc)  of writer Neil Gaiman‘s celebrated series The Sandman and collaborated with Alan Grant on a Penguin story in Secret Origins Special #1. He illustrated two volumes of writer William Messner-Loebs‘ Epicurus the Sage, drew an Aliens miniseries for Dark Horse Comics, and drew The Incredible Hulk #368, which led to

Flipsiders, let me introduce you to a beast. An absolute beast of an artist, Katsuhiro Ōtomo, He is best known as the creator of Akira, both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2005, promoted to Officier of the order in 2014, became the fourth manga artist ever inducted into the American Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2012, and was awarded the Purple Medal of Honor from the Japanese government in 2013. Otomo later received the Winsor McCay Award at the 41st Annie Awards in 2014 and the 2015 Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême, the first manga artist to receive the award.  Katsuhiro Otomo was born in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture and grew

Clarence Matthew Baker (December 10, 1921 – August 11, 1959) was an American comic book artist best known for drawing early comics heroines such as the costumed crimefighter Phantom Lady, and romance comics. Active in the 1940s and 1950s Golden Age of comic books, he is the first known African-American artist to find success in the comic-book industry. He also penciled an early form of graphic novel, St. John Publications’ digest-sized “picture novel” It Rhymes with Lust (1950).  His influence can be seen in artists such as Dave Stevens and Adam Hughes. Baker was born December 10, 1921, in Forsyth County, North Carolina.  At a young age he relocated with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and after

A Flipside Inspiration Milton Caniff, often referred to as “the Rembrandt of comic strips,” was an American “adventure” cartoonist famous for his long-running comic strips, Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. Unable to pursue his desire to join the military due to a medical condition, Caniff also used his artistic talents to contribute to the morale of U.S. troops during World War II with the creation of Male Call, an adventure comic strip featuring soldiers, which was available exclusively to members of the armed forces. Born in Hillsboro, Ohio, Caniff began drawing in kindergarten. While a student at Stivers High School, he created cartoons for local newspapers. It was also at Stivers where he

For this feature I’m turning my eyes towards manga. I really hope everyone knows what manga is, but just to be safe, manga, literally, means comics in Japanese. Right now one of my favorites manga artist/writers is Boichi. Mu-jik Park (박무직; born January 29, 1973), known professionally as Boichi, is a South Korean manga artist living in Japan. I first came across his work, probably online somewhere but I know it was this image; What struck was the boldness of the composition as well as the speed in the lines and detail, above all. All of his work has this level of detail and it’s quite striking. The other striking thing is that his work is

Denys Cowan was born January 30, 1961 and is a comic book artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media. Denys Cowan was first inspired by superheroes as a child from reruns of the 1950s TV show Adventures of Superman with George Reeves. He did not yet even know what a comic book was and would not learn about them until the third grade. After Cowan’s mother died, he moved in with his grandparents, and attended school in that district, where he met a future fellow comics creator, Derek Dingle, who drew comics with his brother. Dingle showed Cowan his first comic book, an issue of Jack Kirby’s New Gods. Cowan attended the High School of