Steven Weissman

Infobox Comics creator


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birthname = Steven Knight Weissman
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|06|04
location = California
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = American
area = Artist, Writer
alias = Ribs
notable works = "Champs", "Don't Call Me Stupid", "White Flower Day", "Yikes"
awards = Harvey Award, 1998 (Best New Talent)

Steven Weissman (b. June 4, 1968, in California) is an award-winning alternative cartoonist best known for his offbeat and bizarre explorations of childhood friendships (not to mention competitiveness and mutual enmity). He has been published by Alternative Comics and Fantagraphics, and has had his work translated into French and Japanese.

Yikes

Weissman made his name with the Harvey and Ignatz award-nominated 1997 series "Yikes" (volume II), published by Alternative Comics. It features the light-hearted adventures of a gang of kids, very much in the Little Rascals mold, who just happen to be "monsters" — vampires, zombies, and the like. "Yikes" ran for two issues, and has since been collected, with previous self-published "Yikes" comics, in "Don't Call Me Stupid" and "Mean", both put out by Fantagraphics.

The Yikes gang

* Li'l Bloody — a "deformation" of a Baron Blood knock-off Wiessman drew in sketchbooks shared with his teenaged friends.
* Pullapart Boy — L'il Bloody's "Frankenstein's Monster" best friend
* Dead Boy — Pullapart Boy's "zombie" sidekick/brother
* Kid Medusa — inspired by Chrysaor, brother of Pegasus and son of Poseidon and Medusa
* X-Ray Spence — inspired by iconic comic book ads for X-ray glasses.
* "Sweet Chubby" Cheeks — a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde character, as well as an illustration of the kind of "aw" cutesyness that Weissman didn't care for. Modeled on the later Our Gang comedies, with George McFarland continuing to play Spanky when he was far too old, Chubby is similar: adults would think he was still cute, but kids would know better. Eventually, Wiessman started modeling Cheeks on Joe Cobb's Little Rascals "fat boy" character, and he quickly became Weissman's favorite character in the series.
* Li'l Tin-Stars — inspired by Western heroes like the Lone Ranger
* Shaver — inspired by Casper the Friendly Ghost.
* Elzie Crisler — the kids' mascot, a reanimated dead dog named after "Popeye" creator Elzie Crisler Segar.

Later work

Besides "Yikes", Weissman did two other titles for Alternative, "Tykes" and "The Lemon Kids".

In 1999, he moved to Fantagraphics, where he has published a series of one-shots, compilations, and original graphic novels, including "Champs", "White Flower Day", and "Chewing Gum in Church".

In addition to his work for Alternative and Fantagraphics, Weissman has done comics for Last Gasp, Marvel Entertainment and "Nickelodeon Magazine".

Influences

Weissman has cited the Japanese "super deformed" tradition, Hal Roach's "Our Gang" shorts, Shirley Temple movies, Abbott and Costello, and Sunday morning TV as influences; though his primary influence is Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts". He also mentions cartoonists Dan Clowes and Mike Allred as influences on his approach to color (which tends to be simple two-color treatments).Spurgeon, Tom. [http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_sunday_interview_steven_weissman "CR Sunday Interview: Steven Weissman," the Comics Reporter (Sept. 22, 2007).] Retrieved August 6, 2008.]

Awards

Weissman was awarded the 1998 Harvey Award for Best New Talent. He was nominated for a 1997 Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent; and was nominated for a 1998 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series, for his title "Yikes" (Alternative Comics).

Personal life

Weissman lived in San Francisco in the late 1990s, where he associated with fellow cartoonists/illustrators Ed Brubaker, Brian Biggs, Josh Neufeld, and Mats!? (with whom he shared a studio space). Weissman currently lives in the Los Angeles neighborhood of "Little Armenia" with his wife Charissa Chu and their son Charles.

Quotes

Weissman, on drawing "cute":

Tom Spurgeon of the Comics Reporter:

Gilbert Hernandez:

Jaime Hernandez:

Selected bibliography

*"Tykes", 1997 (Alternative)
*"Yikes" (vol II), 1998 (Alternative)
*"Lemon Kids", 1999 (Alternative)
*"Champs", 1999 (Fantagraphics) ISBN 1-56097-372-2
* "Don't Call Me Stupid : A "Yikes" Collection", 2001 (Fantagraphics) ISBN 978-1560974314
* "White Flower Day", 2002 (Fantagraphics) ISBN 1-56097-514-8
* "The Kid Firechief", 2004 (Fantagraphics) ISBN 978-1-56097-866-4
* "Mean", 2007 (Fantagraphics) ISBN 978-1-56097-866-4
*"Chewing Gum in Church", 2007 (Fantagraphics) ISBN 1-56097-736-1

References

External links

* [http://sweetchubby.blogspot.com Weissman's blog]
* [http://www.fantagraphics.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=297&Itemid=62 Fantagraphics author page]
* [http://www.indyworld.com/ribs/ Alternative Comics author page]
* [http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cr_sunday_interview_steven_weissman/ Comics Reporter interview]