I realized while I have my books up on the website, I’ve not really shared anything about the things I’ve published in the blog, so time to fix that! (This series doesn’t include single work contributions, like zines, that’ll be a separate post series)
I’m starting backwards, with the thought maybe it’ll make sense in the blog line up… so let’s start with the first comic anthology I participated in from Splattered Press, Monster Carnival.
“Monster Carnival tells the tale of a parade of frightful creatures who receive a tithe from the villages of a land that seeks to gaze upon their abhorrence with wide-eyed wonder; and hear the those stories of their abominable brethren from the dim memory of antiquity, and unto the future days of mankind. What unfolds is a series of fables that explore the many facets of monsters and how they inform our own worst and most virtuous traits. For in the end there truly is no happy ending for a monster and we must always be cautious in our desire to learn more about these darkest of creatures. Splattered Press has gathered together a dozen very talented comic book creators their own stories about these things that so preoccupy our collective imaginations in this first volume of the Apologue Anthology Series. This collection boasts varying storytelling approaches and varying artistic styles, which the sequential medium so elegantly brings to vivid life. The culmination of this effort has created a singular work that shares a theme which knits each creator’s vision the fabric of a narrative whole. The result is Monster Carnival: A Comics Anthology.
Story Contributors: Brandon Whipple, Bill Giancoli, Chris Bell, Maegan Cook, Doug Laura, Wayne Beeman, Taylor Burton, Johannes and Gunder Vick, Mason and Mandy McMahon and Lola and Jonathan Myers.
My contribution to this collection was an updated background story for one of my characters from high school: a vampire who is the villain in a story idea I had of warring supernatural clans. Her original name was Anastasia, but with a new backstory came a bit of a character redesign, and a new name (Anisya).
This was my first published comic. I was so excited to be invited in on this project, and at the time I hadn’t gone fully digital yet, so I crafted the pages on Bristol paper with pencil and fine-liners, then scanned everything in and added the muted color palette and digital elements/background in photoshop. I’d love to revisit and redraw this someday, but I’m very proud of myself for pushing to do something I’ve always wanted to do, and I love the entire anthology,
It’s a beautiful eclectic collection of horror and monster stories, and of course, available on Amazon.
MaeganCookCreates 