Backdrop Magazine, a student publication of Ohio University, has featured four local artists--and Five Star Comics--in its latest issue. The artists are Terence Hanley, Chris Monday, Sandy Plunkett, and Steve Richter. Three of the four live within a few blocks of each other. The fourth, Chris Monday, lives across town. All have been to local events together, including Ratha Con, the annual pop culture convention put on by ARTS/West and the City of Athens. Student journalist Jacob DeSmit is the author of the article, entitled "Drawn Together." It appears in the Fall Issue (Vol. 8, Issue 1) of Backdrop Magazine. You can read the magazine in its entirety at the Backdrop website, here.
"Drawn Together" begins with Steve Richter, a native of Athens County and a 1991 graduate of Ohio University. Steve began his art career in Seattle. Now back in his hometown of Athens, he has continued as a freelancer. His work includes a popular and very funny series on "Fears and Anxieties for Every Occasion," a comic strip called "Neener Neener," and the adventures of a space-traveling dog named Smoog. Jacob DeSmit's article in Backdrop includes a step-by-step look at how Steve created the cover illustration for the magazine. Included on that cover are likenesses of the four featured artists, who are distracted from their work by an approaching waitress and/or platter of burgers and fries. You can see more of Steve Richter's art and keep up with his latest projects on his website, Steve Richter Art, at:
Next comes Terence Hanley of Five Star Comics and another step-by-step, this one showing the creation of Five Star Comics #1. Terence is of course the creator of coloring books on Monsters and Aliens of America and a regular contributor to Five Star Comics.
Next in Backdrop there is a little on Sandy Plunkett, who has done work for Marvel, DC, and other publishers. (You can read a checklist of his work by clicking here.) Sandy has lived in Athens for many years and has done advertising and promotional art for local clients, including Ratha Con. In 2010, Ohio University Press issued a collection of Sandy's artwork, The World of a Wayward Comic Book Artist. The Kennedy Museum of Art held an exhibit of his drawings from January 25 to June 3, 2013. As for Sandy's website, Sandy Plunkett: Images on Paper, go to this website:
After a section on the comic book stores of Athens (The Wizard's Guild and Ski's Tees and Collectibles), "Drawn Together" features Chris Monday, creator of the autobiographical Drink More Water (2011) and other works, including the editing and designing of and a story in the anthology comic My Stupid Raygun (2013). You can see Chris' websites, called Drink More Water and Chris Monday: Comics and Art, at the following URLs:
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"Drawn Together" closes with something on local artist Kelly Lawrence, who organizes Ratha Con, and with a quote from Terence Hanley, who has never in his life said in any seriousness, "Back in the day . . . ."
Text copyright 2014 Five Star Comic
