Lee Marrs
| Lee Marrs | |
|---|---|
| File:Lee marrs.jpg Marrs at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con (today called Comic-Con International). | |
| Born | September 5, 1945 |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer |
Notable works | The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp |
| www | |
Lee Marrs (born September 5,[1] 1945)[2] is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, which lasted from 1973 to 1977.
Work
Early career
Lee Marrs grew up in Montgomery, Alabama,[3] and attended American University, graduating in 1967 with a degree in fine arts.[4] During her time at American University, Marrs was introduced to comic strip artist Tex Blaisdell by his daughter, with whom she attended school.[3] Marrs then began assisting Blaisdell, working on comics such as Little Orphan Annie, Prince Valiant, and Hi and Lois. [3] At the same time, Marrs also worked for CBS News in Washington, DC, at WTOP, where she created artwork for the station and also drew live editorial cartoons on Saturday nights.[3] Marrs was as a graphic artist on an Emmy-Award-winning animation about the 1968 riots.[5] In the late 1960s, Marrs moved to San Francisco, where she helped found Alternative Features Service, a news service that supplied college and underground newspapers with feature stories.[3] Through the Alternative Features Service, Marrs met Trina Robbins, who would introduce her to the underground comix movement.[3]
Underground comics
As one of Mike Friedrich's Star Reach regulars, she expanded her writing and art style to include serious fantasy fiction in Stark's Quest (1977–1979), a study of ESP, politics, and social engineering. From this body of work, "Waters of Requital" (1977) is especially powerful. She created short futuristic graphic tales for Heavy Metal magazine, Epic Illustrated, and Imagine magazine.
Mainstream comics
Marrs was one of few underground cartoonists to also work for mainstream comics publishers. She was introduced to DC Comics editor Joe Orlando by Tex Blaisdell. After working on DC’s Plop!, Weird Mystery Tales, and House of Secrets, she created "Crazy Lady" (1975), a series about growing up female, for Marvel Comics’ Crazy magazine. Much of her mainstream comics work was as a writer, including Wonder Woman Annual 1989, Viking Glory: the Viking Prince (DC, 1991), and Zatanna: Come Together (DC, 1993). She wrote Dark Horse Comics' series Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold (1994) and Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix (1995), both of which were drawn by Leo Duranona. In 1986 Blackthorne Publishing published Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos, a three-issue series created by Marrs which parodyied the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series, as well as the American Flagg! comic book series.[6]
Animation
Lee Marrs runs Lee Marrs Artwork, a digital design and animation company. She worked in 2D digital animation in the early 1980s. Her clients have included Disney/ABC, Apple Computer, IBM, Time Warner Inc., Children's Television Workshop, Nickelodeon, Electronic Arts, and MTV.[citation needed]
Impact and influence
In a media interview, Marrs discussed prejudice from leaders of the feminist movement, and how feminists critique female comic authors who think outside the box:[7] "But we got totally rejected by the women's movement, for the most part. Not just that Ms. magazine wouldn't run us, but bookstores across the country wouldn't carry us, because we did not have a heavy, traditional, feminist political line."[8] Marrs equates these concrete examples with rejection, for they foreclose the ability of the collective to reach a broader feminist audience despite their varied attempts to participate. Her quotation also foregrounds their comics as something done differently from the feminist norm in their content, even though Marrs also equates their comics with the "work[ing] through" that happened in consciousness-raising group."[7]
Awards
Marrs was awarded the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award in 1982.[9] Marrs won an Emmy for her work as an animation director.[10][11]
See also
Further reading
- "Pudge, Girl Blimp" in The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History by Hope Nicholson, Quirk Books (2017)
References
- ↑ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ↑ Marrs entry, in "Marriage à la Mode" to "Marrying Kind," Michigan State University Libraries, Special Collections Division, Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 ""Wimmen's Comix" Co-Founder Lee Marrs Reflects On a Storied Career". CBR. 2015-12-21. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
- ↑ "AU Library Archives / Special Collections: New and Noteworthy » Celebrating AU Alumni: Lee Marrs". blogs.library.american.edu. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
- ↑ "(Annette) Lee Marrs, CAS/BA '67 | American University, Washington, DC". 2013-01-19. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ Becattini, Alberto (2019). "Super-Animals". American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century: Volume Two. Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683902218.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedGalvan2015 - ↑ 1979 interview, p. 24.[citation needed]
- ↑ "Inkpot Award". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
- ↑ cbldf (2015-03-20). "Women Who Changed Free Expression: Underground Comix – Comic Book Legal Defense Fund". Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ↑ "Pride-ographies: Lee Marrs". SYFY Official Site. 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2023-08-02.