Best Comic Book / Graphic Novel Writers from the American South?

July 26, 2019 7:22 AM

Who are they, do you think, and which of their books should I read?
posted by musofire to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Somewhat obscure nowadays, but the books by Michael Dougan: East Texas: Tales from Behind the Pine Curtain, and I Can't Tell You Anything, both lean heavily into Southern Gothic, and are worth seeking out.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 7:58 AM on July 26, 2019

Stuck Rubber Baby (1995) by Howard Cruse is a classic (wiki link).
posted by TheGoodBlood at 8:31 AM on July 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

They're more "illustrated novels" than graphic novels, and you may or may not consider Appalachia part of the South, but Robert Gipe's books Trampoline and Weedeater are great.
posted by arco at 8:58 AM on July 26, 2019

Best answer: My first thought was Bayou by Jeremy Love, but I can't find any biographical information about him.

Terry Moore's from Texas; his Strangers in Paradise is one of my favorite comic series ever.

Tillie Walden, who moved from New Jersey to Texas as a child, has written some fantastic stuff, like the autobiographical Spinning and the sci fi comic On a Sunbeam (FPP).

Randy Milholland, also from Texas, is the creator of the long-running webcomic Something Positive.

Noelle Stevenson, of Lumberjanes and Nimona fame, was born in South Carolina.

Wook Jin Clark is from Georgia and South Carolina and is the co-creator of Flavor and has worked on Adventure Time.

Hope Larson is from North Carolina. Check out Mercury and her adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:45 AM on July 26, 2019

Jordie Bellaire is from central Florida and writes Redlands ... as well as some other titles on top of all her work as a colorist, but I mention Redlands because it's set in Florida.
posted by komara at 11:20 AM on July 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Rob Guillory writes Farmhand, a sort of comedic-horror comic set in his native Louisiana. He was the co-creator and artist for Chew, which was very successful and won an Eisner. Farmhand is a bit like Chew but with gardening instead of food.
posted by serathen at 1:01 PM on July 26, 2019

Oh, and it turns out Nate Powell is from Arkansas. He wrote Swallow Me Whole, which is pretty fantastic, and was the artist on March, John Lewis' comic autobiography about the civil rights movement.
posted by serathen at 1:58 PM on July 26, 2019

Ngozi Ukazu, who does the wonderful Check, Please!, is from Georgia (or at least she went to school in and lives in Georgia), and the main character of the comic is from Georgia as well.
posted by oblique red at 5:18 PM on July 28, 2019 [2 favorites]