i'm always on the prowl for new comics created by women... and recently i discovered the work of danica novgorodoff, whose mini comic, a late freeze, was the 2006 winner of the Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. she was also a 2007 eisner award nominee. danica's day job is designing graphic novels at first second books and she was an assistant to the photographer sally mann. she paints, draws (which remind me of renee french) and takes stunning photographs of her travels in ecuador and mexico (tangerines at left).a late freeze i
s "a tale of love, snow, and trouble with the authorities." it's a tender, bizarre love story between a bear and a robot, who struggle to keep their love alive in a decaying world (images of fields razed for parking lots, cracker barrels and chain stores along with a robot driving an ox-drawn covered wagon like in the oregon trail). with few words and deeply rich, colorful images to tell the story, a late freeze surprises you with compelling imagery and plot twists.
s "a tale of love, snow, and trouble with the authorities." it's a tender, bizarre love story between a bear and a robot, who struggle to keep their love alive in a decaying world (images of fields razed for parking lots, cracker barrels and chain stores along with a robot driving an ox-drawn covered wagon like in the oregon trail). with few words and deeply rich, colorful images to tell the story, a late freeze surprises you with compelling imagery and plot twists.
danica told me that she started this project as artwork for her friends' band... and created it while living in kentucky. when in ecuador she "heard a story about a local man who lived in the mountains with a bear. the bear was very jealous and wouldn’t let the man come down into town to visit his wife and kids." her themes were also inspired by the landscapes and landmarks of the midwest. she describes the political tone as "the persecution of the little guy by the Man and the struggle for freedom" mixed with her feelings about the environment and the aftermath of bush's re-election.
i can't wait for danica's next project... her first to-be-published book (watercolor), a full-length graphic novel set in kentucky, involving a tornado, a firefighter named ursa, and a mexican immigrant named rafi who works on horse farms. new themes includes: missing home, the great beauty and disappointment of living in america, saints, fear, family, horses, and tornadoes. wow!
read much more about danica here, trust me, you won't be disappointed!
1 comment:
Nice tip to the Ecuador photos. I used to live there and have great memories of the country.
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