Julia Gfrörer

Julia Gfrörer
Born (1982-09-12) September 12, 1982
Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.
Occupation
Known for
  • Flesh & Bone (2010)
  • Black Is The Color (2013)
  • Laid Waste (2013)

Julia Gfrörer (born September 12, 1982) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and author. Her work is often transgressive, invoking occult themes within an ambience of subtly observed historicist concerns, in narratives generally characterized by "mumblecore dialogue, persistent overtones of horror and suffering, and unapologetic sexuality."[1] She's been hailed as "one of the most promising artists of her generation" by Phoebe Gloeckner.

Background

Gfrörer graduated from Cornish College with a BFA in printmaking.[2] Her thesis show explored depictions of martyrdom – a subject she has returned to frequently in later works (e.g. How Life Became Unbearable[3], Palm Ash[4], Martyrdom: A Coloring Book).[5] Moving to Portland after graduation, she met Dylan Williams (founder of Sparkplug Comics) in the process of consigning her DIY mini-comic about St. Francis of Assisi at the Pony Club Gallery where he happened to be working. He became Gfrörer's first publisher. Her first full-length comic, Flesh & Bone (2010), was nominated for an Ignatz Award for outstanding achievement in the form, and was excerpted in the Best American Comics (2011) anthology shortly thereafter.

Career

Flesh & Bone by Julia Gfrörer, 2010. Published by Sparkplug.

Gfrörer has been twice nominated for the Ignatz Award[6][7] and twice featured as a contributor in Best American Comics.[8][9]

After experimenting with self-publishing and working with a number of smaller presses (Sparkplug, Study Group etc.), Gfrörer's second graphic novella, Black Is The Color, was published at Fantagraphics after being digitally serialized on the Study Group Comics website.[10][11][12] Fantagraphics published her book about the Black Death, Laid Waste, in 2016 which was released to general critical acclaim.[13][14][15][16]

Gfrörer appeared in Fantagraphics' Next Wave panel alongside colleagues Simon Hanselmann, Anya Davidson, Benjamin Marra, and Noah Van Sciver in 2016.[17] She's also presented at PEN America's "Transcendent Obscenity" panel,[18] and at the Parsons School of Art & Design[19] while teaching workshops at SAW[20] and exhibiting work at MoCCA[21] and elsewhere.

While Fantagraphics publishes Gfrörer's major works, she continues to publish shorter works and collaborations under her own imprint, Thuban Press.

Gfrörer and Sean T. Collins (her partner & frequent collaborator) were selected to curate and edit the second volume of 2D Cloud's annual anthology Mirror, Mirror in 2017.[22][5]

Selected works

Graphic novellas

  • Laid Waste (2017)-As corpses accumulate around her in a plague-ravaged medieval city, a young widow named Agnès must weigh her obligations to the dead and dying against her desire to protect what little remains.
  • Black Is The Color (2013)- A 17th century sailor abandoned at sea by his shipmates endures, and eventually succumbs to, both his lingering death sentence and the advances of a cruel and amorous mermaid.
  • Flesh & Bone (2010)-After returning from a black mass, a witch meets a forlorn young man who's come to ask for her aid in reuniting him with his dead lover. Selected by Alison Bechdel for inclusion in Best American Comics 2011.

Comic books

Palm Ash by Julia Gfrorer, 2014. Published by Thuban Press.
  • Dark Age-"A story about young love and early humans, innocence, claustrophobia, and the imprecise boundary between the sacred and profane."
  • Hider-Dealing with adolescent friendship, existential danger, lycanthropy.
  • Palm Ash-Doomed love story set during the Diocletianic Persecution. Selected by Jonathan Lethem for inclusion in Best American Comics, 2015.
  • Too Dark To See-Relationship drama, self-harm, succubi.
  • Black Light-Collecting the stories "Phosphorus", "River of Tears", "All Is Lost", and "Unclean."
  • Goodnight Seattle-Morbid visions of Frasier.
  • Ariadne auf Naxos I, II & III-shorts
  • All The Ancient Kings-Imagined interactions between (mostly) dead artists.
  • How Life Became Unbearable- A story involving Francis of Assisi

Collaborations

  • In Pace Requiescat by Sean T. Collins, illustrated by Julia Gfrorer
  • The Hiddeous Dropping Away of the Veil by Sean T. Collins, illustrated by Julia Gfrorer
  • The Deep Ones by Sean T. Collins, illustrated by Julia Gfrorer
  • Martyrdom: A Coloring Book by Hallie Fryd, illustrated by Julia Gfrorer

Other publications

  • Mirror, Mirror II edited by Julia Gfrorer & Sean T. Collins (including "Heroic Devices" by Claude Paradin, translated & illustrated by Julia Gfrörer)
  • No End Will Be Found by Gretchen Felker-Martin (published by Thuban)
  • Symbol Reader (at The Comics Journal)

Anthology appearances

  • Best American Comics, 2011 ed. by Alison Bechdel ("Fear of Fire" excerpted from Flesh & Bone)
  • Best American Comics, 2015 ed. by Jonathan Lethem ("Palm Ash")
  • Kramer's Ergot #9 ed. by Sammy Harkham ("Four Thieves")
  • Mammoth Book of Cult Comics ("Too Dark To See")
  • Cringe: An Anthology of Embarrassment
  • Black Eye #3

References

  1. ↑ "Sex, Despair, and the Fantasy of Desire". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Julia Gfrörer! | The Comics Journal". www.tcj.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Akhtar, Zainab (July 1, 2013). "I Don't Get Why People Write Stories Without Sex in Them". Comics Beat. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  4. ↑ "10 Questions with Julia Gfrörer". September 23, 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Process Party – Episode 05 – Julia Gfrörer!". Study Group Comic Books. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "2010 Ignatz Award Recipients | SPX: The Small Press Expo". www.smallpressexpo.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Cavna, Michael (August 13, 2012). "SPX IGNATZ AWARDS: Here are your 2012 Small Press Expo nominees..." The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Bechdel, Alison; Abel, Jessica; Madden, Matt (2011). The Best American Comics 2011. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0547333625.
  9. ↑ Lethem, Jonathan; Kartalopoulos, Bill (October 6, 2015). The Best American Comics 2015. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544102668.
  10. ↑ "Black Is the Color – by Julia Gfrörer". Study Group Comic Books. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "Black Is the Color | The Comics Journal". www.tcj.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "New Releases :: Black is the Color". fantagraphics.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Paste Magazine https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/12/julia-gfrorers-laid-waste-raises-a-hand-out-of-the.html. Retrieved 4 June 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ "'Laid Waste' May Be the Best Indie Comic All Year". Creators. November 4, 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "Comics Book Review: Laid Waste by Julia Gfrörer. Fantagraphics, $14.99 trade paper (80p) ISBN 978-1-60699-971-4". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Review: LAID WASTE by Julia Gfrörer". Comics Grinder. September 1, 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  17. ↑ SmallPressExpo (October 19, 2016), SPX 2016 Panel – Fantagraphics Next Wave, retrieved 4 June 2018
  18. ↑ "Laid Waste – PEN America". PEN America. April 27, 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium: Featuring Julia Gfrorer". The New School. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "Comics Workshop with Julia Gfrorer: March 5 – 8 2018". Sequential Artists Workshop. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Comic and Cartoon Art Annual Special Format, Comic Strip, Long Form | Society of Illustrators". www.societyillustrators.org. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "Comics Book Review: Mirror Mirror 2 by Edited by Julia Gfrörer and Sean T. Collins. 2dcloud (Consortium, dist.), $39.95 trade paper (244p) ISBN 978-1-937541-31-6". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
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