Christopher Knowles (; born 1966) is an American

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...

, writer and

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ger who writes on comic books and broader pop culture topics.

Career

Knowles began his career in 1996, writing and drawing comics, particularly, ''Halo, an Angel's Story'', a

mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

published by Sirius Entertainment, and contributing to the art in a graphic novel based on the ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' cartoon '' The X Presidents''. He was also the editor of the

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock with a small staff. Currently an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Sh ...

magazine ''

Comic Book Artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...

'' from 2000–2004 and has written articles for publications such as ''The Jack Kirby Collector'' and sites like

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

. Knowles wrote a book called '' Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes'' (2007), which won an Eagle Award for "Favourite Comics-Related Book". He co-authored a book published in 2008 about ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'' TV series called ''The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths, and the Movies''. In October 2010, Viva Editions published his latest book, ''The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll'', which

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

says presents

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

as having its roots "in the

mystery cults Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries (), were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characteristic of these religious schools was th ...

of the ancient world", then "follows the evolution of rock 'n' roll from an expression of youthful rebellion to a symbol of

American culture The culture of the United States encompasses various social behaviors, institutions, and Social norm, norms, including forms of Languages of the United States, speech, American literature, literature, Music of the United States, music, Visual a ...

." Since November 2007 Knowles has been blogging on topics related to his books.

Bibliography

Comics

* "Fix" (script and art, in ''

Negative Burn ''Negative Burn'' is a black-and-white comics anthology, anthology comic book published beginning in 1993 by Caliber Press, and subsequently by Image Comics and Desperado Publishing. Edited by Joe Pruett, ''Negative Burn'' is noted for its eclecti ...

'' #41,

Caliber Comics Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of Americ ...

, 1996) *''Halo, an Angel’s Story'' (script and pencils, Sirius Entertainment, 4-issue mini-series, 1996) *''The X Presidents'' (pencils, with authors

Robert Smigel Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The pup ...

/Adam McKay, graphic novel, 80 pages, Villard, October 2000, ) *''Prime8: Creation'' (

TwoMorrows Publishing TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs. List of maga ...

, July 2001)

Books

* * * *Christopher Loring Knowles (2020). ''The Endless American Midnight''. ISBN 979- 8692403704

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
The Secret SunChristopher Knowles - Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes
Red Ice Creations, November 11, 2007

Interviews

*, Grey Lodge Review, November 16, 2007

''A Thousand Faces: The Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction, #3'' (Winter 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Christopher (comics) American non-fiction writers Comics critics Place of birth missing (living people) 1966 births Living people American comics artists