Denise "Deni" Loubert (born September 30, 1951)
[ Miller, John Jackson]
"Comics Industry Birthdays"
'' Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed July 19, 2011
WebCitation archive
is a Canadian comics publisher, co-founder of
Aardvark-Vanaheim, and founder of
Renegade Press. She is the ex-wife of
Dave Sim, with whom she founded Aardvark-Vanaheim and published ''
Cerebus'' from issues #1 to #77 (1977–1985).
Loubert and Sim met in 1976
and were married from October 6, 1978, to August 20, 1983. The barbarian
aardvark Cerebus was sketched initially by Sim as a mascot to accompany Loubert's proposed
fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...
, ''Cerebus,'' so titled when Loubert misspelled
Cerberus
In Greek mythology, Cerberus ( or ; ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a polycephaly, multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Greek underworld, underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring o ...
, the name of the mythical dog guarding Hades. (The fanzine went unpublished.)
[Sim, Dave]
"Memoir: WHY AN AARDVARK? Part Two,"
CerebusFanGirl. Accessed July 19, 2011.
Aardvark-Vanaheim, managed by Loubert, began publishing other comics besides ''Cerebus'', such as
William Messner-Loebs' ''
Journey'' and
Bob Burden's ''
Flaming Carrot''. After Sim and Loubert's 1984 separation, Loubert started
Renegade Press. ''Cerebus'' was the only title to remain at Aardvark-Vanaheim, with Renegade assuming publishing duties for most other titles. Renegade Press operated from 1984 to 1989.
Loubert's brother is Michael Loubert,
who designed the original map used as the basis of Cerebus's world,
Estarcion. Michael Loubert also wrote "The Aardvarkian Age" columns that appeared in early issues of ''Cerebus''.
Awards
In 1987, Loubert was presented with an
Inkpot Award. In 2010, she was inducted into the
Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame. In 2024, she was inducted into
The Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame. In 2024, Vellekoop was inducted into the
Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame.
Controversy
In 1987, Loubert accepted an
Inkpot Award on
Steve Ditko
Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...
's behalf (Renegade had published ''Ditko's World'' in 1986). Ditko refused the award, phoning Loubert to say, "Awards bleed the artist and make us compete against each other. They are the most horrible things in the world. How dare you accept this on my behalf." At Ditko's behest, Loubert returned the award to the
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
organizers.
[Bell, Blake. ''Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko'' (Fantagraphics Books, Seattle, Washington, 2008), pp. 165-166. .]
Bibliography
* "A Case for Reading," ''The Comics Journal'' #102 (Sept. 1985), pp. 111–112 — editorial about literacy, illiteracy, the Business Council for Effective Literacy, and the Literacy Volunteers of America
* "On the Edge" (art by Angela Bocage), in ''
Wimmen's Comix'' #14 (
Last Gasp, 1989), pp. 23–26
* "Hero Worship" (written with
Len Wein
Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...
), in ''Against the Wind'', edited by
Richard Pini (New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1992)
* "The Former Mrs. Viktor Davis," ''The Comics Journal'' #174 (Feb. 1995), pp. 116–118
* (ed.) ''How to Get Girls (into your Store): a Friends of Lulu Retailers Handbook'' (San Diego, CA:
Friends of Lulu, 1997)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loubert, Deni
Living people
1951 births
Canadian publishers (people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Canadian comics creators