Ethan Persoff (born November 24, 1974 in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

) is an American cartoonist, archivist, and sound artist. His work as an archivist includes a complete digitization of

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American author, journalist, and comedian. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine '' The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a ke ...

's counterculture magazine ''

The Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, a ...

'', and the website Comics with Problems, which has been featured on multiple segments of ''

The Rachel Maddow Show ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...

''. As a comics artist, he has been published by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was fou ...

, and received media attention for his website projects, including two projects with artist and co-collaborator Scott Marshall; a downloadable Halloween mask based on Senator Larry Craig and a

Tijuana Bible Tijuana bibles (also known as eight-pagers, Tillie-and-Mac books, Jiggs-and-Maggie books, jo-jo books, bluesies, blue-bibles, gray-backs, and two-by-fours) were palm-sized pornographic comic books produced in the United States from the 1920s to ...

based on

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and John McCain. His late granduncle was

Nehemiah Persoff Nehemiah Persoff (August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American character actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years, be ...

Projects

''The Larry Craig Halloween Mask'', a downloadable paper mask designed to be fit over a paper bag, received widespread media attention, including Air America, CBS News, and the Washington papers

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

and

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of ...

. Other satires on Persoff's website include an entire cosmetic line of

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 ...

lipstick, and an audio piece of an angered

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusett ...

supporter blended with orchestral music that went quickly viral on the Internet until being forced offline. From 2009 through 2011, Persoff served as art director for

Barney Rosset Barnet Lee "Barney" Rosset, Jr. (May 28, 1922 – February 21, 2012) was a pioneering American book and magazine publisher. An avant-garde taste maker, he founded Grove Press in 1951 and ''Evergreen Review'' in 1957, both of which gave him platf ...

's ''

Evergreen Review ''The Evergreen Review'' is a U.S.-based literary magazine. Its publisher is John Oakes and its editor-in-chief is Dale Peck. The ''Evergreen Review'' was founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 until ...

''. While working for the magazine, he also contributed two pieces of writing, a profile of the beat poet recording project

Paris Records Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and a report on

George W Bush George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Pres ...

's first post-presidential appearance as a motivational speaker, entitled "A Day Spent In Hell." In 2016, a coffee table book collection of the best comics from

titled The Realist Cartoons was published by

. It was co-edited by Persoff and

and received two

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

nominations: Best Archival Project and Best Publication Design. From 2013 through 2020, Persoff completed a comics biography with Scott Marshall of underground journalist

John Wilcock John Wilcock (4 August 1927 – 13 September 2018) was a British journalist known for his work in the underground press, as well as his travel guide books. The first news editor of the New York '' Village Voice'', Wilcock shook up staid publ ...

. The strip was serialized on the website

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice ...

, and was recognized by ''

Print Printing is the process for reproducing text and images using a master form or template Print or printing may also refer to: Publishing * Canvas print, the result of an image printed onto canvas which is often stretched, or gallery-wrapped, o ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'' and ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazines. It was included in The Best American Comics, 2017, edited by Ben Katchor. A completed collection of the John Wilcock comics was published in 2021. Since 2019, Persoff has produced a podcast entitled Spoken Word with Electronics. The show is serialized on the culture website

Archival work

Persoff's website is recognized for its archive of scanned files of rare and unusual comics. The available titles on the site vary from the mundane, such as travel comics and educational booklets, to the disturbing, including comics that focus on drug use and racism. Socially conscious work is included as well, including a scan of the 1957 comic book ''

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story ''Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story'' is a 16-page comic book about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Montgomery bus boycott published in 1957 by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR USA). It advocates the principles of non ...

''. In 2006, Persoff acquired an original copy of the comic (indicating only a handful of copies were then known to exist), scanned it, and posted it on his blog for

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monda ...

.Persoff, Ethan
"The 1956 International Bilingual Dr Martin Luther King Jr Comic Book Message,"
Ethan Persoff's blog (early January 2006). In 2008, Persoff reported that the Cairo director of the

American Islamic Congress Founded late in 2001, the American Islamic Congress (AIC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. AIC is a non-religious, civil rights organization whose stated goal is to build interfaith and inter-ethnic understandin ...

(AIC) had translated the scanned comic into

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. The AIC's HAMSA (Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance) initiative printed 2,500 copies of the translated comic, distributing them throughout

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

.Persoff, Ethan
"HOW EP.TC IS UNINTENTIONALLY CONTRIBUTING TO WORLD PEACE,"
Ethan Persoff's blog (March 27, 2008). When the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

broke out, U.S. Representative

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashvill ...

spoke on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...

, stating "over 200,000 copies have been translated into Arabic and distributed through Egypt," and credited the mass-distribution of the 50-year-old comic as a contributing element in the Egyptian protests.Persoff, Ethan
"OUR WEBSITE'S WORK USED IN WIDE-SPREAD EGYPTIAN PEACE CAMPAIGN"
Ethan Persoff blog (February 3–15, 2011). Persoff mentioned the scanning and uploading of the document, and its subsequent role as source images for a peace campaign, to be "a good story about the value of putting things online, waiting 5-10 years, and seeing where they end up."

Notable works

Comics

* ''Teddy'', webcomic (2001) * ''

The Pogostick ''The Pogostick'' is an Unfinished creative work, unfinished 2003 comic book series written by Al Columbia and drawn by Ethan Persoff. The series is a black comedy about the day-to-day struggles of Audrey Grinfield, a mentally disturbed office work ...

'' (with

Al Columbia Al Columbia (born 1970) is an American artist known for his horror and black humor-themed alternative comics. His published works include the comic book series '' The Biologic Show'', the graphic novel/art book '' Pim & Francie: The Golden Be ...

), published by Fantagraphics (2003) * ''The Adventures of Fuller Bush Man & John McCain, in "Obliging Lady"'', self-published (2008) -

* ''John Wilcock, New York Years, 1954–1971'' (with Scott Marshall), serialized on

(2013–2020)
Collected as a print collection in 2021

''Radio Wire''
online comic (2013-2016)
''The Bureau''
online comic and music project (2018–present)

Journalism

'' (October 2009)

''

'' (December 2009) * "Skin So Thin, It's Inside Out" - Interview with

on Donald Trump - ''

The American Bystander ''The American Bystander'' is a quarterly humor magazine in trade paperback book format. Edited and published by Michael Gerber, it features contributions from many notable comedy writers, illustrators and cartoonists. ''The Bystander'' is desig ...

'' (May 2017)

Music

* ''Save This For Later, It's Not Music: Chicago, 1993-1997''
''Snap!''
(2001)
''SPREE: An Escape From Reality''
(2005)
''Live at Harry's Loft''
(2010)
Bureau''
(2018)

Podcast

Spoken Word with Electronics
(2020–present)

Archival projects

''Comics with Problems''
(2005-2020)
''The Realist Archive Project''
(2007-2010)

References

External links

*
Comics with Problems

John Wilcock webcomic

Realist Archive Project

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persoff, Ethan American comics artists Alternative cartoonists 1974 births Living people Artists from Denver Writers from Denver