Evan Dahm
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Evan Dahm (born 1987) is an American
webcartoonist 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
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...
known for creating the Overside universe of webcomics. Dahm has also published a number of print-only
graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...
.


Career

Dahm started creating the surrealistic webcomic ''Rice Boy'' in 2006, which follows the titular Rice Boy as he travels through Dahm's constructed world. Once ''Rice Boy'' was completed in 2008, Dahm followed it up with ''Order of Tales'', a more traditional
high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...
adventure. In 2010, Dahm completed his second story and started ''Vattu'', a webcomic about a tribal girl forced into slavery. Dahm has written and published a number of books. He collaborated to create the '' Benign Kingdom'' series of
art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...
s between 2012 and 2016. He published illustrated re-releases of ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...
'' and ''
Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' in 2014 and 2018. In 2019, 2021, and 2022,
First Second First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It ...
published the ''Island Book'' trilogy. Iron Circus Comics published '' The Harrowing of Hell'' in 2021 and ''Last Delivery'' in 2024. In December 2022, Dahm began publishing ''3rd Voice'', a fantasy webcomic serial about the adventures of Spondule and Navichet, set in "an invented world in a state of apocalyptic crisis, and the precarious lives of many people therein". In 2024, ''3rd Voice'' was nominated for the
Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
in the category Best Webcomic, and it won the 2023 Divisional Reuben Award for Online Comic Long Form.


Overside Webcomics

Prior to ''3rd Voice'', the webcomics of Evan Dahm were set on a flat planet named "Overside", which consists of a populated "top" half and a plague-ridden "Underside". Each of the three Overside webcomics tells a unique story, and offers questions and clues about Overside's history and mythology. In 2006, Dahm started the webcomic ''Rice Boy'' as an "exercise in surrealism." Described as Dahm's "trippiest" work by ''
ComicsAlliance ComicsAlliance is an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the categ ...
'', ''Rice Boy'' introduced readers to Overside through a surreal journey
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
. The titular Rice Boy is a simple creature that is torn from his mundane life by an immortal "machine man" called The One Electronic, who suspects that Rice Boy may fulfill an ancient prophecy. The adventure Rice Boy subsequently undertakes is underscored by wistfulness and absurdity. Dahm has stated that he made up the world as he went, designing new characters and conjuring up new features as the story demanded. After completing ''Rice Boy'' in 2008, Evan Dahm went on to create ''Order of Tales''. Presented as a more traditional
high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...
epic, ''Order of Tales'' takes place 400 years before the events of ''Rice Boy'' and follows the hero Koark, the son of one of the guardians of Overside's most important stories. ''Order of Tales'' starts off as Koark's father is murdered and his final act is to bestow the title of "Teller" on his son and command him to find a secret story known as ''The Ascent of the Bone Ziggurat''. Koark meets The One Electronic, who sends him on an errand to an
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...
who may know something about the story. Dahm's character designs for ''Order of Tales'' is deliberately simple, as he only used more bizarre figures in order to a sense of intrigue or menace. Lauren Davis described ''Order of Tales'' as a classic
hero's journey In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero's quest or hero's journey, also known as the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home ch ...
and noted its bittersweet ending. In 2010, Dahm completed ''Order of Tales'' and went on to create ''Vattu''. Taking place before ''Order of Tales'', this webcomic follows the young
nomad Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...
girl Vattu. When the nomad tribe forcedly joins an expanding empire, Vattu is offered as a slave as a temporary alternative for
taxes A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...
. Lauren Davis noted that this webcomic starts off slower than Dahm's other works, as "grand prophecies and heroic destinies" are traded in for complex politics and their effects on indigenous tribes. ''Vattu'' won the
Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...
in the "Outstanding Online Comic" category in 2014.


Books

In 2012, in collaboration with Becky Dreisdadt, Frank Gibson, KC Green, Yuko Ota and
Ananth Hirsh ''Johnny Wander'' is a former webcomic written by Ananth Hirsh and illustrated by Yuko Ota. It was published bi-weekly. In its earlier days, the comic generally focused on slice of life stories involving Ananth, Yuko, and their friends and fami ...
, Dahm co-founded a series of
art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...
s, titled '' Benign Kingdom''. In this series, Dahm and his colleagues aim to present the works of various webcomic creators specifically. In an interview with ''ComicsAlliance'', Dahm stated that he had difficulty working together with people to get these books published, as he has gotten used to publishing his own work. In 2014, Evan Dahm illustrated a new edition of
L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...
''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...
''. Funded through a
Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign, this edition includes around 100 illustrations, among which are 24 full-page illustrations. In an interview with ''
io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...
'', Dahm stated that he had been thinking of doing illustrations for a
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
book for a while at that point and wanted to create drawings that support the text rather than being the "main thing". Dahm first read the book one or two years before starting the campaign. Dahm noted that the setting is often the most important part of a story to him, and while the places in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' aren't well-described, Dahm stated that capturing the atmosphere of them was a "fun challenge". In 2016, Dahm started a new Kickstarter campaign to give
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
's ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' a similar treatment, incorporating 53 full-page ink illustrations into the novel. In 2016,
First Second First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It ...
announced to publish a graphic novel by Evan Dahm titled ''Island Book''. This story follows the young girl Sola who leaves her island home in order to find the creature that cursed her. Talking with ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'', Dahm stated that it is "exciting to start building a new story and a new world from the ground up" after working from the same set universe for a decade. He further noted that he had "been wanting to make a story about a voyage on the high seas for a long time." The book was published in May 2019.


Style

Describing himself as a
luddite The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of certain types of automated machinery due to concerns relating to worker pay and output quality. They often destroyed the machines in organ ...
, Dahm draws his strips by hand and insists that his works are always intended to be seen as printed books rather than as webcomics. Dahm has stated that he prefers the "messiness" of paper over the precision of tablets, feeling like making "mistakes" is part of the process. Dahm doesn't use a large-format
image scanner An image scanner (often abbreviated to just scanner) is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object and converts it to a digital image. The most common type of scanner used in the home and the office is the flatbe ...
either, instead scanning each page separately and stitching them together with
Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editin ...
. However, he does do coloring digitally.


Other work

In 2020, Dahm developed a
Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
game with GB Studio titled ''Usurper Ghoul'', which he released on
Itch.io Itch.io (stylized in all lowercase) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 1,000,000 ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahm, Evan 1987 births American webcomic creators Artists from Asheville, North Carolina Place of birth missing (living people) Living people