Hope Raue Larson (born 1982) is an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and

cartoonist 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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

. Her main field is

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

Biography

Larson grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and attended Carolina Day School.Anne Fitten Glenn
"Graphic Insight"
''Mountain Xpress''. Retrieved on December 24, 2008. Upon graduation from high school, she matriculated at

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

and then transferred to the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum an ...

, where she graduated with a BFA in 2004. She then moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

with her husband, Canadian cartoonist

Bryan Lee O'Malley Bryan Lee O'Malley (born February 21, 1979) is a Canadian cartoonist, best known for the ''Scott Pilgrim'' series. He also performs as a musician under the alias Kupek. Career Bryan Lee O'Malley attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary Sc ...

. In 2005, they moved to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. From 2008 until 2010, Larson and O'Malley lived in Asheville, North Carolina. They relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California. She and O'Malley divorced in 2014. She returned to Asheville, where she currently lives.

Career

While Larson was in college,

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), ''Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (200 ...

took an interest in her illustrations, encouraging her to create comics. Soon after, she was invited to the

webcomics Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...

anthology site

Girlamatic Girlamatic (sometimes stylized as GirlAMatic or Girl-A-Matic) was a webcomic subscription service launched by Joey Manley and Lea Hernandez in March 2003. It was the third online magazine Manley established as part of his Modern Tales family of w ...

and produced her first professional comic, a web serial entitled ''I Was There & Just Returned''. Afterwards, Larson concentrated on a number of small, hand-made

minicomics A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105&n ...

, combining her interests in comics, screenprinting, and bookmaking. She contributed to

comics anthologies A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication t ...

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can b ...

'', ''True Porn 2'', and ''You Ain't No Dancer'', while working on a web-serialized graphic novel, '' Salamander Dream''. This eventually became her first full-length book, published by AdHouse Books in September 2005; she moved to

Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's merger with Lion Forge Comics. The merged company, Oni–Lion Forge Publishing Gr ...

for her second graphic novel, ''Gray Horses'' (released March 2006). In 2006, Larson signed a two-book contract with New York publishing house

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

. The first book under this deal, ''Chiggers'' (released June 18, 2008, under the

Atheneum Books Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since its acquisition of Macmillan in 1994 and it created Ath ...

Ginee Seo imprint), is a graphic novel about "nerdy teenaged girls" who meet at summer camp. ''Chiggers'' is intended for a 9- to 12-year-old audience. In 2012, Larson adapted Madeleine L'Engle's work as ''A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel'', published by Margaret Ferguson Books (a Farrar Straus Giroux imprint). In 2016, Larson became the new writer for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in 19 ...

, a run that saw the character go on back-packing trip through Asia on a voyage of self-discovery. In addition to comics, Larson has worked as a freelance illustrator for various clients, including the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. She has worked as a

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the co ...

on such books as Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's ''

Local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

''. Larson's book ''All Summer Long'' was released by Farrar Straus Giroux in the spring of 2018.

Publishing

In 2006, Larson launched her own publishing imprint,

Tulip Tree Press Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

. She has released several minicomics and prints through the Tulip Tree website; the only book released under the Tulip Tree name was

House of Sugar ''House of Sugar'' is the eighth studio album by American musician Alex G, released on September 13, 2019, through Domino Recording Company. The album's title is a reference to both the SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and the gingerbread house f ...

, an award-winning collection of Rebecca Kraatz's comic strip, released 15 November 2006.

Acclaim

Larson was nominated for the 2006 Kim Yale Award for Best New Female Talent, and won the 2006

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 ...

in the category Promising New Talent. In 2007, Larson won the

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 ...

for Special Recognition (formerly known as "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition"). She won the Eisner Award again in 2012 for her ''A Wrinkle in Time'' adaptation. Rebecca Kraatz's

, Larson's first publishing venture, won the 2007

Doug Wright Award The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning (established in December 2004) are literary awards handed out annually since 2005 during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival to Canadian cartoonists honouring excellence in comics (including webcomics) ...

for Best Emerging Talent. ''All Summer Long'' was a ''Kirkus Reviews'' Best Book of 2018.

Works

Mainstream comic book work

*''

'',

, 2016–2018, with Rafael Albuquerque

Graphic novels

*'' Salamander Dream''. AdHouse Books, 2005 *''Gray Horses''.

, 2006 *''Chiggers''.

, 2008 *''Mercury''. Atheneum Books, 2010 *''A Wrinkle in Time''. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012 *''Who is AC'' with Tintin Pantoja. thenum Books 2013 *Four Points series **''Compass South'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016 **''Knife's Edge'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017 * ''

Goldie Vance ''Goldie Vance'' is a comic book series created by Eisner award winning writer Hope Larson and artist Brittney Williams. It was a monthly ongoing series from 2016 to 2017, then switched to a series of original graphic novels in 2018. In 2019, th ...

'' with Brittney Williams.

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Ho ...

, 2016 *Eagle Rock series **''All Summer Long'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018 **''All Together Now'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020 **''All My Friends'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021

Selected short stories and minicomics

"Sex Rainbow,"
March 2004 (originally printed as a deck of cards)
"Compound Eye,"
April 2004 * "Weather Vain," August 2004 (originally printed in ''

Vol. 2'')
"Mud,"
February 2005 (originally printed in ''You Ain't No Dancer #1'')
"Little House in the Big Woods,"
August 2006 (originally printed in the

) * "When I Was A Slut," March 2006 (published in ''Project: Romantic'')
"Henry and Elizabeth,"
July 2007 (printed in the New York Times, and later expanded to a minicomic) *"Cosplay," February 2018 (published by Dark Horse Books in ''Secret Loves of Geeks'')

References

External links

Hope Larson's websiteTulip Tree Press
, Larson's publishing imprint
Hope Larson
on hinah exhibitions
"Thinking in Comics: A Roundtable on the Present and Future of the Graphic Novel featuring Matt Kindt, Hope Larson, Nate Powell, Dash Shaw, James Sturm, Jillian Tamaki, and Will Wilkinson" in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (26.1)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Hope Alternative cartoonists American women cartoonists American female comics artists American comics writers American webcomic creators American people of German descent American people of Swedish descent American expatriates in Canada Living people Artists from Asheville, North Carolina School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Female comics writers Eisner Award winners for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition 1982 births American cartoonists