Jim Rugg (born February 1, 1977) is an American cartoonist and illustrator from Pittsburgh known for his tongue-in-cheek evocation of 1970s-era

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

and

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

. His graphic novels and comics collections include '' Street Angel'', '' Afrodisiac'', ''

The P.L.A.I.N. Janes Cecil C. Castellucci (born October 25, 1969 in New York City), also known as Cecil Seaskull, is an American-born Canadian young adult novelist, indie rocker, and director. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Biography Castellucci gre ...

'' and ''Janes in Love'', ''

One Model Nation ''One Model Nation'' is a graphic novel by Jim Rugg and Dandy Warhols frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor about a fictional 1970s German krautrock band. It was released on 11 November 2009. An accompanying studio album titled ''Totalwerks, Vol. 1 (1 ...

'', and '' The Guild''. Rugg has also produced short comics for

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

, ''

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 * '' ...

'' magazine, ''True Porn'', ''Meathaus'', ''

Cinema Sewer ''Cinema Sewer'' was a movie magazine published by Robin Bougie of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was published either biannually or annually between 1997 and 2021. The publication began in a traditional fanzine format (folded 8.5”x11� ...

'', '' Strange Tales'', the SPX Annual, '' Project: Superior'', '' Dark Horse Presents'', and the '' Next Issue Project''.

Biography

Rugg's influences include Frank Miller, Erik Larsen, David Lapham, Jack Kirby, David Mazzuchelli, Mike Mignola, the Hernandez brothers, Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, and Julie Doucet.White, Adam
"The Jim Rugg Experience,"
ComicCritique.com (2005). Rugg is also inspired by television shows like '' The Office'' and '' Arrested Development'', the films of Wes Anderson, Kōbō Abe’s writing, Todd Hido’s photography, and

Toba Khedoori Toba Khedoori (born 1964 in Australia) is an artist of Iraqi heritage, known primarily for highly detailed mixed-media paintings executed on large sheets of wax-coated paper. Biography Khedoori was born in Sydney of Jewish-Iraqi parentage an ...

's drawings and paintings. He has a BFA in graphic design and painting from a small liberal arts college. While working as a graphic designer, Rugg met and began working with writer Brian Maruca. The result, '' Street Angel'', was self-published as a mini-comic, where it eventually found its way to the publisher Slave Labor Graphics. The first five issues of ''Street Angel'' were collected as a trade paperback by SLG Publishing in 2005. After the cancellation of a video game project and ''The P.L.A.I.N. Janes'' series in 2008, Rugg considered leaving the comics business.Smith, Zack
"Soul comics: Jim Rugg discusses ''Afrodisiac'',"
IndyWeek.com (Feb. 3, 2010). His fortunes began turning around in 2009, when he began working on

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

' ''

'' and Dark Horse Comics' '' The Guild''. In 2010 Rugg (along with co-writer Maruca) released '' Afrodisiac'', collecting stories previously published in anthologies along with new material. (The character first appeared in the pages of ''Street Angel''). The book is a detailed pastiche of 1970s "trash" culture, especially the

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

heroic archetype. The titular hero is an over-the-top '70s-era, kung fu-fighting

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

character depicted in adventures that cross multiple comics styles, from space aliens and flying saucers to dinosaurs to Richard Nixon to Hercules to giant monsters to Dracula. Afrodisiac's production design faithfully evokes the visual style of old comic books, down to faded color schemes and wrinkled, creased covers. Since 2018, Rugg has co-hosted Cartoonist Kayfabe, a YouTube channel focusing on '90s and independent comics, with fellow Pittsburgh native Ed Piskor, occasionally Tom Scioli, and other acclaimed cartoonists. He currently teaches in the MFA Visual Narrative program at the School of Visual Arts.

Awards

Rugg was nominated for a 2010 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Minicomic for '' Rambo'' 3.5. In 2011, ''Afrodisiac'' was nominated for an Eisner Award in the humor category, and in 2015, Rugg won the Eisner for best publication design for ''Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream.'' He served on the Ignatz Award jury in 2006.

Bibliography

* '' Street Angel'' (SLG Publishing, 2005) – co-written with Brian Maruca * ''

'' (DC Comics/

Minx Minx, MinX or MINX may refer to: Music * MINX (band), dissolved South Korean girl group replaced by Dreamcatcher * MINX (musician) (born 1983), Australian DJ and producer * ''Minx'' (Leatherface album), 1993 * ''Minx'' (Toyah album), 1985 Prin ...

, 2007) – written by Cecil Castellucci * ''Janes in Love'' (DC/Minx, 2008) – written by Cecil Castellucci * '' Afrodisiac'' (Adhouse Books, 2010) – co-written with Brian Maruca * ''

'' (Image Comics, 2010) – written by Courtney Taylor * ''The Guild'' (3-issue limited series, Dark Horse Comics, 2010) – written by Felicia Day

References

Sources

* * Manning, Shaun
"Rugg Raps About ''Afrodisiac'',"
Comic Book Resource (October 27, 2009).

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rugg, Jim Alternative cartoonists Artists from Pittsburgh Living people 1977 births 21st-century American artists Writers from Pittsburgh 21st-century American male writers American comics writers American comics artists Comics colorists Comic book letterers