Koren Shadmi (; born 1981) is an American-Israeli illustrator and cartoonist.

Career

In 1998, at age 17, Shadmi released his first graphic novel in Israel, ''Profile 107'', a collaboration with mentor cartoonist Uri Fink. In 2002 Shadmi relocated to New York to study at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

, where he now teaches illustration. Shadmi's first English book, '' In The Flesh'', - a collection of comics dealing with relationships - was published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in 2009. His short story "Antoinette" was selected for the Best American Comics 2009 anthology edited by Charles Burns. He is the creator of the mystery webcomic ''The Abaddon'', loosely based on

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

’s existential play ''

No Exit ''No Exit'' (, ) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play centers around a depiction of the afterlife in which three deceased characters a ...

''. ''The Abaddon'' was published in book form by Z2 Comics in 2015 to critical acclaim. In 2015 Shadmi illustrated the book ''Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv'' published by

First Second Books First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint (trade name), imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck, Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual e ...

. In 2016, Shadmi’s semi-autobiographical comic ''Love Addict: Confessions of a Serial Dater'' was published by Top Shelf. The book deals with the perils of online dating. In 2017 Shadmi began collaborated with author

David Kushner David Kushner or Dave Kushner may be: * David Kushner (writer) * David Kushner (singer-songwriter) *Dave Kushner Dave Kushner (born November 16, 1966) is an American musician best known as the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock supergroup Vel ...

. Their first book was ''Rise of the Dungeon Master -'' A graphic novel based on a

Wired (magazine) ''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and Online magazine, online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in public ...

article written by the award-winning Kushner, profiling

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...

, the founder of the

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

. Kushner and Shadmi collaborated again in 2020 on 'A For Anonymous' which tracks the origins of the hacktivist group. And once more in 2022 on 'Easy To Learn, Difficult To Master' chronicling the stories of Ralph H. Baer and

Nolan Bushnell Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consu ...

and their groundbreaking work during the early days of Video Games. In 2019 Shadmi wrote and drew 'The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television' published by Humanoids. The book visualizes the life story of TV maverick

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

. The book garnered positive reviews including features in

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

and

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

. In 2021 Humanoids released a follow-up book by Shadmi about the horror legend

Bela Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (19 ...

- 'Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula' - which won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Graphic Novel, and 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 2022. Shadmi's next book with Humanoids - 'All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story' was a graphic biography of

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

. The book, which came out in 2023, focused on the tumultuous relationship between the band's founding members -

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

and

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

. Shadmi's illustration clients include: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones, Playboy, BusinessWeek, The Village Voice, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Wired, Spin, ESPN the Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Random House, W.W Norton, The New Yorker, and many others.

Personal life

Shadmi currently lives and works in Queens, New York.

Awards

*Albert Dorne Award, Society of Illustrators (2006) *Gran Guinigi Award, Lucca Comics and Games Festival, Italy (2008) *"Antoinette" (short story) was selected for the anthology ''Best American Comics 2009'', edited by Charles Burns (2009) *Gold Medal in the 'Uncommissioned' category, Society of Illustrators (2011) * National Endowment Of The Arts 'Our Town' Grant with Ideas X Lab (2015) *Rudolph Dirks Award in the 'Mature/Erotic' category,

German Comic Con German Comic Con (or German Film & Comic Con) is a fan convention organised by Cool Conventions and Showmasters Events first held at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund in December 2015. It was the first event of its kind, modeled after the San Dieg ...

(2016) *

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 ...

: nominated in two categories (Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Graphic Novel) for ''Highwayman'', 2019 * Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards Best Graphic Novel (2022) *

: Nominated 'Best Reality-Based Work' (2022)

References

External links

*
Interview at Comics Foundry Magazine

Q&A with Koren Shadmi at Robot 6

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadmi, Koren Living people 21st-century Israeli illustrators Israeli graphic novelists Webcomic creators School of Visual Arts alumni 1981 births