Martin Wagner (born April 27, 1966) is an American artist,

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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, and filmmaker.

Career

Comics

While a student at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, Wagner began ''

Hepcats ''Hepcats'' is a comic book series self-publishing, self-published in the 1990s by cartoonist Martin Wagner (artist), Martin Wagner. It deals with the lives of four college students, rendered as anthropomorphic animals (humanoid bodies, but anim ...

'' as a comic strip in the college newspaper ''

The Daily Texan ''The Daily Texan'' is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of roughly 12,000 during the fall and spring semesters, and is among th ...

'' in 1987. Starting in 1989, he self-published it as a black-and-white comic book series and it gained more exposure with the assistance of

Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, known for his comic book ''Cerebus the Aardvark, Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political an ...

, who allowed Wagner to submit a page to his bi-weekly reprints of '' Cerebus''. To help support the comics financially, Wagner also offered sketches to fans who sent him cash in the mail. Although the series received critical praise, the combination of poor sales, Wagner's lack of business experience, and his divorce in 1991 contributed to financial difficulties. Along with Jeff Smith (''Bone''),

Colleen Doran Colleen Doran (born July 24, 1964) is an American comic book creator, writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and ...

(''A Distant Soil''), James Owen (''Starchild''), Larry Marder (''Beanworld'') and Sim, Wagner was one of the prominent self-publishers of the 1990s, but a hectic schedule eventually led him to cease publishing the series altogether following issue No. 12 in 1994. In 1996 he made a deal with

Antarctic Press Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book publishing company which publishes " Amerimanga" style comic books. The company also produces "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on areas of comic book creation and craft. Beginning in ...

to republish the existing material, to be followed by new issues, but the only new material published was a special "#0" color issue. Wagner also developed the ''Snowblind'' story-line as part of the ''Hepcats'' series which would be re-printed into a novel, but it never continued past part one.

Film

Following his departure from the comics industry, Wagner illustrated children's books and began a new career working in Austin-area film and television commercial productions. In 1999, Wagner produced some early conceptual drawings for director

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

(who was also a cartoonist at the University of Texas at the same time as Wagner) for his film ''

Spy Kids ''Spy Kids'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of spy action comedy films created by Robert Rodriguez. The plot follows children siblings, who discover that their respective parents are spies and become involved in an espionag ...

'', though he did not work on the film during production or any of its sequels. In 2005, Wagner was slated to direct a

24p In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second (typically, 23.976 frame/s when using equipment based on NTSC frame rates, but now 24.000 in many cases) frame rate with progressive scanning (not interlaced) ...

high-definition short film, ''Tremendous Risk for Mr. Ferdico'', but when the producers failed to secure funding, he shifted his attentions to a documentary, ''Bloody Work'', which was successfully funded on

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 ...

in the summer of 2013, but was never released, with updates to the campaign ceasing in 2016. Wagner was a rotating co-host on the webcast and public access show '' The Atheist Experience'' from 2000 to 2016.

References

External links

*
Listing for ''The Comics Journal'' No. 173, including interviews with Wagner and Jeff Smith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Martin 1966 births American comics artists American comics writers Artists from Austin, Texas American atheism activists Atheist Community of Austin people Living people University of Texas at Austin alumni American people of German descent