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A Brief Bio or Personal Summary
I've always been drawing ever since I've had the muscle control to grasp a crayon, and somehow early on I latched onto comics as the medium (or excuse) I would use to fill pages upon pages of blank sheets of paper with an every expanding universe of bug-eyed cartoon characters and gross monsters. I don't think I've ever not been drawing comics, but it all changed for me when I stopped hiding my comics in my sketchbooks and started regularly submitting them to small-press anthologies while also self-publishing my own zine. Through the act of making books and distributing them myself at comics and zine shows I met and incredible community of artists and publishers that have started to feel more like a family over the years. I moved to Seattle almost 3 years ago specifically to be a part of what I have found to be a very warm and welcoming comics community, and am very happy I did so!
Personal Facebook URL
www.facebook.com/robert.tritthardt
Publishing History
Yes, self-published (Web or Print)
Influences & Inspirations
Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes in the Sunday paper is probably what's responsible for getting me into this situation, around this time I found my uncles' stash of old Mad Magazines from back in the day and after I started reading Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin's comics it was all over. When I was a little bit older I started branching out from jokey cartoon comics and started reading stuff like X-Men and Star Wars, but I always preferred the weirder titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, those Aliens comics that Dark Horse used to print in the 90's or Sam Kieth's the Maxx. In college I fell in love with Jamie Hewlett's Tank Girl, all of the 60's / 70's underground stuff as well as the more contemporary underground comics that publishers like Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly had been printing. I think that gives you a good idea of my major comics influences from over the years, nowadays I'm inspired by all of the amazing self-published artists working themselves down to the bone to write, draw, letter, print and distribute their own work, it really is incredible to hold some of these handmade books knowing the amount of work that went into them.
What are you currently working on?
I'm creating new work for a full-color Gnartoons comic book that I hope to be able to print this Summer.
Why should people vote for you?
I have been happily self-publishing black and white comics for 10 years now (dang!) but I would truly love the opportunity to print my comics in full color, if awarded any portion of the grant I'll be using the founds to release a full color Gnartoons comic book this Summer.
James Stanton
