About the Author:
Cole Closser holds an MFA in Sequential Art from the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. His first graphic novel, Little Tommy Lost (Koyama Press), was named one of the ten best graphic novels of 2013 by A.V. Club (the Onion), and nominated for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in the category of Best Publication Design at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Cole is an Assistant Professor of Art & Design at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
Review:
"The whole shebang shows off Closser's comics chops in styles based predominantly on early comic strips and animation films. Touchstones for Closser seem to include Fletcher Hanks (Stardust the Super Wizard) and Ernie Bushmiller (Nancy) among comic-strip creators and Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer (Felix the Cat), Winsor McCay (Gertie the Dinosaur), and the Fleischer brothers (Betty Boop) among animators." - Ray Olson, Booklist
"Fans of outsider art and those who are familiar with the originating texts and comics from whence this experimental work comes from will thrill in the visual language and form on display by the Eisner Award-nominated Closser." - Michelle Martinez, New York Journal of Books
"Cole Closser is a cartoon ventriloquist, sticking his hand into bodies of comic-strip work not his own and making them speak with a creaky, unnatural, wondrous voice." - Sean Rogers, The Globe and Mail
"maybe the most-discussed such book I observed from the floor [of SPX]" - Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal
"Simply beautiful." - Rob Kirby, cartoonist and critic
"Black Rat is beautiful, a distinct showcase of a young master's prowess. Cole Closser's cartooning repertoire is wonderfully versatile and dense with comic book history." - Farel Dalrymple (The Wrenchies, Pop Gun War)
"This is comix alchemy of the highest order: uncanny, funny, chilling, intoxicating, a resonating image/echo chamber that keeps propelling itself and the reader further into its own inky depths and stratospheres." - Stephen R. Bissette (Tyrant, Taboo, Swamp Thing)
Praise for Little Tommy Lost: Book One
Nominated for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Publication Design
"Closser's magnificent book has nobly earned its spot on the shelf next to the revered legends and recently rediscovered masters he's emulating." - Jake Austen, Chicago Tribune
"Little Tommy Lost embodies the rich heritage of bygone American funnies while keeping an edge that's both gripping and grim. And this being Book One, there's still plenty of adventure to be had." - Jason Heller, A.V. Club
"[Little Tommy Lost: Book One] sports plenty of flourishes borrowed from the likes of Bushmiller and Segar, which, along with faded and stained color treatments, are enough to put you back in an era well before the cartoonist roamed this earth." - Brian Heater, Boing Boing
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