Jump to content

Jessica Abel

From Alfawiki
Jessica Abel
Born1969
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Comic book creator, writer, educator
Years active1992–present
Known forLife Sucks, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, Soundtrack, La Perdida, Mirror, Window, Radio: An Illustrated Guide, Artbabe

Jessica Abel (born 1969) is an American creator and writer in the comic book industry, recognized for titles including Life Sucks, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, Soundtrack, La Perdida, Mirror, Window, Radio: An Illustrated Guide (co-created with Ira Glass), and the collected series Artbabe.

Early life

Born in 1969 in Chicago, Illinois, Abel grew up within the Chicago metropolitan region. She completed her secondary education at Evanston Township High School and initially enrolled at Carleton College (1987–88) before transferring to the University of Chicago. It was there, in 1988, that she debuted her first comics in the student anthology Breakdown. Abel also held various administrative positions at SAIC, including Assistant to the Associate Dean as well as graduate and undergraduate program chair roles, ultimately earning a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Career

Abel launched her comics career by self-publishing the hand-bound and photocopied comic Artbabe in 1992, releasing four annual editions subsequently. She received a grant from the Xeric Foundation which enabled professional printing and distribution of issue #5, titled The Four Seasons. Abel was featured as a character on the back cover story of Hate #10 (Fall 1992), created by Peter Bagge. She has clarified that Artbabe does not reflect autobiographical content.

The professionally produced Xeric issue attracted attention from Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth, who proposed publishing Artbabe. Each installment contained one or more standalone narratives; Abel expanded into longer-form storytelling with the 2000 release of La Perdida. Notably, the character Artbabe appears on all covers but does not feature within the stories themselves.

In 1998, Abel relocated to Mexico City alongside her partner, fellow cartoonist Matt Madden, leading to a pause in Artbabe publication by 1999.

Between 1996 and 2005, she contributed single-page journalistic comics to the University of Chicago Magazine. In 1997, she self-published a collection titled Jessica Abel, Intrepid Girl Reporter, compiling these works. Much of this material was later included in her compilations Soundtrack and Mirror, Window. For LA Weekly during 2000–2001, Abel produced comics journalism covering events such as the 2000 Democratic National Convention and evacuations following the September 11 attacks. During this era, she developed Radio: an Illustrated Guide for the radio show This American Life, which explained episode creation and provided guidance on producing radio programs.

After spending two years in Mexico City, Abel moved to Brooklyn, New York.[1] There she created the five-issue series La Perdida, totaling approximately 250 pages and published as a limited series by Fantagraphics Books from 2000 to 2005. A revised hardcover edition was released by Pantheon Books in 2006 to positive critical reception.[2][3] The narrative centers on Carla, a Mexican-American woman raised by an Anglo mother who travels to Mexico City in search of personal identity.

Abel has taught undergraduate cartooning courses at the School of Visual Arts and led workshops at institutions such as Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists Residency.

In 2008, Abel collaborated with Madden on Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, published by First Second Books, which serves as an extensive instructional guide for creating comics based on their teaching experience. That same year, she co-created Life Sucks alongside writers Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece.

Their follow-up educational text, Mastering Comics, was released in May 2012.[4] In 2012, Abel and Madden relocated to France for a one-year residency at La Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême,[5] which was extended to four years.

In 2015, Abel released a follow-up to her earlier comic guide titled Out On The Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio.[6]

On June 7, 2016, Abel announced her return to the United States to assume leadership of the newly established illustration department at PAFA, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[7][8] She fulfilled this role until summer 2024.[9]

Exhibitions

Abel has presented solo shows such as Corridoio Altervox in Rome, the Phoenix Gallery located in Brighton, the Oporto International Comics Festival in Portugal, Viñetas desde o Atlántico held in A Coruna, Spain, and the Naples Comicon.

Her participation in group exhibitions includes venues like the Jean Albano Gallery in Chicago, Athaneum Stripdagen in the Netherlands, Davidson Galleries in Seattle, Forbes Gallery at the Hyde Park Art Center in New York City, Regina Miller Gallery and Vox Gallery in Philadelphia, Centre National de la Bande Dessinée et de l'Image in Angoulême, France, as well as the Norman Rockwell Museum situated in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Awards and honors

Bibliography

  • (Co-authored with Ira Glass) Radio: An Illustrated Guide, (WBEZ Alliance, 1999)
  • Soundtrack: Short Stories 1989–1996 (Fantagraphics Books, 2001)
  • Mirror, Window: An Artbabe Collection (Fantagraphics Books, 2000); a collected edition of Artbabe Vol. 2, issues 1–4 (1997–1999)
  • La Perdida (Pantheon Books, 2006); an updated compilation of La Perdida issues 1–5 (2001–2005, Fantagraphics Books)
  • (Illustrator alongside editor Carrie Russell) Complete Copyright: An Everyday Guide for Librarians (American Library Association, 2004)
  • (Collaborated with writer Gabriel Soria and artist Warren Pleece) Life Sucks (First Second, 2008)
  • (With co-author Matt Madden) Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, (First Second, 2008)
  • (Co-authored with Matt Madden) Mastering Comics: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Continued (First Second, 2012)
  • (Alongside Matt Madden and Lewis Trondheim) Cavalcade Surprise (L'Association, 2014)
  • Out On The Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio (Crown Publishing Group, 2015)
  • Trish Trash, Rollergirl sur Mars volume 1 (Dargaud, 2015) — French edition
    • Translated version titled Trish Trash, Rollergirl of Mars volume 1 (NBM/Papercutz, 2017)
  • Trish Trash issue #2 (Super Genius, 2017)
  • Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life (self-published, 2017)
  • Trish Trash issue #3 (Super Genius, 2018)

See also

Further reading

External links

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named WhoIs
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named powell
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named blogcritics
  4. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Retrieved from "https://www.alfawiki.org/index.php?title=Jessica_Abel&oldid=94091"