Karl Stevens
Encyclopedia
Karl Stevens is a graphic novelist and painter
. His first book, Guilty, was published in 2004 with a grant from the Xeric Foundation
. He is also the author of Whatever (2008) and The Lodger (2010). His comic strips have appeared since 2005 in the alternative newsweekly the Boston Phoenix
.
, and chronicles the events following an unexpected bus stop encounter between exes.
Reviews of Guilty noted its "painstaking cross-hatch[ing] ... and its pitch-perfect, 'overheard' dialogue" and its extremely — even "overwhelmingly" — detailed realism. In addition to receiving the Xeric
award for comic self-publishing, Guilty was nominated for the 2005 Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent, has been translated into French (published by Ego Comme X
) and Dutch, and is included in Stephen Weiner's The 101 Best Graphic Novels.
"Whatever" appeared in the Boston Phoenix for three years, beginning in spring 2005. A collection of the strips, also called Whatever, was published in April 2008 by Alternative Comics
. In May 2008 "Whatever" was followed by a new comic, "Succe$$," illustrated by Stevens and written by Gustavo Turner. "Succe$$" ran through December 2008. In January 2009, Stevens debuted a new weekly comic
in the Boston Phoenix called "Failure." Stevens' book The Lodger, published in 2010, is a selection of strips from the first year of "Failure," accompanied by oil paintings and watercolors. In 2010, "Failure" won the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
award for Best Cartoon.
. A solo exhibition entitled "The Lodger" was on view at Carroll and Sons in July and August 2010. As an illustrator, Stevens collaborated with Anthony Apesos
on the book Anatomy for Artists: A New Approach Discovering, Learning, and Remembering the Body, released in October 2007 by North Light Books. His short stories have appeared in Volumes 1 and 3 of Blurred Vision, anthologies of "New Narrative Art" published by Blurred Books.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. His first book, Guilty, was published in 2004 with a grant from the Xeric Foundation
Xeric Foundation
The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations...
. He is also the author of Whatever (2008) and The Lodger (2010). His comic strips have appeared since 2005 in the alternative newsweekly the Boston Phoenix
The Phoenix (newspaper)
The Phoenix is the name of several alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts including the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix, the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Worcester Phoenix...
.
Guilty
Guilty is set in Allston and CambridgeCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, and chronicles the events following an unexpected bus stop encounter between exes.
Xeric Foundation
The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations...
award for comic self-publishing, Guilty was nominated for the 2005 Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent, has been translated into French (published by Ego Comme X
Ego comme X
Ego comme x is the name of a French comics publishing house created in Angoulême in 1994.- Company history :Ego comme x started by publishing a magazine in 1993 created by a few authors and after a few years started to publish other works....
) and Dutch, and is included in Stephen Weiner's The 101 Best Graphic Novels.
Comics and Other Books
Stevens' weekly comicComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
"Whatever" appeared in the Boston Phoenix for three years, beginning in spring 2005. A collection of the strips, also called Whatever, was published in April 2008 by Alternative Comics
Alternative Comics
Alternative Comics may refer to:* Alternative Comics , a U.S. comic book publisher* alternative comics, a label for a range of comics, when written with extraneous caps...
. In May 2008 "Whatever" was followed by a new comic, "Succe$$," illustrated by Stevens and written by Gustavo Turner. "Succe$$" ran through December 2008. In January 2009, Stevens debuted a new weekly comic
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in the Boston Phoenix called "Failure." Stevens' book The Lodger, published in 2010, is a selection of strips from the first year of "Failure," accompanied by oil paintings and watercolors. In 2010, "Failure" won the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
The Association of Alternative Newsmedia is a diverse group of covering every major metropolitan area and other less-populated regions of North America. AAN members have a combined weekly circulation of over 6.5 million as well as a print readership of nearly 17 million active, educated and...
award for Best Cartoon.
Painting and other work
Stevens' oil paintings and watercolors have been exhibited at the Carroll and Sons and Howard Yezerski galleries in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. A solo exhibition entitled "The Lodger" was on view at Carroll and Sons in July and August 2010. As an illustrator, Stevens collaborated with Anthony Apesos
Anthony Apesos
Anthony Apesos is an American painter and professor of Fine Arts at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.-Biography:...
on the book Anatomy for Artists: A New Approach Discovering, Learning, and Remembering the Body, released in October 2007 by North Light Books. His short stories have appeared in Volumes 1 and 3 of Blurred Vision, anthologies of "New Narrative Art" published by Blurred Books.