Kazimieras G. Prapuolenis, or Kaz, (born 1959, Hoboken

Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 cartoonist

Cartoonist

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

 and illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, and one of the most renown living "underground" cartoonists in the world. In the 1980s, after attending New York City's School of the Visual Arts, he was a frequent contributor to the influential comics anthologies

Comics anthology

Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...

 RAW

RAW (magazine)

RAW was a comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and published by Mouly from 1980 to 1991. It was a flagship publication of the 1980s alternative comics movement, serving as a more intellectual counterpoint to Robert Crumb's visceral Weirdo, which followed squarely in the...

and Weirdo

Weirdo

Weirdo was a magazine-sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb and published by Last Gasp from 1981 to 1993.Weirdo served as a "low art" counterpoint to its contemporary highbrow RAW...

. Since 1992 he has drawn Underworld

Kaz's Underworld

Underworld is an adult-themed comic strip written and drawn by the artist Kaz since 1992. It runs in many American alternative weeklies such as the New York Press and the SF Bay Guardian. It features regular characters such as Smoking Cat, Creep Rat, Nuzzle, Petit Mort, and others, interacting...

, an adult-themed syndicated

Print syndication

Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....

 comic strip

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....

 that appears in many alternative weeklies

Alternative weekly

An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...

.

Kaz's comics and drawings have appeared in many alternative and mainstream publications including Details

Details (magazine)

Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...

, The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

, Nickelodeon Magazine

Nickelodeon (magazine)

Nickelodeon Magazine was a children's magazine based on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Its first incarnation appeared in 1990, and was distributed at participating Pizza Hut restaurants; this version of the magazine only saw two issues. The magazine returned in Summer 1993 with different type of...

, The Village Voice

The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

, The East Village Eye, Swank, SF Bay Guardian

San Francisco Bay Guardian

The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...

, Eclipse, N.Y. Rocker, New York Press

New York Press

New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...

, Screw

Screw magazine

Screw is a weekly pornographic magazine published in the United States aimed at heterosexual men. It was first published in 1968 by Al Goldstein and was printed weekly in tabloid form...

and Bridal Guide. He has continued to contribute to comics anthologies such as Zero Zero.

Kaz has also worked on several animated

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 television shows

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 including SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob SquarePants

SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...

, Camp Lazlo

Camp Lazlo

Camp Lazlo is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray, produced by Rough Draft Studios, Joe Murray Productions and Cartoon Network Studios. It aired on Cartoon Network...

and is currently working on Phineas and Ferb

Phineas and Ferb

Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...

. He co-wrote (with Derek Drymon

Derek Drymon

Derek Drymon is an American writer and storyboard artist. He has worked on numerous animated cartoon productions of the 1990s and 2000s, best known for his work on Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants.-Personal Background:...

) the pilot episode

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 for the forthcoming Diggs Tailwagger. In September, 2006, Kaz left Camp Lazlo to work on another pilot for a Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

 show, Zoot Rumpus, based on a character from Underworld.http://www.kazunderworld.com/archive/703.html

Kaz lives in Hollywood, California, with his spouse Linda Marotta.

External links