Phil Foglio
Encyclopedia
Philip "Phil" Foglio is an American
cartoonist
and comic book
artist best known for his humorous science fiction
and fantasy
work.
and moved with his family to Hartsdale, New York
, where he lived until he was 17. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, Illinois, and was a member of the university's science fiction
club, art-directing & co-editing the group's fanzine
, Effen Essef. He was nominated for both the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
in 1976, and won Best Fan Artist in 1977 and 1978. After living in the DePaul dorms for a few years, Phil moved to the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, and hosted weekly Thursday Night Meetings of Chicago-area science fiction fans
. He drew the first known Unix
daemons
for a limited series of T-shirt
s in 1979.
Beginning in 1980, Foglio wrote and illustrated the comic strip
What's New with Phil & Dixie
for Dragon Magazine
from TSR Games, satirizing the world of role-playing game
s. The strip ran monthly for three years. In the early 1980s, after some time in Chicago attempting to find work doing science fiction
magazine and book illustration, Foglio moved to New York City
. He formed the independent comic-book company ffantasy ffactory with science-fiction writer-artist Freff and SF book editor Melissa Ann Singer. Working with editorial input from Chris Claremont
, Foglio and Freff wrote and drew a single issue of a science-fiction/historical title called D'Arc Tangent before ending their collaboration in 1984.
He eventually returned to the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, and continued fantasy and science fiction art. For publisher Donning/Starblaze
, Foglio illustrated the MythAdventures
series of fantasy novels by Robert Lynn Asprin, and later adapted the first book, Another Fine Myth
, into an eight-issue comic-book series from WaRP Graphics
. The WaRP work eventually led to comic-book assignments from DC Comics
(Angel and the Ape
, Plastic Man
and Stanley and His Monster
miniseries), Marvel Comics
, and First Comics
(back up stories in issues of Grimjack
and scripting over Doug Rice's plots in Dynamo Joe
.) He also joined the Moebius theatre group, and held regular meetings and poker parties for the local science fiction community.
Foglio initiated his long-running character Buck Godot
for the publication Just Imagine, published by Denny Misinger. Basing the humorous science-fiction detective on a real-life friend, John Buckley, Foglio "did a couple of those in the black-and-whites and then Donning said they wanted Buck Godot graphic novel
s", two of which followed.
In the 1990s, Foglio met and married his wife, Kaja
. The two contributed art to the collectible card game
Magic: The Gathering
, from Wizards of the Coast
, and resurrected the comic strip What's New with Phil & Dixie
for that company's Duelist magazine. During this decade, Foglio co-founded Palliard Press
and published additional comics, including a new Buck Godot series and the whimsical erotic series XXXenophile
. The Foglios later founded Studio Foglio and began to produce the steampunk
-fantasy series Girl Genius
.
In April 2005, the Foglios abandoned publishing periodical-style comic books and began publishing Girl Genius online as a free webcomic
, updated three times a week. Foglio told an interviewer that as of November 2005, "[W]e've quadrupled our number of readers, and tripled our sales" of traditional comics and related merchandise.
wrote and Foglio illustrated, was nominated for the Hugo Award
for Best Dramatic Presentation
; in the same year, he was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
for the first time. Foglio won the Fan Artist Hugo twice, in 1977 and 1978. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
in 2008. He, his wife (Kaja Foglio
), and their colorist (Cheyenne Wright) won the first graphic story Hugo
for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones in 2009. The three again won the award for subsequent volumes in 2010 and 2011. Having won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in all three of its first three years, Kaja, Phil, and Cheyenne announced that, in order to show that the category was a "viable award" (with quality competitors besides themselves), they were refusing nomination for the following year (2012).
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 comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
artist best known for his humorous science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
work.
Early life and career
Foglio was born on May 1, 1956 in Mount Vernon, New YorkMount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
and moved with his family to Hartsdale, New York
Hartsdale, New York
Hartsdale is a hamlet and a census-designated place located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hartsdale is located at ....
, where he lived until he was 17. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, Illinois, and was a member of the university's science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
club, art-directing & co-editing the group's fanzine
Science fiction fanzine
A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day...
, Effen Essef. He was nominated for both the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
in 1976, and won Best Fan Artist in 1977 and 1978. After living in the DePaul dorms for a few years, Phil moved to the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, and hosted weekly Thursday Night Meetings of Chicago-area science fiction fans
Science fiction fandom
Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or "fandom" of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy and in contact with one another based upon that interest...
. He drew the first known Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
daemons
BSD Daemon
The BSD daemon, nicknamed Beastie, is the generic mascot of BSD operating systems.-Overview:The BSD daemon is named after a software daemon, a computer program found on Unix-like operating systems, which through a play on words takes the cartoon shape of a mythical demon. The BSD daemon's nickname...
for a limited series of T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s in 1979.
Beginning in 1980, Foglio wrote and illustrated the 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....
What's New with Phil & Dixie
What's New with Phil & Dixie
What's New with Phil & Dixie is a comic strip by Phil Foglio originally published in Dragon magazine from 1980 to 1984, returning to print in the 1990s. The comic stars Phil Foglio, along with Dixie Null, as they explore the world of tabletop RPGs with a mixture of reportage and advice to the reader...
for Dragon Magazine
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
from TSR Games, satirizing the world of role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s. The strip ran monthly for three years. In the early 1980s, after some time in Chicago attempting to find work doing science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
magazine and book illustration, Foglio moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He formed the independent comic-book company ffantasy ffactory with science-fiction writer-artist Freff and SF book editor Melissa Ann Singer. Working with editorial input from Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
, Foglio and Freff wrote and drew a single issue of a science-fiction/historical title called D'Arc Tangent before ending their collaboration in 1984.
He eventually returned to the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, and continued fantasy and science fiction art. For publisher Donning/Starblaze
Starblaze Graphics
Starblaze Graphics was an imprint of The Donning Company, a publishing company established in 1978 to publish illustrated books. Notable Starblaze publications include Robert Asprin's MythAdventures series, as well as a graphic novel based on the first book...
, Foglio illustrated the MythAdventures
MythAdventures
MythAdventures or Myth Adventures is a fantasy series by Robert Lynn Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye. After twelve novels by Asprin, published 1978 to 2002, he and Nye continued the series with seven more books...
series of fantasy novels by Robert Lynn Asprin, and later adapted the first book, Another Fine Myth
Another Fine Myth
Another Fine Myth is a 1978 novel by Robert Lynn Asprin, and is the first book in the Myth Adventures series.-Plot synopsis:Skeeve, a magician's apprentice and wannabe thief from the dimension Klah, tries to learn the basics of magic from Master Magician Garkin for several months but to no...
, into an eight-issue comic-book series from WaRP Graphics
WaRP Graphics
WaRP Graphics, later Warp Graphics, is an alternative comics publisher best known for creating and being the original publisher of the Elfquest comic book series. It was created and incorporated in 1977 by Wendy and Richard Pini. The company title is an acronym formed from the founding couple's...
. The WaRP work eventually led to comic-book assignments from DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
(Angel and the Ape
Angel and the Ape
Angel and the Ape was a humor comic book created by E. Nelson Bridwell published by DC Comics. The characters first appeared in 1968 in Showcase #77 then graduated to their own title, with art by comic artist Bob Oksner, most often inked by Wally Wood...
, Plastic Man
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
and Stanley and His Monster
Stanley and His Monster
Stanley and His Monster was an American comic-book humor feature and later series from DC Comics, about a boy who has a monster as his companion instead of a dog. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Winslow Mortimer as a backup feature the funny-animal comic The Fox and the Crow #95 Stanley...
miniseries), Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and First Comics
First Comics
First Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...
(back up stories in issues of Grimjack
GrimJack
Grimjack is the main character of a comic book originally published by First Comics. John Ostrander and Timothy Truman are credited as co-creators of the character, although Ostrander had been developing Grimjack with artist Lenin Delsol before Truman's arrival on the project...
and scripting over Doug Rice's plots in Dynamo Joe
Dynamo Joe
Dynamo Joe was a comic book series published by First Comics from 1986–1988. Created, plotted and drawn by Doug Rice, it was scripted first by John Ostrander then by Phil Foglio...
.) He also joined the Moebius theatre group, and held regular meetings and poker parties for the local science fiction community.
Foglio initiated his long-running character Buck Godot
Buck Godot
Buck Godot is the title character in a science fiction/comedy comic book series collected in two volumes and assorted comic books, including the eight-issue "Gallimaufry" series, all written and drawn by their creator, Phil Foglio.-Overview:Buck's adventures take place in a future where a...
for the publication Just Imagine, published by Denny Misinger. Basing the humorous science-fiction detective on a real-life friend, John Buckley, Foglio "did a couple of those in the black-and-whites and then Donning said they wanted Buck Godot graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s", two of which followed.
Later work
Kaja Foglio
Kaja Foglio is a Seattle-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and has continued to co-win two Hugo Awards the following years.-Early life and education:Born in...
. The two contributed art to the collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
, from Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, and resurrected the comic strip What's New with Phil & Dixie
What's New with Phil & Dixie
What's New with Phil & Dixie is a comic strip by Phil Foglio originally published in Dragon magazine from 1980 to 1984, returning to print in the 1990s. The comic stars Phil Foglio, along with Dixie Null, as they explore the world of tabletop RPGs with a mixture of reportage and advice to the reader...
for that company's Duelist magazine. During this decade, Foglio co-founded Palliard Press
Palliard Press
Palliard Press was a small, independent comic book publishing house co-founded by Phil Foglio, illustrator of such titles as Buck Godot, Girl Genius, and Robert Asprin's MythAdventures, and Greg Ketter, owner of DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota....
and published additional comics, including a new Buck Godot series and the whimsical erotic series XXXenophile
XXXenophile
XXXenophile is an American comic book series, published by Palliard Press and later Studio Foglio. It is an anthology of short, whimsical, erotic fantasy and science fiction stories, written and penciled by Phil Foglio. Each story is inked by a different artist.XXXenophile was originally...
. The Foglios later founded Studio Foglio and began to produce the steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
-fantasy series Girl Genius
Girl Genius
Girl Genius is an ongoing comic book series turned webcomic, written and drawn by Phil and Kaja Foglio and published by their company, Studio Foglio LLC under the imprint Airship Entertainment...
.
In April 2005, the Foglios abandoned publishing periodical-style comic books and began publishing Girl Genius online as a free webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
, updated three times a week. Foglio told an interviewer that as of November 2005, "[W]e've quadrupled our number of readers, and tripled our sales" of traditional comics and related merchandise.
Awards
In 1976, the slide show The Capture, which Robert AsprinRobert Asprin
Robert Lynn Asprin was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, best known for his humorous MythAdventures and Phule's Company series.- Background :...
wrote and Foglio illustrated, was nominated for the Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Dramatic Presentation
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
; in the same year, he was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
for the first time. Foglio won the Fan Artist Hugo twice, in 1977 and 1978. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
in 2008. He, his wife (Kaja Foglio
Kaja Foglio
Kaja Foglio is a Seattle-based writer, artist, and publisher. Foglio co-won the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2009 for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and has continued to co-win two Hugo Awards the following years.-Early life and education:Born in...
), and their colorist (Cheyenne Wright) won the first graphic story Hugo
Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones in 2009. The three again won the award for subsequent volumes in 2010 and 2011. Having won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in all three of its first three years, Kaja, Phil, and Cheyenne announced that, in order to show that the category was a "viable award" (with quality competitors besides themselves), they were refusing nomination for the following year (2012).