Mel Gillman is an award-winning graphic novelist and colored pencil artist who specializes in queer and trans comics for middle-grade and young adult readers. They’re the author of several graphic novels, including As the Crow Flies, Stage Dreams, and most recently, Other Ever Afters. Gillman has a Master of Fine Arts degree in comics from the Center for Cartoon Studies, and lives in Columbus, Ohio. Gillman will be the April artist-in-residence at the Prairie Ronde Artist Residency in Vicksburg, Michigan.
“I really got into comic books when I was an undergrad,” Gillman says. “I was not one of those kids who grew up reading comics or grew up drawing all the time. I was very interested in writing from a young age, but I hadn’t really put the pieces together about comics until I got into early adulthood. What really sparked it for me was when I discovered web comics and more specifically, queer and trans comics, where you have people in the LGBTQ community who are writers and artists and who are self-publishing comics online about their lived experiences, their friendships, and their communities.”
Gillman was also attracted to the medium because it is so accessible and can be done at home with only pen and paper. They could then upload their work online and bring it directly to their target audience.
“It’s a way to build an audience and build connections online without always having to go through gatekeepers and publishers,” Gillman says. “Finding that was where I saw a niche for myself.”
Gillman says they often must fight against book bans—typically against those in the LGBTQ+ community—but encourages people to be active in their home communities, their local libraries, and school boards to prevent these bans.
During their artist residency at Prairie Ronde in Vicksburg, Gillman plans to create comics about the historic paper mill and also about mushrooms that they might forage in the area. Foraging is another of Gillman’s interests that they illustrate in zines on the topic.
“Using all the tools of comics and making things visual and accessible and fun to read, that’s what I hope to bring to the project,” Gillman says. “I’ll be working on a new foraging zine as well, all about local mushrooms. I try to do one foraging zine per year.”
As the Crow Flies was named a Stonewall Honor Book by the American Library Association in 2018. Updates usually happen once a week at Gillman’s website.
Listen to WMUK's Art Beat every Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.
