Casey Sorrow is an internationally known

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

cartoonist, illustrator, and printmaker.

''Fetus-X''

Sorrow's early comic collaboration with

Eric Millikin Eric Millikin is an American artist and activist based in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence art, augmented and virtual reality art, conceptual art, Internet art, performance art, poetry, post-In ...

, ''

Fetus-X ''Fetus-X'' was a weekly romantic horror comic written and drawn by Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow. Millikin is an American artist and former human anatomy lab embalmer and dissectionist.Zabel, Joe (June 14, 2004).Cutting Up The Dead: An inter ...

'', was run for a short time in Michigan State University's ''

The State News ''The State News'' is the student newspaper of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It is supported by a combination of advertising revenue and a $7.50 refundable tax that students pay at each semester's matriculation. Though ' ...

'' in 2000. After the Catholic League protested the comic and then MSU president

M. Peter McPherson Melville Peter McPherson (born October 27, 1940) is president emeritus of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. He previously served as a special assistant to President Gerald Ford, administrator of USAID under President Ronald ...

declared he wanted it banned, the comic strip was removed for being too controversial. During the controversy over the comic, many people protested on both sides of the issue. Those who were against the comic protested on religious grounds. One said, "As a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

, I just wanted to notify the writers of “Fetus-X” that the comic strip svery offensive. ... I pray that one day you will come to know the power of the cross." Another warned, "Do you remember what happened when they said, 'not even God can sink the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

?' There are certain things you just don’t joke about. ... keep your blasphemy to yourself." Those in favor of the comic said that "I would not hesitate to liken 'Fetus-X' to the

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

of comic strips ... It is the courage, imagination and talent of both the band and the strip that will set them apart from the other flavors of the week and earn them both places in artistic history." And: "It's frustrating to see the ultimate goal of

political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

gain precedence over the basic principle that Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin have the artistic right to their own opinions." The comic was also published in other student newspapers like the '' University Reporter''.

''The Cats of Copenhagen''

In 2012, Sorrow illustrated the first printed edition of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

The Cats of Copenhagen ''The Cats of Copenhagen'' is a posthumously-published short story written by Irish author James Joyce and illustrated by American artist Casey Sorrow. Written in 1936 for his grandson Stephen James Joyce, it was not published until 2012, when ...

'', where Sorrow's pen and ink hand-drawings were made into clichés typographiques and printed on a rare American-built

Vandercook Vandercook & Sons was a manufacturer of printing press, proof presses, founded in 1909 by Robert Vandercook. They dominated the 20th century proof press industry by developing the first and the most widely used proof presses that did not rely on ...

SP 33 proofing press for the first edition. In October 2012,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

published the first U.S. edition through Scribner. As of 2014, Sorrow's illustrations have been featured in 8 different international language editions, including an Italian version published by

Psichogios Publications Psichogios Publications is a Greek publishing company known for publishing fiction books for children and adults, mainly in Greece and Cyprus. Distribution is mostly via bookstores, by mail order, and through book fairs. The company also publishes ...

, a Greek version be

Giunti Editore Giunti Editore S.p.A. is an Italian publishing house founded in Florence in 1956. The company is based in Villa La Loggia, in via Bolognese, and affiliated offices in Milan. Giunti S.p.A. is the leader of a group comprising various brands and tha ...

, a Danish version by

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal () is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of bo ...

, and a Chinese version by Chein Hsing Publishing. American fashion magazine ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' described ''The Cats of Copenhagen'' as "charmingly illustrated" and a perfect gift for anarchists.

''Finn's Hotel''

In 2013, Sorrow's illustrations were again featured in first printing of a

book, Finn's Hotel published by Ithys Press. Sorrow's illustrations are also featured in the international editions in Spanish by

Editorial Losada Editorial Losada is a traditional Argentine publishing house founded in 1938. The house has published important writers such as Nobel Prize winners Pablo Neruda and Miguel Ángel Asturias Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (; October 19, 1899 ...

, Italian by Gallucci, Greek by

, Portuguese by Compahnia das Letras, and German by Suhrkamp Verlag. The illustrations for Finn's Hotel have been described as fun and relevant with a child's naivety.

''Bestiary of Fantastic Creatures''

In January 2014, Sorrow successfully funded a Kickstarter for an OSR style RPG

bestiary A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...

of monsters, "Bestiary of Fantastic Creatures Volume 1: Bizarre Monsters", written and illustrated by Sorrow. The book is described by Sorrow's publishing house, Bull Cock Press, as "a small collection of uniquely illustrated creatures produced to be compatible with the format of traditional table-top role-playing games playable with paper and pencil". It was released to the general public in June 2014, in both a physical and PDF format. Reviews describe the bestiary as "awesomely illustrated" with creatures that "feel fun, and look epic", "an old school

monster manual The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual' ...

from the times when monsters still were imaginative and the art was personal and cool", and a little volume of strange monsters that not only is "

Fiend Folio ''Fiend Folio'' is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). All three are collections of monsters. The bulk of the material in the first edition ca ...

-good, it's Fiend Factory good".

Other works

Sorrow's illustrations have appeared in publications like ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Sorrow is also known as the creator of December 14's unofficial holiday,

Monkey Day Monkey Day is an unofficial international holiday celebrated on December 14. The holiday was created and popularized in 2000 by controversial artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin when they were art students at Michigan State University. Monke ...

. Sorrow attended art school at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, where his artwork often focused on screen prints of flaming

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorrow, Casey American cartoonists Living people Michigan State University alumni Artists from Lansing, Michigan Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)