Chynna Clugston Flores (born August 19, 1975) is a freelance American

comic book creator developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is un ...

known for her

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

-influenced teen comedy series '' Blue Monday''. Based in Coarsegold, Clugston Flores has been drawing comics since 1994 and has worked with Oni Press, Dark Horse Presents, Double Feature, Action Girl Comics, DC Comics and several digital comics as an editor, penciler, writer, inker, colorist, letterer and cover artist.

Early life

Clugston Flores grew up in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

and attended the

Roosevelt School of the Arts Theodore Roosevelt High School (RHS), is located in southeast Fresno, California. It is a high school established within the Fresno Unified School District. The high school mascot is the Rough Rider (in physical form it is a horse) named after t ...

. After her freshman year, she moved to

Oakhurst, California Oakhurst (formerly Fresno Flats) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Madera County, California, Madera County, California, United States, south of the entrance to Yosemite National Park, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. At the 2020 censu ...

and attended

Yosemite High School Yosemite High School (YHS) is a secondary school in the Yosemite Unified School District in Oakhurst, California. YHS occupies of rolling, wooded hills and is located within the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada. Yosemite High School was re ...

, where she would take inspiration for ''Blue Monday''.

Career

Shortly after graduation, Clugston Flores submitted some of her minicomics to

Fantaco FantaCo Enterprises was an American comic book store and publishing company founded and created by Thomas Skulan and based in Albany, New York. As a publisher, FantaCo was known for its idiosyncratic line-up of mostly black-and-white titles, inc ...

, which signed her to write and draw the vampire miniseries ''Bloodletting''. Clugston Flores followed ''Bloodletting'' with one-pagers and shorts in

Sarah Dyer Sarah Dyer is an Americans, American comic book writer and artist with roots in the Zine, zine movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1998, ''Action Girl'' was awarded with the "Lulu of the Year" award of Friends of Lulu. Early life Dyer ...

's ''Action Girl'' and

Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...

, eventually following editor

Jamie S. Rich Jamie S. Rich is an author of both prose and graphic novel fiction, a web series host, and editor of American comic books. He is currently Executive Editorial Director at IDW Publishing. Career As writer His first published work was the novel ...

Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's merger with Lion Forge Comics. The merged company, Oni–Lion Forge Publishing Grou ...

. At Oni, Clugston Flores produced her

-influenced comic book 'series, '' Blue Monday'', which debuted in 1999 in ''Oni Double Feature'' #11. In 2000 Oni published the first Blue Monday miniseries, ''Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright''. She was assistant editor for CMX Manga, assistant editor for DC Comics' Wildstorm division until 2011, and an assistant editor for DC Comics working on various titles, editing Looney Tunes, co-editing Tiny Titans, as well as several digital comics in La Jolla, CA until 2011. She eventually moved '' Blue Monday'' and '' Scooter Girl'' to

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

to be re-released and later produce a new segment in 2017.

Awards

Clugston Flores has been nominated for three

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best Limited Series for ''Blue Monday'' (2001), and her participation on ''Hopeless Savages'' (2002), and Best Writer/Artist-Humor (2002); The Russ Manning award (2000); and a

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

. Clugston Flores was also nominated for the 2001 Lulu of the Year Award by Friends of Lulu for ''Blue Monday''.

Personal life

Clugston Flores started her career as Chynna Clugston-Major, before her divorce from Guy Major (a

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

and toner on most of her books to this day), and is currently credited under her married name, Chynna Clugston Flores. Clugston Flores holds an interest in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, and

British culture British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and the impact of the British Empire. ...

, including

mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

fashion,

britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

, and film. She lives in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with her husband, Jon Flores.

Selected works

In addition to ''Blue Monday'', Clugston Flores's other notable works include: * ''Bloodletting'' — Fantaco/Tundra (1995–1996) * ''

Hopeless Savages ''Hopeless Savages'' is a comic book series created and written by Jen Van Meter, and published by Oni Press. Thus far there have been three four-issue miniseries (also released as trade paperbacks), a one-shot, and an original graphic novel, ...

'' — Clugston Flores illustrated the flashback scenes. Oni Press (2001), . * '' Scooter Girl'' — a miniseries telling the story of two contemporary mods living in

. Oni Press (2003), . * ''

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up ''Ultimate Marvel Team-Up'' is a comic book series, published by Marvel Comics which ran for 16 issues, including a concluding ''Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special''. It is set in one of Marvel's shared universes, the Ultimate Universe and is base ...

'' #11 — a story about

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the S ...

running into the

Ultimate X-Men ''Ultimate X-Men'' is a superhero comic book series, which was published by Marvel Comics, from 2001 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running X-Men comic book franchise as part of the Ultimate Marvel imprint. The U ...

in a mall. * "Anew" — a 1940s romance short story in the anthology ''

Four Letter Worlds ''Four Letter Worlds'' is a comics anthology published by American company Image Comics in 2005; it tells 16 stories revolving around four lettered words: Love, Hate, Fear, and Fate. Organized by Image Comics' Executive Director Eric Stephenson ...

''.

(2005), . * ''

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

'' — a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

drama. graphix /

Scholastic Press Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

(2005), . * ''Strangetown'' — about a ten-year-old girl named Vanora Finnar who mysteriously washed onto the Oregon shore in 1973. Oni Press (2006) * ''

Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...

In The 31st Century'' — based on the animated version of the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

property, featuring

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

Johnny DC Johnny DC is a character that DC Comics has used at various times as a mascot for its lines of comic books, and occasionally as a metafictional character who comments on the comics in which he appears. History The character originally appeared in ...

(2007) * ''Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy'' — A crossover series from BOOM! Studios and DC Comics.

BOOM! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Holly ...

(2017)

References

External links

Chynna Clugston Flores sketch blogChynna Clugston Flores on TumblrChynna Clugston Flores on TwitterValenti. Kristy. "Chynna Clugston"
''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' no. 277 (July 11, 2006). *Thompson, Jason
"American Manga"
Interview with Chynna Clugston-Major at ''Pulp'' magazine; Accessed July 25, 2010. *Comic Book Databas
Chynna Clugston Flores
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clugston, Chynna American comics writers American female comics artists American women cartoonists People from Fresno, California Artists from San Diego Female comics writers 1975 births Living people American cartoonists 21st-century American women