Dave Roman (born May 26, 1977) is an American writer and artist of webcomics and comics.
Career
Roman attended the
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
History
This school was started by ...
in New York.
He started working in comics as an intern at
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 ...
, then got a full-time job at
Nickelodeon Magazine
''Nickelodeon Magazine'' is a defunct American children's magazine inspired by the children's television network Nickelodeon. Its first incarnation appeared in 1990 and was distributed at participating Pizza Hut restaurants; the version of the ma ...
as a comic editor for 11 years, until the magazine ceased publishing in 2009.
Works
Roman is the co-creator and writer of ''
Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden'', a
webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be co ...
co-created and drawn by John Green. The webcomic was first published in 1997; two books of the webcomic were published, subtitled ''Borrowed Magic'' and ''Separation Anxiety'' respectively. Roman also co-created ''Teen Boat'' with John Green.
Two stories were published in print, while three are available online as a webcomic.
Roman has published two books in his "Astronaut Academy" series, which started as a webcomic.
The first, ''Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity'' (First Second, 2011) is about a young boy who leaves behind life as an intergalactic superhero to go to middle school.
Roman created the graphic novel ''Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery'', and in 2008
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
optioned the film rights. In the novel, the title character turns sixteen and inherits an estate and an ability to see and communicate with the dead. In 2009,
Del Rey Manga
Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann.
History
Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing rela ...
released ''
X-Men: Misfits'', which Roman co-authored with his then-wife,
Raina Telgemeier
Raina Diane Telgemeier (/'ɹeɪna 'tɛlgə'maɪəɹ/, born May 26, 1977) is an American cartoonist. Her works include the autobiography, autobiographical webcomic ''Smile (comic book), Smile'', which was published as a full-color graphic novel i ...
. It spent at least five weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list for Paperback Graphic Books.
Other works include writing a comic adaptation of
Avatar: The Last Airbender
''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...
, co-writing a prequel comic for Avatar called ''
Zuko's Story'', and creating a collection of comic strips for
Rugrats
''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, ...
. He has also designed a CD cover for the
wizard rock
Wizard rock (or Wrock) is a type of novelty rock music themed around the ''Harry Potter'' franchise. The music was largely prevalent in the United States in the early 2000s. Wizard rock initially started in Massachusetts with Harry and the Potter ...
band
Harry and the Potters
Harry and the Potters are an American rock band known for spawning the genre of wizard rock. Founded in Norwood, Massachusetts, in 2002, the group is primarily composed of brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge, who both perform under the persona of ...
. Roman has contributed to a number of anthology comic books, including ''
Flight 3'', ''Nursery Rhyme Comics'' (First Second, 2011),
''Not My Small Diary'', and ''
Bizarro World
The Bizarro World (also known as Htrae, which is "Earth" spelled backwards) is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in the early 1960s, Htrae is a cube-shaped planet, home to Bizarro and companio ...
.''
According to a 2011 article, Roman mainly earned a living "by touring the country and speaking to children in schools, libraries and bookstores about the joys of making comics."
He has said that he loved to draw and tell stories as a kid and is now "trying to inspire that passion in other kids".
Awards and reviews
The webcomic ''
Quicken Forbidden
Quicken Forbidden was a comicbook title published by Cryptic Press, and created by writer Dave Roman and artist John Green. It was first published in 1997, and the first five issues were later collected into a trade paperback; the series conclud ...
'' #12 was nominated for 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 ...
in the Best Single Issue or Story category in 2004, while ''Astronaut Academy'' won a
Web Cartoonists' Choice Award
The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''The New York Times'' column on webco ...
for Outstanding New Character Design in 2005.
The webcomic ''Teen Boat #6: Vote Boat'' won the
Ignatz Award
The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...
for Outstanding Debut in 2004.
A reviewer for Geek Dad said that they "thoroughly enjoyed" book one of Teen Boat. However, a reviewer for
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
criticized book one, saying, "
ts hmor is often sophomoric, and most of the girls—with the exception of Teen Boat’s best friend—are busty caricatures. While some of the jokes will indeed induce a chuckle or two, many are stretched to the point of exhaustion". Of the second book, Kirkus said, "Bright spots aside, this parody of self-obsessed teen protagonists is so successful it gives readers no cause to root for the hero."
Keith Mayerson, a professor of comics and illustration at the School of Visual Arts, said that Roman was one of the school's "most successful and beloved alumni” and that "many of our students were familiar with their work long before they ever met them."
Personal life
Roman was born on May 26, 1977. He grew up in
North Babylon on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, and has lived in Astoria, New York.
Roman was married to fellow cartoonist
Raina Telgemeier
Raina Diane Telgemeier (/'ɹeɪna 'tɛlgə'maɪəɹ/, born May 26, 1977) is an American cartoonist. Her works include the autobiography, autobiographical webcomic ''Smile (comic book), Smile'', which was published as a full-color graphic novel i ...
;
they were married in 2006 but they filed for divorce in 2015.
References
External links
Dave Roman's Live Journal*
Astronaut Elementary Web ComicAgnes Quill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Dave
Living people
American comics writers
American comics artists
American webcomic creators
1977 births