George O'Connor (born November 5, 1973) is an American-born

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

living in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Career

O'Connor's first

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, ''Kapow!'', was a

New York Times bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

.Official author page at Macmillan Publishing
/ref> His first

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, ''Journey into Mohawk Country'', was published in 2006. It uses as its sole text an English translation of the journal kept by the Dutch barber/surgeon/explorer Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, who in 1634 journeyed from what is now

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

100 miles into the interior of the

North American continent North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. This

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

is one of the earliest extant accounts of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

people. O'Connor followed up ''Journey'' with his work on ''Ball Peen Hammer'', the first graphic novel written by famed

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Adam Rapp Adam Rapp (born June 15, 1968) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play ''Red Light Winter'' was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006. Early life Rapp was born in Chicago to Mary Lee (née Baird; died ...

. Set in the near future of an unnamed city after a

societal collapse Societal collapse (also known as civilizational collapse) is the fall of a complex human society characterized by the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence. Possible causes ...

, the story follows the lives and loves of a handful of survivors. He also storyboarded and contributed illustrations for the "graphic novel" portions of the

ABC news ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

special ''

Earth 2100 ''Earth 2100'' is a television program that was presented by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network on June 2, 2009, and was aired on the History Channel in January 2010 and was shown through the year. Hosted by ABC journalist Bob Wo ...

''. O'Connor is currently working on ''Olympians'', a projected 12-book series retelling the

Greek Myths A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

in a graphic novel format, with one book for each Olympian god. The first volume, ''Zeus: King of the Gods'', was published in January 2010. It concluded on March 8, 2022, with the final book ''

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

: The New God''. He is currently working on a four-book series on the

Norse gods Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nors ...

entitled ''Asgardians'', with the first being on

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

Bibliography

Picture books

* ''Sally and the Some-Thing'' (2006) * ''Kapow!'' (2007) * ''Uncle Bigfoot'' (2008) * ''Ker-Splash!'' (2010) * ''If I Had a Raptor'' (2014) * ''If I Had a Triceratops'' (2015) * ''Captain Awesome'' series (illustrator)

Graphic novels

* ''Journey into Mohawk Country'', written by Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert (September 5, 2006) * ''Ball Peen Hammer'', written by

(September 29, 2009) * ''Olympians'' series ** ''Book 1:

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

: King of the Gods'' (January 5, 2010) ** ''Book 2:

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

: Grey-Eyed Goddess'' (April 13, 2010) ** ''Book 3:

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

: The Goddess and Her Glory'' (July 19, 2011) ** ''Book 4:

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

: Lord of the Dead'' (January 31, 2012) ** ''Book 5:

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

: Earth Shaker'' (March 19, 2013) ** ''Book 6:

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

: Goddess of Love'' (December 31, 2013) ** ''Boxed Set'': Includes the first six books in the series (October 7, 2014) ** ''Book 7:

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

: Bringer of War'' (January 27, 2015) ** ''Book 8:

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

: The Brilliant One'' (January 26, 2016) ** ''Book 9:

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

: Wild Goddess of the Hunt'' (January 31, 2017) ** ''Book 10:

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

: Tales of the Trickster'' (January 30, 2018) ** ''Book 11:

Hephaistos Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter Burk ...

: God of Fire'' (January 29, 2019) ** ''Book 12'': ''

: The New God'' (March 8, 2022) ** ''Boxed Set'': Includes books seven through twelve in the series (March 8, 2022) * '' Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy (World Citizen Comics)'', written by Daniel G. Newman (July 7, 2020)

Note

References

External links

George O'Connor's Official website

Olympians Series Official Website

* ttp://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2008/04/17/segments/96969 George O'Connor interview on the Leonard Lopate show
''New York Times'' review of ''Kapow!''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, George Living people 1973 births