Mary Fleener (born September 14, 1951) is an American

alternative comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

artist, writer and musician from Los Angeles. Fleener's drawing style, which she calls ''cubismo'', derives from the

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

aesthetic and other artistic traditions. Her first publication was a work about Zora Neale Hurston, called ''Hoodoo'' (1988), followed by the

semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...

comics series ''Slutburger'', and the anthology ''Life of the Party'' (1996). She is a member of the rock band called The Wigbillies. Among Fleener's influences are

ancient Egyptian art Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It includes paintings, sculptu ...

and the works of

Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the '' Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. ...

('' Dick Tracy''),

Otto Soglow Otto Soglow (December 23, 1900 – April 3, 1975) was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip ''The Little King ''The Little King'' is a 1930-1975 American gag-a-day comic strip created by Otto Soglow, telling its stories in a ...

(''

The Little King ''The Little King'' is a 1930-1975 American gag-a-day comic strip created by Otto Soglow, telling its stories in a style using images and very few words, as in pantomime. Publication history Soglow's character first appeared on June 7, 1930, i ...

'') and Al Capp (''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...

'').

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

and Robert Armstrong (creator of

Mickey Rat Robert Armstrong (born 1950) is a cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and musician. He is known for his underground comix character Mickey Rat, for popularizing the term "couch potato," and for being a member of Robert Crumb's band the Cheap Suit ...

) encouraged her to create her own comics. Her works have been exhibited at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Track 16, David Zapt Gallery, Laguna Beach Art Museum Annex, LACE (Los Angeles), COCA (Seattle), Southwestern College, Patricia Correia Gallery, Sushi Gallery. In 2020 her work was included in the exhibit ''Women in Comics: Looking Forward, Looking Back'' at the Society of Illustrators in New York City. She lives and works in

Encinitas, California Encinitas ( Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and about south ...

Early life and education

Mary Fleener was born in 1951. Her mother had worked for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

from 1941 to 1943. Fleener attended Cal State Long Beach for 4 years where she focused on printmaking, but she disliked the art program's focus on abstract works and dropped out in 1976. In 1984, she read an article "new comix," by

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...

in the LA WEEKLY that inspired her to create her first comic works. She developed her aesthetic on her own, and considers herself self-taught.

Early works

She started drawing

minicomics A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105&n ...

in 1984 and published her first full work, ''Hoodoo'', four years later. Her semi-autobiographical ''Slutburger Stories'' were first published by

Rip Off Press Rip Off Press Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and ''Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from ...

, and later by

Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, a ...

. Many of Fleener's short stories appeared in anthologies like '' Weirdo'' and '' Twisted Sisters'' and the all-women ''

Wimmen's Comix ''Wimmen's Comix'', later titled ''Wimmin's Comix'', is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused more than other ...

;'' and her illustrations appeared in ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

''. Fleener went on to create more semi-autobiographical strips that were released in 1996 in the anthology ''Life of the Party'', published by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was founde ...

. These

comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

depicted the artist and a colorful cast of characters playing in rock bands, surfing, going to college, and gleefully partaking of drugs and casual sex, among other things. Fleener's art style complements her stories, which are narrated in matter-of-fact but bemused first-person dialogue.

Bibliography

Solo work

* "Nipplez 'n' Tum Tum".

Eros Comix Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was founde ...

, 2001. * "Slutburger #5". (Drawn & Quarterly), 1995. * "Slutburger #4".

, 1993. * "Slutburger #3".

, 1992. * "Slutburger Stories #2".

, 1991. * "Slutburger Stories #1".

, 1990. * "HooDoo". 3-D Zone, 1988. * "Fleener #1", (Zongo Comics), 1996. * "Fleener #2", (Zongo Comics), 1996. * "Fleener #3", (Zongo Comics), 1997.

Compilations

''Life of the Party''. Fantagraphics Books, 1996. , a collection of an autobiographical series (as translated in German and Spanish)

Contributed to

* The comic anthology

Weird Tales of the Ramones ''Weird Tales of the Ramones'' is a box set compilation by American punk band the Ramones. It was released on August 16, 2005. There are 85 songs on 3 CDs, plus a DVD containing the feature "Lifestyles of the Ramones", a documentary featuring seve ...

in 2005, which accompanies the DVD/CD box set of the same name (compiled by Johnny Ramone). * A variant cover of IDW Books, "

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Bud Sagendorf Forrest Cowles Sagendorf (March 22, 1915 – September 22, 1994), better known as Bud Sagendorf, was an American cartoonist, notable for his work on King Features Syndicate's '' Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye'' comic strip. Personal life Born ...

). * Mary Fleener has been a regular contributor to '' Mineshaft'' magazine from 2007 to the present with her work appearing in issues 19, 20, 21, 22, 24 (front cover art), 27, 29, 30, 32, 33 (front cover art), 34, and 35.

References

External links

*
Lambiek Comiclopedia: Mary Fleener''Mineshaft magazine'' regularly publishing Mary Fleener's comics and artwork.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleener, Mary 1951 births American comics writers American female comics artists Female comics writers Inkpot Award winners Living people Underground cartoonists People from Encinitas, California