Michael Manning (born 1963) is an American comic book artist and writer, fine art illustrator, and traditionally trained animator currently based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He is best known for his graphic novel series, ''The Spider Garden'' and ''Tranceptor'', which combine elements of pan-sexual fetishism and BDSM culture with complex characters in science fiction and fantasy settings. He is also active in the supernatural horror and fantasy genres, drawing adaptations of the work of authors such as H.P. Lovecraft,

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

, and

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

for the Graphic Classics comics anthology series, as well as illustrating an anachronistic version of the German folk epic, The Nibelungen.

Biography

Early career

Manning was born in

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and raised in Beverly,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

where he exhibited an early interest in drawing and writing. Exposure to Japanese animation, fairy-tale book illustration, American and European comics, and the mythology of many cultures all contributed to the formation of his emerging style.

1980s

Manning went on to study film and animation at the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachus ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He began self-publishing art and comics in 1987 while working at Olive Jar Animation in

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

, MA as an animator and director of short films, commercials, and music videos. Self-published titles such as ''Shunga'', ''Ukiyo-X'' and ''Z/Xero'' brought his work to the attention of comic book artists

John Bergin John Bergin is a writer, illustrator, designer, and musician. As Art Director at Lakeshore Records. He has created and designed packaging for soundtrack albums such as ''Stranger Things,'' ''Drive, Mandy, Mr. Robot, Napoleon Dynamite, The Walkin ...

and

James O'Barr James O'Barr (born January 1, 1960) is an American comics artist, writer and graphic artist, best known as the creator of the comic book series ''The Crow''. Early life O'Barr, an orphan, was raised in the foster care system. Career In 1978, O' ...

(creator of

The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...

) who in turn showed his work to

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comics artist, comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ...

Tundra Publishing Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990. The company was founded to provide a venue for adventurous, creator-owned work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publicat ...

. This led to the inclusion of two of Manning's short pieces (one of which was a collaboration with ''Red Spider White Web'' author Misha Nogha) in Tundra's ''Bone Saw'' anthology - Manning's first professional comics publication.

1990s

A move to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1991 coincided with Manning's decision to focus on comic books and erotic illustration full-time. Manning continued to self-publish and produce work for the Bay Area's emerging BDSM/sex-zine community while his artwork and stage/costume design for multi-media performances appeared regularly at local music venues, fetish events, and art galleries. Much of his graphic work from this period was subsequently collected and published in the art collection ''Lumenagerie'' (1996) and the anthology ''Cathexis'' (1997). He also wrote and drew four volumes of the Spider Garden series and in collaboration with artist Patrick Conlon the first installment of the ''Tranceptor'' series.

2000s

A second collection, ''Inamorata: The Erotic Art of Michael Manning'' with an introduction by Patrick Califia-Rice, was published by

Last Gasp Last Gasp or The Last Gasp may refer to * Last Gasp (publisher) * ''Last Gasp'' (''Inside No. 9''), a TV episode * ''The Last Gasp Impaled is a death metal band from Oakland, California. The band's name is a backronym, standing for "Immoral M ...

in 2005 just after Manning moved to Los Angeles. The second volume in the ''Tranceptor'' series, ''Iron Gauge'', was published in 2007. Manning's artwork has been exhibited in galleries in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston, Omaha, Miami, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Milan. In 2002, mural-sized reproductions of panels from his ''In A Metal Web'' graphic novel were featured as part of a special installation at San Francisco's

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, natio ...

comic book-themed exhibition ''Fantastic! Comics and the Art of Illusion'',
Manning's work appears illustrating ''Tales of Gor'', a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

based on the works of

John Norman John Frederick Lange Jr. (born June 3, 1931) is an American writer who, as John Norman, has authored the '' Gor'' series of science fantasy novels. Norman is also a philosophy professor. Early life and education Lange was born in Chicago, I ...

, written by James Desborough.

Publications

* Michael Manning, ''Cathexis'', Amerotica, 1997. . * Michael Manning, ''Lumenagerie'',

Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Inc. (or NBM Publishing) is an American graphic novel publisher. Founded by Terry Nantier in 1976 as Flying Buttress Publications, NBM is one of the oldest graphic novel publishers in North America. The compa ...

, 1997. . * Michael Manning, Patrick Conlon, ''Tranceptor: The Way Station (Tranceptor Series)'', Amerotica, 1998. . * Michael Manning, ''Inamorata'', Last Gasp, 2005. . * Michael Manning, Patrick Conlon, ''Tranceptor: Iron Gauge (Tranceptor Series)'', 2007. * Michael Manning, Erwin Tschofen,
Michael Manning's The Nibelungen
', SUM Legio Publishing, 2010. * Michael Manning, Erwin Tschofen, ''Michael Manning's The Nibelungen 1st Edition'', SUM Legio Publishing, Jan 2010.

Spider Garden

* Michael Manning, ''The Spider Garden (Spider Garden)'', Amerotica (

NBM Publishing Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Inc. (or NBM Publishing) is an American graphic novel publisher. Founded by Terry Nantier in 1976 as Flying Buttress Publications, NBM is one of the oldest graphic novel publishers in North America. The compa ...

), 1995. . * Michael Manning, ''Hydrophidian (Spider Garden)'', Amerotica (

), 1997. .MANNING
/ref> * Michael Manning, ''In a Metal Web (Spider Garden)'', Amerotica, 2003. . * Michael Manning, ''In a Metal Web II (Spider Garden)'', Amerotica, 2003. . * Michael Manning, ''Il giardino della tela di ragno'' (Italian version of The Spider Garden), Phoenix Enterprise, 1995/1999, .

The Spider Garden Series

The Spider Garden graphic novel series, written and drawn by Manning, currently consists of four volumes in the following order: ''The Spider Garden'' (1995), ''Hydrophidian'' (1996), ''In A Metal Web'' (2004), and ''In A Metal Web II'' (2004).

Publication History

The first volume of the Spider Garden series was originally produced under contract for Kevin Eastman's Tundra Publishing line. After Manning was released from his contract with Tundra in 1994, The Spider Garden became the inaugural book in NBM Publishing's Amerotica line with the three subsequent volumes in the series also appearing under the NBM/Amerotica imprint. An Italian language edition of the first volume was published by Phoenix Erotica in 1999, followed by French and Italian language editions from BD Érogéne in 2000.

Plot

Set in a futuristic, matriarchal world of warring clans which vaguely recalls feudal-era Japanese culture, the action centers on the eponymous Spider Garden, a palace-fortress populated by concubines, human pets, and the spider-like automatons who give the Garden its name. The Garden's ruler is Shaalis the Sacred Androgyne, a seemingly immortal

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

who is referred to by the pronouns 'Hir' and 'S/He' (pronounced as "her" and "she" respectively) to denote Hir multi-gendered status. The main plot follows the socio-political intrigues between Shaalis' Metal Spider Clan and the Serpentine Sisters, Squamata and Lichurna - incestuous twins who command the rival Water Serpent Clan which is based in an aquatic palace, Hydrophidian. Caught in the middle are former lovers Sasaya Nijan, a female courtesan who enters service in the Spider Garden in order to settle a gambling debt, and Lord Verio, head of the Double Ibis Clan who, following a failed assassination attempt on the Sacred Androgyne, finds himself deposed and forced into an alliance with the Serpentine Sisters. Also appearing in the story are the Tengu, a non-human race of horse-like bipeds. Inspired by but not identical to the

tengu are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion (Shinto). They are considered a type of ''yōkai'' (supernatural beings) or Shinto ''kami'' (gods). The ''Tengu'' were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey and a ...

of Japanese legend, it is implied that these creatures once held humanity in bondage in the distant past.

References

External links

The Spidergarden.net - The Art of Michael Manning
The artist's old website, abandoned since 2006
MM-Art.net
The artist's current website
The Manning Company
The artist's gallery exhibits
Michael Manning's Online JournalMichael Manning's
Portfolio on Secrets Bdsm Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Michael Fetish artists American erotic artists BDSM people Bondage artists Living people School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni 1963 births