Mike Dawson (born 1975) is a British-American

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 ...

, known for his work on books such as ''Freddie & Me'', ''Ace-Face'' and '' Gabagool!''

Early life

Dawson was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, but his family moved to Leighton Buzzard,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

when he was still an infant. They emigrated to the United States in 1986, where his family settled in

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan A ...

. He studied painting at the

Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is named for Mason W. Gross, the sixteenth president of Rutgers. Mason Gross offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, Theater, Digi ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Career

Between 1995 and 1998 Dawson wrote and drew a daily comic strip for his college newspaper ''

The Daily Targum ''The Daily Targum'' is the official student newspaper of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Founded in 1869, it is the second-oldest collegiate newspaper in the United States. The ''Daily Targum'' is student written and managed, and ...

''. He worked with multiple collaborators, and the strip went through a number of incarnations: ''Dave & Pissa'', ''Dave & Co'', and ''Dave’s Family''. From 2002 – 2004 he self-published the humor series '' Gabagool!'', with co-writer Chris Radtke. His first graphic novel, ''Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody'', was published in 2008. In it, Dawson presents a memoir of his younger days as an obsessive fan of the rock group

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and of the band's flamboyant, charismatic, and vocally gifted lead singer,

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

. Dawson explores how the music of Queen corresponds to significant events and meaningful time periods in his life, particularly in his youth. A collection of short stories entitled ''Ace-Face: The Mod With the Metal Arms'' was published in 2009 by

AdHouse Books AdHouse Books was an independent comic book publisher based in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded in 2002 by graphic designer Chris Pitzer. AdHouse was known primarily as a publisher of graphic novels, beginning with 2002's '' Pulpatoon: Pilgri ...

. Dawson's webcomic ''Troop 142'' received 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 Online Comic in 2010. ''Troop 142'' was published as a graphic novel in 2011 by Secret Acres. Dawson is the co-host of ''The Ink Panthers Show!'', a weekly podcast with cartoonist

Alex Robinson Alex Robinson (born August 8, 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist. Early life Alex Robinson grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York, and graduated from Yorktown High School in 1987. After a year spent at SUNY Brockport, he went to t ...

. Guests have included Tony Consiglio, Vanessa Davis,

Julia Wertz Julia Wertz (born December 29, 1982) is an American cartoonist, writer and urban explorer. Cartooning career Wertz was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She made her name with a comic strip titled ''The Fart Party'', which Atomic Books antho ...

Dylan Horrocks Dylan Horrocks (born 1966 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a cartoonist best known for his graphic novel '' Hicksville'' and his scripts for the ''Batgirl'' comic book series. His works are published by the University of Auckland student magazine '' ...

Sarah Glidden Sarah Glidden (born in 1980) is an American cartoonist known for her nonfiction comics and graphic novels. Biography Glidden was born in Massachusetts, to a family of Jewish background. Glidden studied painting at Boston University. She began ...

, and

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', ''Uncanny ...

. Dawson was also the host of a second podcast, ''TCJ Talkies'', which appeared on

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 ...

website biweekly. Guests included

Craig Thompson Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books '' Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), '' Blankets'' (2003), '' Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), '' Habibi'' (2011), and '' Space Dumplins'' (2015). T ...

Jessica Abel Jessica Abel (born 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of such works as ''Life Sucks'', ''Drawing Words & Writing Pictures'', ''Soundtrack'', ''La Perdida'', ''Mirror, Window'', ''Radio: An Illustrated Guide' ...

, Tim Kreider,

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he wa ...

, and Renee French.

Bibliography

Graphic novels

* ''Freddie & Me: A Coming of Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody'' (2008)

Bloomsbury USA Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a ...

* ''Ace Face: The Mod with the Metal Arms'' (2009)

* ''Troop 142'' (2011) Secret Acres * ''Angie Bongiolatti'' (2014) Secret Acres * ''Rules for Dating My Daughter'' (2016) Uncivilized Books

Anthologies

* ''The ACT-I-VATE Primer'' (2010) IDW * ''Awesome 2: Awesomer'' (2009)

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Shelf pub ...

* ''PopGun #3'' (2009)

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 ...

* ''House of Twelve #4'' (2007)

House of Twelve House of Twelve is an independent anthology comic book publisher based out of the New York metro area and run by artist Cheese Hasselberger. Also known as Ho12, it sponsors a monthly comic art collective held the first Friday of every month at Jac ...

* '' Superior Showcase #1'' (2006), with Dean Trippe,

Nick Bertozzi Nick Bertozzi (born May 26, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist, as well as a commercial illustrator and teacher of cartooning. His series ''Rubber Necker'' from Alternative Comics won the 2003 Harvey Awards for best new talent and ...

, &

Hope Larson Hope Raue Larson (born 1982) is an American illustrator and cartoonist. Her main field is comic books. Biography Larson grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and attended Carolina Day School.Anne Fitten Glenn"Graphic Insight" ''Mountain Xpress'' ...

* ''True Porn Vol. 2'' (2005)

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 ...

* ''You Ain’t No Dancer'' (2005) New Reliable Press * '' Project: Superior'' (2005)

* ''SPX Anthology'' (2003) Published by the

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses. Charles Brownstein served as the organiza ...

Awards

Nomination for Outstanding Graphic Novel (2012) *

Winner for Outstanding Online Comic (2010) *

Nomination for Outstanding Artist, Outstanding Series, Outstanding Minicomic (2010) *

Day Prize Howard Eugene Day (August 13, 1951 – September 23, 1982) was a Canadian comics artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' '' Star Wars'' licensed series and '' Master of Kung Fu''. He was considered a mentor by independent comic writer/ar ...

Nomination for "Guitar Solo" mini-comic (2006) *

Nomination for Promising New Talent (2002)

References

External links

* *
The Ink Panthers Show

Interviews

The Comics Journal
2011 interview
Indie Spinner Rack
2008 audio interview with Indie Spinner Rack
PopCandy
2008 audio interview at PopCandy, with

Whitney Matheson Whitney Matheson (born April 21, 1977, in Fredericksburg, Virginia) is a pop culture writer. She was the author of ''Pop Candy'', a popular entertainment blog which was part of ''USA Today'' from 1999–2014. She also wrote entertainment and pop ...

Comics Reporter
2008 interview at The Comics Reporter
BlogCritics
2008 conversation with Mike at BlogCritics Magazine
Pop Thought
Interview conducted by Alex Ness
The Pulse
Interview conducted by Jen Contino
Your Indy Weekly
Gabagool! reviewed at

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Mike American cartoonists British emigrants to the United States Alternative cartoonists 1975 births Living people Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Online Comic