Matt Feazell (born 1955) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

from

Hamtramck Hamtramck ( ) is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the United States 2020 Census, 2020 census, the city population was 28,433. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small po ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, primarily working in

minicomic 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& ...

s. He is best known for his wryly humorous ''The Amazing Cynicalman'' series and the simple "

stick figure A stick figure, also known as a stickman, is a very simple drawing of a person or an animal, composed of a few lines, curves, and dots. On a stick figure, the head is most often represented by a circle, which can be either a solid color or som ...

" art style he uses for it. Cynicalman appears in the introduction to

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and ''Making Comics'' (200 ...

's book ''

Understanding Comics ''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'' is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in ...

'', in which Feazell's work is cited as an example of "iconic" art taken to its greatest degree.

Early life and education

Feazell was born in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

. In high school he experimented with stick-figure comics, but also developed a more traditional comics style.Feazell entry
''Lambiek's Comiclopedia''. Accessed March 28, 2016. Feazell's comics influences included

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

Hank Ketcham Henry King Ketcham (March 14, 1920 – June 1, 2001) was an American cartoonist who created the '' Dennis the Menace'' comic strip, writing and drawing it from 1951 to 1994, when he retired from drawing the daily cartoon and took up painti ...

, and

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

. He received his B.S. in Community/Fine Arts from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

Career

In addition to self-publishing ''Cynicalman'', Feazell's work has been published by

Aardvark-Vanaheim Aardvark-Vanaheim is a Canadian independent comic book publisher founded in 1977 by Dave Sim and Deni Loubert and is best known for publishing Sim's ''Cerebus''. For a brief time, the company also published other titles, sometimes under the name ...

AC Comics AC Comics (formerly known as Paragon Publications and Americomics) is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.

Arrow Comics Arrow Comics was one of the original independent publishers of black-and-white comics in the mid-1980s, started in Ypsilanti, Michigan, by founders Ralph Griffith (24 April 1960–11 December 2020) and Stuart Kerr. History Origins Griffith ...

Caliber Press Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of America ...

Fictioneer Books David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...

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'', a 2007 album by Impaled * ''The Last Gasp'' (novel) * "Last Gasp" (song) {{dab ...

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 ...

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

, and

First Comics First Comics was an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991, known for titles like ''American Flagg!'', ''Grimjack'', ''Nexus'', ''Badger'', ''Dreadstar'', and ''Jon Sable''. Along with competitors like Pacific Comics and ...

. Steeldragon Press published his series ''Ant-Boy'' from 1986 to 1988. From 2004 to 2007, he was also a regular contributor to ''

Disney Adventures ''Disney Adventures'' (also short-formed as ''D.A.'') was an American children's entertainment and educational magazine published twelve (later ten) times per year by Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney Consumer Products, a unit o ...

'' magazine with his strip "Dizzy Adventures." A regular on the small press comics festival scene, he has appeared at multiple local comic-cons throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

The Amazing Cynicalman

In the 1980s Feazell produced short pieces entitled "The Adventures of Zot! in Dimension 10½" which appeared as backup stories in issues of Scott McCloud's series ''

Zot! ''Zot!'' is a comic book created by Scott McCloud in 1984 and published by Eclipse Comics until 1990 as a lighthearted alternative to the darker and more violent comics that dominated the industry during that period.stick figure A stick figure, also known as a stickman, is a very simple drawing of a person or an animal, composed of a few lines, curves, and dots. On a stick figure, the head is most often represented by a circle, which can be either a solid color or som ...

character named Cynicalman. Asked about the character's name, Feazell explained that he "was having a bad day." Discussing his choice to draw stick figures, he described them as "art (that's) so simple – it verges on

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

," and added that thin characters let him condense more information into panels. He also expressed hope that stick figures would inspire people to draw their own comics, advising, "Don't try to fool people into thinking that you're a great artist. Draw what you want to draw. Discover the comic within you – just draw that." Cynicalman and his supporting cast (including Antisocialman, CuteGirl, and StupidBoy) have been featured in Feazell's minicomics, and in a weekly newspaper strip carried in a few Michigan papers from 1997 to 2002. Some of his work has been collected in paperbacks entitled ''Cynicalman, The Paperback'' (1987, minicomics material), ''ERT! Not Available Comics'' (1995, minicomics), and ''The Amazing Cynicalman'' (the newspaper strip). A weekly color strip, ''Cynicalman, America's Laid-Off Superhero'', ran on Serializer.net. Feazell has made a graphic novel called ''The Death of Antisocialman'' featuring Antisocialman and multiple characters from the Cynicalman comics. There are 12 chapters in the novel series, all of which are available on Feazell's site. In 2012, Feazell released ''The Amazing Cynicalman'', a feature-length film he wrote and directed, based on his comics work.

References

External links

Matt Feazell’s websiteMatt Feazell’s on-line portfolioCynicalman cartoon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feazell, Matt 1955 births American comics artists American comics writers Artists from Michigan People from Ames, Iowa People from Hamtramck, Michigan Living people Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumni