Derek McCulloch (born 1964) is a writer, known for graphic novels such as ''Stagger Lee'', ''Gone to Amerikay'', ''Pug'', and ''Displaced Persons''. He was born in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, raised in

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), a ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, and lives in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Biography

Throughout the mid-1980s and early 1990s, he was the publisher of Strawberry Jam Comics, and wrote ''To Be Announced'' and ''night life''. He was also co-founder of The

Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund (CLLDF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization, created in 1987 to protect the free speech rights of comics creators, publishers, retailers, and readers, by helping to cover legal expenses in the defense of cases ...

in Canada and co-edited the organization's two ''True North'' anthologies. His stories have appeared in comics series including '' Open Season'', ''Shred!'', and ''

Cerebus ''Cerebus'' (; also ''Cerebus the Aardvark'') is a comic book series created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes on ...

High Society''. He works as a technical editor at an engineering company. He wrote ''Stagger Lee'', a

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 ...

based on the story of Stagger Lee and drawn by Shepherd Hendrix, which was published by Image Comics in May 2006. It has been nominated for several awards, including the Eisner Awards 2007 and the

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's ''Eagle'' comic, they were launched in 1977 for comics released in ...

2006, and won several

Glyph Comics Awards The Glyph Comics Awards is for the best comics made by people of color from the last calendar year. The goal is to award the People of Color for their awesome work in the comics industry and also to inspire young writers from diverse backgrounds ...

in 2007, including Story of the Year and Best Writer. McCulloch wrote ''Gone to Amerikay'', an original graphic novel drawn by

Colleen Doran Colleen Doran is an American writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and writer Stan Lee entitled ''Amazing Fant ...

and released in 2012 to numerous positive notices from ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twic ...

'', ''

Irish Echo ''The Irish Echo'' is a weekly Irish Americans, Irish-American newspaper based in Manhattan in the United States. In 2007, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Irish businessman and publisher of the ''Andersonstown News'', purchased the paper. Founded in 1 ...

'', ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', Dublin edition. An excerpt from the book was included in the anthology

The Best American Comics ''The Best American Comics'' was a yearly anthology of comics in the United States published by Houghton Mifflin from 2006 to 2019 as part of ''The Best American Series''. Stories were chosen using the same procedure as the other Best American ...

2013 under the title "The Story of Gráinne Ní Mháille." In 2009, he released his first book for children, ''T. Runt!'', illustrated by

Jimmie Robinson Jimmie Robinson (born 1963 in California)"About the Artists & Writers," ''African-American Classics, Graphic Classics'' vol. 22 (Eureka Productions, 2011). is an American comic book creator, known for writing and drawing the comic book series ''Bo ...

. In 2010, he self-published a

print on demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...

anthology of short stories, ''Stories of a Callow Youth''. ''Pug'', his 2010 graphic novel with artist

Greg Espinoza Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people * Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canad ...

, was nominated for the 2011 Spinetingler Award, in the category of Best Crime Comic/Graphic Novel. In December 2011, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis announced that its 2012 new theatre series, Ignite! would feature a reading of a stage musical adaptation of Stagger Lee with a book by McCulloch and music and lyrics by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. When the reading took place on March 15, 2012, it was with not just book but also lyrics by McCulloch. It was directed by

Amanda Dehnert Amanda Dehnert is an American regional theater director and professor at Northwestern University. Career Dehnert grew up in Illinois and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a degree in musical theater. She received training as a conc ...

and had a cast including

Ken Page Ken Page (born January 20, 1954) is an American actor and singer. Page created the role of "Ken" in the original Broadway production of '' Ain't Misbehavin, and played the role of " Old Deuteronomy" in both the original Broadway and filmed st ...

Rebecca Naomi Jones Rebecca Naomi Jones (born March 31, 1981) is an American actress and singer best known for her performances in the Broadway rock musicals ''Passing Strange'', '' American Idiot'', and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' as well as being the first wo ...

, and Javier Munoz. In August 2014, Image Comics published Displaced Persons, an original graphic novel by McCulloch and Anthony Peruzzo, described as a "tale of murder, love, crime, friendship, betrayal, and just the slightest bit of time travel," taking place in San Francisco in the years 1939, 1969, and 1999. Displaced Persons was previously announced (and solicited) in 2008 as a project for McCulloch and

Rantz Hoseley Rantz is a surname of German origin. Notable people with the surname include: *Jim Rantz James John Rantz (born February 24, 1938, at Saint Paul, Minnesota) is an American former professional baseball player and executive. He was the Minnesota Tw ...

. but Hoseley was not connected with the final version of the book. In February 2016,

59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...

, an off-Broadway theater announced a stage musical adaptation of

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To N ...

's '' Madame La Gimp'', with a book by McCulloch and

Giles Havergal Giles Pollock Havergal CBE (born 9 June 1938, in Edinburgh) is a theatre director and actor, opera stage director, teacher, and adaptor. He was artistic director of Glasgow's Citizens Theatre from 1969 until he stepped down in 2003, one of the tri ...

, lyrics by McCulloch, music by Kyle Athayde, and arrangements and orchestrations by Peter and Will Anderson. The production was scheduled for October 2016, and was to be directed by

. In December 2018, the first of several collaborations with musician

Richard Stuverud Richard Allen Stuverud Jr. (born September 26, 1969) is an American drummer from Seattle, Washington. He lives in Oakland, California where he writes, arranges and produces songs. He plays drums in the Oakland based bands, REQ'D, Slow Phase and L ...

appeared, when

Green Monkey Records Green Monkey Records is an underground record label started in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, US. It was established by local musician Tom Dyer and was active from 1983 to 1991 and from 2009 to present, with sporadic releases in the inter ...

included their song "Empty Branches" (lyrics by McCulloch, music written and performed by Stuverud) on their 2018 Christmas compilation, "A Green Monkey Christmas for Martians Up on Mars." The following year, two different versions of their song "Snowing in Frisco" appeared on Green Monkey's "Hail the Jolly Christmas Monkey!" In May 2020, Stuverud released his first solo album, "Memories in Kodachrome," with 10 of its 11 songs featuring lyrics by McCulloch. Richard Stuverud - Memories in Kodachrome » bandcamp
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Bibliography

Original graphic novels

* ''Stagger Lee'' (with artist Shepherd Hendrix, Image Comics, May 2006, ) * ''Pug'' (with artist Greg Espinoza, Image Comics, July 2010, ) * ''Gone to Amerikay'' (with artist Collen Doran, Vertigo (DC Comics), March 2012, ) * ''Displaced Persons'' (with artist Anthony Peruzzo, Image Comics, August 2014, ) * ''To Be Announced'' (trade paperback reprint collection of Strawberry Jam Comics' To Be Announced, with artist Mike Bannon, About Comics, October 2022, )

Books for Children

* ''T. Runt!'' (with artist Jimmie Robinson, Silverline Books, June 2009, )

Prose

* ''"The Gambler"'' (self-published chapbook, illustrated by Ben Catmull, September 2001) * ''Stories of a Callow Youth'' (CreateSpace, January 2010, )

Strawberry Jam Comics

* ''To Be Announced'' #1-7 (with artist Mike Bannon, June 1985-June 1987) * ''night life'' #1-7 (with artist Simon Tristam, September 1986-March 1988) * ''Open Season'' #7 (text page, July 1989) * ''Oombah Jungle Moon Man'' #1 (text page, August 1992)

Other

* ''Open Season'' #6: "The Ballad of the Filipino Head Boxer" (written with Jim Bricker, drawn by Bricker and Shepherd Hendrix,

Renegade Press Renegade Press was an American comic book company, founded by Canadian Deni Loubert, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade included '' Flaming Carrot'', '' Ms. Tree'', and '' normalman''. History Loubert was pub ...

, April 1988) * ''The True North'': "Rosebud" (with artist Simon Tristam, Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, August 1988) * ''Shred'' #5: "Leroy Smalls and His Amazing Atomic Skateboard," (with artist Ronny Turner, CFW Enterprises, August 1989) * ''Cerebus High Society'' #1: "The Single Paige" (with artist Simon Tristan, Aardvark-Vanaheim, February 1990) * ''The True North II'': "Three Card Monty" (with artist Simon Tristan, Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, July 1991) * ''night life'' #8 (with artist Simon Tristan,

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 ...

, November 1991) * ''night life'' #9 (with artist Simon Tristan, completed but unpublished) * ''EXPO 2001'': "Stagger Lee on American Bandstand" (with artist Rik Livingston, EXPO/ CBLDF, September 2001) * ''Displaced Persons preview book'' (with artist

, Image Comics, July 2007) * '' Popgun'' #1: "Jenny Greenteeth" (with artist Shepherd Hendrix, Image Comics, November 2007, ) * '' Comic Book Tattoo'': "Pretty Good Year" (with artist Colleen Doran, Image Comics, July 2008, ) * ''PopGun'' #2: "Nixon's the One" (with artist Ron Turner, Image Comics, July 2008, ) * ''PopGun'' #3: "Cuffs" (with artist

Peter Krause Peter William Krause (; born August 12, 1965) is an American actor, director, and producer. He has played lead roles in multiple television series, portraying Casey McCall on '' Sports Night'' (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on '' Six Feet Under'' ( ...

, Image Comics, April 2009, ) * ''This is a Souvenir: The Songs of Spearmint and Shirley Lee'': "The Last Bus Home" (with artist Jimmie Robinson, Image Comics, May 2009, ) * ''PopGun'' #4: "Harshing the Mellow" (with artist Anthony Peruzzo, Image Comics, February 2010, ) * ''Fractured Fables (Free Comic Book Day Edition)'': "Raponsel" (with artist Anthony Peruzzo, Image Comics, May 2010) * ''Fractured Fables'': "Raponsel" (with artist Anthony Peruzzo, Image Comics, July 2010, ) * ''The Best American Comics 2013:'' "The Story of Gráinne Ní Mháille" (excerpt from Gone to Amerikay, with artist Colleen Doran, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 2013, ) * ''Little Earthquakes: the Graphic Album'': "Song for Eric" (with artist Colleen Doran, Z2 Comics, December 2022, )

Mini-Comics

* ''Krang! #5 (stories and art by Derek McCulloch, Severely, Ltd., 1988)'' * ''Krang! #6 (stories and art by Derek McCulloch, Severely, Ltd., 1991)''

Discography

Singles

* "Empty Branches," by Richard Stuverud, lyrics by Derek McCulloch, music by Richard Stuverud (on "A Green Monkey Christmas for Martians Up on Mars"), December 2018 * "Snowing in Frisco Part 1," by Richard Stuverud, lyrics by Derek McCulloch, music by Richard Stuverud and Dave Flores (on "Hail the Jolly Christmas Monkey!"), December 2019 * "Snowing in Frisco Part 2," by Richard Stuverud, lyrics by Derek McCulloch, music by Richard Stuverud (on "Hail the Jolly Christmas Monkey!"), December 2019

Albums

* "Memories in Kodachrome," by Richard Stuverud, lyrics by Derek McCulloch, music by Richard Stuverud, May 2020

References

External links

*
The ''Stagger Lee'' book blog
*
Derek McCulloch on Grand Comics Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCulloch, Derek 1964 births Living people Canadian comics writers Canadian graphic novelists People from Grande Prairie Writers from Alberta Writers from Ottawa