art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. He is known for his pioneering work in
artificial intelligence art
Artificial intelligence art is any artwork created through the use of artificial intelligence.
Tools and processes Imagery
There are many mechanisms for creating AI art, including procedural 'rule-based' generation of images using mathemati ...
conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
video art
Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...
, and
webcomics
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be co ...
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
themes. Awards for Millikin's artwork include the Pulitzer Prize.
Together, Millikin and Casey Sorrow created and popularized the international
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
Millikin is a descendent of Mary Eastey, who was executed for witchcraft during the
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
Lansing State Journal
The ''Lansing State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Lansing, Michigan, owned by Gannett.
Overview
The ''Lansing State Journal'' is the sole daily newspaper published in Greater Lansing. The newspaper had an average Monday through ...
'' Millikin began posting comics and art on the internet using CompuServe in the early 1980s, and began publishing on the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
Honors College
Honors colleges and honors programs are special accommodation constituent programs at public and private universities – and also public two-year institutions of higher learning – that include, among other things, supplemental or alternativ ...
self-portraits
A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...
as well as portraits of celebrities and political figures. His work often incorporates
mixed media
In visual art, mixed media describes artwork in which more than one medium or material has been employed.
Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different media. Materials used to create mixed media art incl ...
and found objects, such as packages of candy, paper currency, and spiders. His large-scale artwork takes full advantage of the internet's formal possibilities, and has incorporated animation and winding " infinite canvas" designs, going beyond the limited sizes and shapes of conventional printed pages.McCloud, Scott (July 25, 2000). "Reinventing Comics". '' Harper Paperbacks'', Pg. 222 Millikin's works range from those made almost completely of text (including calligraphy,
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), ...
ambigrams
An ambigram is a calligraphic design that has several interpretations as written.
The term was coined by Douglas Hofstadter in 1983. Most often, ambigrams appear as visually symmetrical words. When flipped, they remain unchanged, or they mutate ...
,
free verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Defi ...
, and cut-up technique poetry)Millikin, Eric "My Little Brother" http://www.serializer.net//comics/fetusx.php?view=archive&chapter=1299 to those that are optical illusions or completely abstract. In 2002, Millikin was an editor (along with Tom Hart) and contributing artist of the online
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 ...
Clickwheel Clickwheel was an artist collective that published graphic novels on the video iPod, and it started in 2005. Clickwheel featured "quirky, independent ... character driven comics." The artists in the collective included Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Eric M ...
collective that published on the video iPod.
* ''The Birth of a Vampire Nation'': A 2019 artificial intelligence horror film created with AI trained on the films '' The Birth of a Nation'' and '' Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' , and videos of human blood cells and stars. The soundtrack is composed with AI trained on human heartbeats and radio waves from outer space.
* ''CHARYBDIS-3:'' A spiraling video of infinite duration, created with artificial intelligence and facial recognition trained on endangered plants and animals, and projected on to a waterfall. The project's name comes from the sea monster Charybdis from Greek mythology. The endangered species referenced in the video are species whose fates have been profoundly impacted by global climate change.
*''Danger Beasts:'' Since 2016, Millikin has created the ''Danger Beast'' series of street art portraits of endangered animals created out of endangered plants, including a portrait of
Harambe
Harambe (May 27, 1999 – May 28, 2016) was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Cincinnati Zoo from 2014 to 2016, and previously at the Gladys Porter Zoo for 15 years. On May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosu ...
the gorilla made from
Venus flytrap
The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping ...
s.
* ''Made of Money'', a series of portraits of accomplished historical figures who died in poverty, created from cut up paper currency woven together. Portraits in the series have included
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actress ...
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
, and
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 wid ...
. Millikin created the portraits as a statement on
economic inequality
There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of ...
, as a reminder "that our best people aren't always rewarded with wealth, and that our wealthiest people aren't always our best." As part of the ArtPrize festival in 2017, Millikin created a small fold-up book of the series and installed it inside one of the small PO Boxes at the local Post Office, as a critique of the large scale pieces that typically dominate the festival. Since the ArtPrize festival was created by the wealthy family of President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's Education Secretary
Betsy DeVos
Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her support for ...
, the installation was widely seen as an attack on the greed and unearned wealth of DeVos and Trump.
* ''Totally Sweet,'' a series of pop art, large-scale portraits of monsters, each created from thousands of packages of Halloween candy and a single spider. Millikin uses over 40 different kinds of candy, and a single portrait can take between 5,000 and 10,000 candies. Included in the series are portraits of such monsters as
Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
Gort
Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, wh ...
,
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...
and the
Bride of Frankenstein
''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Kar ...
. Millikin compares his artistic technique of building large monsters from many smaller parts to the similar techniques
Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy) who, after studyin ...
used to create his monster.
* ''Hollywood Witch Trials,'' a series of painted portraits of celebrities like
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...
and Lindsay Lohan based on their crime mug shots, stylized to look like witches, and combined with excerpts from transcripts of the
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...
. The portraits are characterized by brilliantly colored paint brushed and smeared into
expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
GoComics
GoComics is a website launched in 2005 by the digital entertainment provider Uclick. It was originally created as a distribution portal for comic strips on mobile phones, but in 2006, the site was redesigned and expanded to include online strips ...
''
* ''American Mayhem,'' a series that uses optical illusions to transform the flag of the United States into cityscapes filled with monsters, and incorporates ambigram calligraphy that reads when the paintings are hung upside down.Sjoberg, Lore (March 4, 2011). "Alt Text: Going Undercover at an Unregulated Content Farm", ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
''. Inverting a national flag in such a way is a commonly used distress signal.
* '','' a series of early digital comics, from the 1980s, which were the first webcomics ever published. This unauthorized Wizard of Oz parody comic was published by Millikin on CompuServe as early as 1985 when he was in elementary school. Publishing on CompuServe allowed Millikin to self-publish, avoiding censorship. ''Witches and Stitches'' is an early example of
viral phenomenon
Viral phenomena or viral sensation are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the te ...
, quickly becoming popular with audiences around the world and Millikin's success inspired many artists to create their own webcomics. Copies of ''Witches and Stitches'' are now often difficult to find because Millikin was threatened with a lawsuit over the comic. Millikin's outspoken autobiographical style paved the way for other artists to express their thoughts and opinions on the web.
* ''Literally Impossible,'' a series of Op art paintings created as answers to questions from a literacy test used to deny voting rights to
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
impossible object
An impossible object (also known as an impossible figure or an undecidable figure) is a type of optical illusion that consists of a two- dimensional figure which is instantly and naturally understood as representing a projection of a three-d ...
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 ...
Fetus-X
''Fetus-X'' was a weekly romantic horror comic written and drawn by Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow. Millikin is an American artist and former human anatomy lab embalmer and dissectionist.Zabel, Joe (June 14, 2004).Cutting Up The Dead: An interv ...
'' featured a psychic zombie
fetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal dev ...
floating in a jar of formaldehyde who may or may not be Millikin's missing conjoined twin or his clone from an alternate timeline or dimension. The comic was run for a short time in Michigan State University's ''
The State News
''The State News'' is the student newspaper of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It is supported by a combination of advertising revenue and a $7.50 refundable tax that students pay at each semester's matriculation. Though ...
'' in 2000. After the Catholic League protested the comic and then MSU president M. Peter McPherson declared he wanted it banned, the comic strip was removed for being too controversial. During the controversy over the comic, many people protested on both sides of the issue. The comic was also published in other student newspapers like the '' University Reporter''.
* ''Monkey Day,'' an international animal rights holiday.
Monkey Day
Monkey Day is an unofficial international holiday celebrated on December 14. The holiday was created and popularized in 2000 by controversial artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin when they were art students at Michigan State University. Monkey ...
(celebrated December 14) was created and popularized by Millikin and Casey Sorrow in 2000 as an opportunity to educate the public about monkeys, as a holiday that supports evolution rather than religious themes, and an excuse to throw monkey-themed art shows and costume parties.McKenzie, Charlie Holiday monkey business ". (December 8, 2005). ''Hour (Montreal, Quebec)''A toast to Bubbles ". (December 8, 2005). ''Los Angeles City Beat'' For Monkey Day 2012, ''
USA Weekend
''USA Weekend'' was an American weekend newspaper magazine owned by the Gannett Company. Structured as a sister publication to Gannett's flagship newspaper ''USA Today'' and distributed in the Sunday editions of participating local newspapers, i ...
'' published Millikin's ''The 12 Stars of Monkey Day'', a series of paintings that were "in part inspired by the many pioneering space monkeys who rode into the stars on rockets, leading the way for human space flight."Millikin, Eric (December 12, 2012). The 12 Stars of Monkey Day . ''
USA Weekend
''USA Weekend'' was an American weekend newspaper magazine owned by the Gannett Company. Structured as a sister publication to Gannett's flagship newspaper ''USA Today'' and distributed in the Sunday editions of participating local newspapers, i ...
'' For Monkey Day 2013, Millikin created a
mail art
Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence Scho ...
series where he mailed Monkey Day cards to strangers, including Koko the sign-language gorilla and President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
.Millikin, Eric (Dec. 12, 2013). Eric Millikin sends Monkey Day cards to strangers . ''Detroit Free Press'' In 2014, Millikin debuted a series of monkey portraits using 3D film techniques.
* ''My Drinking Problem,'' a series of works of endurance performance art, known as "artistic drinking projects." These have included a "Pumpkin Space Odyssey," where Millikin consumed nothing but Pumpkin Spice Lattes for a month, drinking 150 cans of
Vernors
Vernors is an American brand of ginger ale owned by Keurig Dr Pepper that was first served in 1866 by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist.
History
Vernors is the oldest surviving ginger ale, according to the company it was first served to ...
in just over two weeks for the ginger ale's 150th anniversary, and drinking enough
Hi-C
Hi-C is a fruit juice–flavored drink made by the Minute Maid division of The Coca-Cola Company. It was created by Niles Foster in 1946 and released in 1947. The sole original flavor was orange.
History
Niles Foster, a former bakery and ...
to use the empty drink boxes to brick up his own windows and those of Detroit art galleries.
* ''Very Serious Paper Cuts,'' a series of poems created using cut-up technique to create new poetry by cutting up and rearranging the pages of well-known books. For example, Millikin's ''Pride, Prejudice and Frankenstein'' contains twenty "experimental horrific love poems," each a variation on the same theme, with each starting with the beginning words of Jane Austen's '' Pride and Prejudice'', ending with the final words of
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
's 1818 novel ''
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...
'', and the middle words consisting of overlapping text from both sources. Other poems in this series have included ''The Arabian Nights Before Christmas'', ''Romeo and Dracula and Juliet,'' and variations on Edgar Allan Poe's ''The Raven.'' These poems are then collected into books, with some books distributed by secretly placing on the shelves of libraries and bookstores, in what Millikin calls "reverse shoplifting."Millikin, Eric (June 2012). "Pride, Prejudice and Frankenstein". p. 371-375.
Cartoon Art Museum
The Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) is a California art museum that specializes in the art of comics and cartoons. It is the only museum in the Western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art. The permanen ...
Juxtapoz
''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...
''
Millikin also distributes his artwork through college newspapers, in alternative newspapers such as the ''
Metro Times
The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area.
History and content
Supported entirely by advertising, it is distributed ...
'', and in magazines like ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
''. His work is also published in major daily newspapers like ''
The Detroit News
''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...
'',"News is honored by sports editors". (February 28, 2003). ''The Detroit News'', p. 1H. ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'',"Freep's fentanyl report is tops". (April 18, 2008). ''Detroit Free Press'', p. 3A. ''
The Courier-Journal
''The Courier-Journal'',
also known as the
''Louisville Courier Journal''
(and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''),
is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Net ...
The Courier-Journal
''The Courier-Journal'',
also known as the
''Louisville Courier Journal''
(and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''),
is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Net ...
'' ''
The Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...
The Des Moines Register
''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa.
History Early period
The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...
'' ''
The Tennessean
''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...
''Aftermath of 9/11 (September 10, 2011). ''
The Tennessean
''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...
'' "Artist Eric Millikin created this illustration from some of the most powerful photos of people reacting to the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath." and ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
''
Activism
Millikin is known for his political and social activism, with his artwork often tackling controversial issues. He has championed Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as "Obamacare". Millikin has also championed
green energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenh ...
, ridiculing the "Drill, Baby, Drill Brigade" of "oil producers, free-market zealots and
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
deniers."
Millikin has also used his artwork to raise money for causes like helping Hurricane Katrina victims, fighting diseases like muscular dystrophy, and granting wishes to terminally ill children through the
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old.
Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqu ...
. He has also created posters campaigning to raise money for programs to improve
adult literacy
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...
, auctioned artwork to support soup kitchen efforts to feed the hungry, and created artwork to help people in the city of Flint who had lead-contaminated water during the Flint water crisis.
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
,Society of Professional Journalists,"Free Press wins big with SPJ; Journalists sweep the year's top awards". (April 19, 2009). ''Detroit Free Press'', p. 9A.
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training ...
Society for News Design
The Society for News Design (SND), formerly known as the Society of Newspaper Design, is an international organization for professionals working in the news sector of the media industry, specifically those involved with graphic design, illustration ...
."The Best of Newspaper Design". (2009). p. 62. His artwork critical of alleged lies by Detroit Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repres ...
was part of the portfolio that won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in local reporting. The series resulted in Kilpatrick being sent to jail."Free Press wins its 9th Pulitzer; Reporting led to downfall of mayor". (April 21, 2009). ''Detroit Free Press'', p.1A.
The
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...
's ''
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
'' describes how Millikin's expressionistic visual style "crosses Edvard Munch with an incipient victim of high-school suicide"Flagg, Gordon (August 2006). "Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists". ''
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
'', Pg. 23 and ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' describes his work as "haunting images."
Syndicated newspaper editorial cartoonist
Ted Rall
Frederick Theodore Rall III (born August 26, 1963) is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cart ...
describes Millikin's work as "one of the most interesting webcomics around,"Rall, Ted (2006). '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists'', New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine. . and former editor of '' The Comics Journal'' Tom Spurgeon named Millikin's work as belonging in the inaugural class of a webcomics hall of fame. '' The Webcomics Examiner'' named Millikin's comics one of the best webcomics, the webcomics blog ComixTalk named it one of the 100 Greatest Webcomics of all time,Xaviar Xerexes. 100 Greatest Webcomics Thread http://comixtalk.com/xerexes/100_greatest_webcomics_thread and ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''s readers named it one of the top 10 finalists for Best Webcomic of the Past Decade in 2010.Cavna, Michael. "THE BEST WEBCOMIC: It's time to vote on your nominations..." http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2010/01/the_best_webcomic_its_time_to.html Millikin's work has also been nominated for multiple Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards, including their top honor of "Outstanding Comic". Millikin has been a panelist and guest at webcomic conventions, including the inaugural New England Webcomics Weekend, the first convention organized by and focusing on webcomic creators.Marshall, Rick (March 23, 2009). Webcomics Weekend: Online comics get their own convention -- here's what you missed! . '' MTV'' The '' Sunday Times'' described serializer as "high-art", and the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' considered them to be the avant-garde.O'Brien, Danny (February 26, 2006). "The tooniverse explodes". '' Sunday Times (London)'', p. 27 Sharwood, Simon. (August 30, 2003 The rebirth of comics: Comics online '' Sydney Morning Herald''(Australia), Pg. 5.
Millikin's artwork is given by
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'' (20 ...
as an example of using the web to create "an explosion of diverse genres and styles"McCloud, Scott (2006). ''
Making Comics
''Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels'' is a book by comic book writer and artist Scott McCloud, published by William Morrow Paperbacks in 2006. A study of methods of constructing comics, it is a thematic sequ ...
'', New York: Harper Collins Publishers. . Pg. 227 and is described as "mind-blowing" by
Comic Book Resources
''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion.
History
Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
.Reed, Bill "Sunday Brunch" http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/07/11/sunday-brunch-71110/ '' The Comics Journal'' has written that Millikin's comics "use the newspaper format for far more daring, entertainingly perverse work" than most comics and is "perfectly at home at a good alternative weekly or a great college paper."Wood, Mariko (March 2003). "Download: Good Comics and Baud Web Comics". '' The Comics Journal'', No. 251, p. 38. ''The Webcomics Examiner'' has called Millikin's work "one of the sharpest political commentaries available." Millikin's projects have been published by
Modern Tales
Modern Tales was a webcomics subscription service active from 2002 to 2012. Joey Manley was the website's publisher and original editor. The site featured a roster of approximately 30 professional webcomic artists. Shaenon Garrity, one of the s ...
and Webcomics Nation, where he was one of the all-time most popular artists.The Comics Continuum (February 19, 2003) Longplay Lineup ' Popular / New Today ' "All-Time Top 100 ... 12. Eric Monster Millikin By Eric Monster Millikin" Retrieved 2011-11-18. Millikin is one of the few, and first, webcomic creators successful enough to make a living as an artist.Brenner, Lynn (February 27, 2000). "What People Earn: How Did You Do This Year?". '' Parade Magazine'', p. 9.
His artworks advocating for U.S. government loans as a solution to the automotive industry crisis of 2008–2009 was described as a "gutsy move" that "stretch sthe limits of the medium" and CNN's Kyra Phillips described it as "in your face".Phillips, Kyra. "Big Three Push For Bridge Loan". (Dec. 5, 2008).
CNN Newsroom
''CNN Newsroom'' (also simply known as ''Newsroom'') is an American news programming block that airs on CNN.
Broadcasting for 43 hours each week, ''Newsroom'' features live and taped news reports, in addition to analysis from experts on the iss ...
, 2:00 PM EST Congressman John D. Dingell displayed it on the House floor urging passage of government loans to automakers and reiterated the central theme of the piece, saying "now is the time for us to 'Invest in America'."Dingell, John D. Dingell Statement on Auto Industry Loan Bill . (Dec. 10, 2008).
Millikin's work has also been praised by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
's Mike Tirico during a 2011 Monday Night Football half time show.Detroit Free Press staff (Oct. 10, 2011 Purchase today's special Tigers, Lions front page /ref>
However, not all criticism of Millikin's artwork has been positive. Since 2000, Millikin has been the target of protest campaigns organized by the Catholic League for what they call his "blasphemous treatment of Jesus".Michigan State President Acts Presidential ". (November 2000). ''Catalyst Journal of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights'' "[''Fetus-X''] is offensive to Catholics and Christians," Catholic League spokesman Patrick Scully said in August 2002. "It completely ridicules the Catholic faith and is not funny." The ''Hartford Advocate'' has called Millikin a "borderline sociopath."
See also
References
External links
* Eric Millikin blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millikin, Eric Monster
American bloggers
American comics writers
American humorists
American webcomic creators
Artificial intelligence art
Artists from Detroit
Horror artists
Living people
Michigan State University alumni
People from Royal Oak, Michigan
Place of birth missing (living people)
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting winners
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American non-fiction writers