Eric Millikin is an American

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 ...

ist and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

based in

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 th ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

, augmented and virtual reality art,

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 ...

Internet art upright=1.3, "Simple Net Art Diagram", a 1997 work by Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden Internet art (also known as net art) is a form of new media art distributed via the Internet. This form of art circumvents the traditional dominance of the phys ...

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 ...

post-Internet Post-Internet is a 21st century art movement involving works that are derived from the Internet or its effects on aesthetics, culture and society. Definition Post-Internet is a loosely-defined term that was coined by artist/curator Marisa Olson ...

art,

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 ...

.(April 15, 2012). "Eric Millikin". ''

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

'' His work is often controversial, with political,

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

and

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 discus ...

themes. Awards for Millikin's artwork include the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

. Together, Millikin and

Casey Sorrow Casey Sorrow is an internationally known American cartoonist, illustrator, and printmaker. ''Fetus-X'' Sorrow's early comic collaboration with Eric Millikin, ''Fetus-X'', was run for a short time in Michigan State University's ''The State News ...

created and popularized the international

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

holiday World Monkey Day.

Early life and education

Millikin is a descendent of

Mary Eastey Mary Towne Eastey (also spelled Esty, Easty, Estey, Eastick, Eastie, or Estye) ( bap. August 24, 1634 – September 22, 1692) was a defendant in the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts. She was executed by hanging in Salem in 1692. ...

, 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 ...

. He began drawing horror art by age one-and-a-half, and by second grade, he was making teachers profane birthday cards showing his school burning down.Breithaupt, Christy (July 26, 2006).
Dark visions: MSU grad's 'Fetus-X' comic earns national recognition
". ''

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 CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its initialism CIS) was an American online service provider, the first major commercial one in the world – described in 1994 as "the oldest of the Big Three information services (the oth ...

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 se ...

in the early 1990s.Garrity, Shaenon (July 15, 2011)
The History of Webcomics
''

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 ...

''Xerexes, Xaviar (January, 2009).
Eric Monster Millikin Talks Fetuses, Zombies and Monkeys
. ''Comixtalk'' Millikin attended art school at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in their

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 ...

. He paid his way through school by working in the school's human anatomy lab as an embalmer and

dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause o ...

ist of human cadavers.Zabel, Joe (June 14, 2004).
Cutting Up The Dead: An interview with Eric Millikin
". ''The Webcomics Examiner''Fingeroth, Danny (August 2008). "The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels". p. 276. While at art school, Millikin was homeless and lived in a car. He earned a Master of Fine Arts at

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (also referred to as VCU School of the Arts or simply VCUarts) is a public non-profit art and design school located in Richmond, Virginia. One of many degree-offering schools at VCU, the Schoo ...

in 2021.

Notable artworks

Millikin's art often includes

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 The infinite canvas refers to the potentially limitless space that is available to webcomics presented on the World Wide Web. The term was introduced by Scott McCloud in his 2000 book '' Reinventing Comics'', in which he suggested that webcomic cre ...

" designs, going beyond the limited sizes and shapes of conventional printed pages.McCloud, Scott (July 25, 2000). "Reinventing Comics". ''

Harper Paperbacks Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

'', Pg. 222 Millikin's works range from those made almost completely of text (including

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 ...

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), and ...

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

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. Definit ...

, and

cut-up technique The cut-up technique (or ''découpé'' in French) is an aleatory literary technique in which a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. The concept can be traced to the Dadaists of the 1920s, but it was developed and popularized ...

poetry)Millikin, Eric "My Little Brother" http://www.serializer.net//comics/fetusx.php?view=archive&chapter=1299 to those that are

optical illusion Within visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide v ...

s 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 ...

anthology

Serializer Serializer.net was a webcomic subscription service and artist collective published by Joey Manley and edited by Tom Hart and Eric Millikin that existed from 2002 to 2013. Designed to showcase artistic alternative webcomics using the unique natu ...

.Hart, Tom and Joey Manley (Oct. 21, 2002).
Modern Tales And Tom Hart Launch Serializer.Net Today
"Xerexes, Xaviar (Dec. 2006).
the Comixpedia End of 2006 Roundtable
.MacDonald, Heidi (Oct. 12, 2006).
Serializer.net returns
.Bors, Matt (Oct. 24, 2006).

". In 2005, Millikin was one of the artists in the

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 ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...

'' 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 Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...

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

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

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 actresse ...

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

Vincent Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, 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 ...

, 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 wide ...

. 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 we ...

, 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 ArtPrize is an art competition and festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anyone over the age of 18 can display their art, and any space within the three-square-mile ArtPrize district can be a venue. There are typically over 160 venues such as museu ...

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 Pe ...

'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 s ...

, 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 ...

Lily Munster Lily Munster (née Dracula) is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom, ''The Munsters'', originally played by Yvonne De Carlo. The matriarch of the Munster household, Lily is a vampire. The role was later played by Lee Meriwether in ''The Munster ...

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 produc ...

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 Karlo ...

. 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, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italians, Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy ...

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 Conra ...

and

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

based on their crime mug shots, stylized to look like witches, and combined with excerpts from transcripts of the

. 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 ...

swirls and spirals.Vincent, Pheroze L. (September 24, 2009).
Spinning a dark web of fun
. ''

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 ...

''Walters, Maria (March 2009).
What's up with Webcomics? Visual and Technological Advances in Comics
". ''Interface: The Journal for Education, Community, and Values'' Harvey, R. C. (February 16, 2009).
Rants & Raves On A Mission
. ''

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 The national flag of the United States, United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rect ...

into cityscapes filled with monsters, and incorporates

ambigram 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 ...

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 Fra ...

''. Inverting a national flag in such a way is a commonly used

distress signal A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a soun ...

. * '','' 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 ter ...

, 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 Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images ...

paintings created as answers to questions from a

literacy test A literacy test assesses a person's literacy skills: their ability to read and write have been administered by various governments, particularly to immigrants. In the United States, between the 1850s and 1960s, literacy tests were administered t ...

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 ensl ...

in the American south before the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. The paintings feature illusionary

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-dimen ...

s and

palindrome A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Panam ...

s. * ''Fetus-X,'' a series of

created in collaboration with

. ''

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 inter ...

'' 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 deve ...

floating in a jar of formaldehyde who may or may not be Millikin's missing

conjoined twin Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

or his clone from an alternate timeline or dimension. The comic was run for a short time in

'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 Melville Peter McPherson (born October 27, 1940) is president emeritus of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. He previously served as a special assistant to President Gerald Ford, administrator of USAID under President Ronald ...

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. Monke ...

(celebrated December 14) was created and popularized by Millikin and

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 The Space Monkeys are an English alternative band, formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester in 1995. The band consisted of Richard McNevin-Duff, Tony Pipes, Dom Morrison and Chas Morrison. After working with the band for a number years, Neil ...

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
. ''

'' 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 Schoo ...

series where he mailed Monkey Day cards to strangers, including

Koko Koko or KOKO may refer to: Animals *Koko (gorilla) (1971–2018), a gorilla trained to communicate in American Sign Language *Koko (dog) (2005–2012), the Australian kelpie in the 2011 film ''Red Dog'' *Koko (horse), an Irish racehorse that won ...

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 U ...

.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 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

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 Latte The Pumpkin Spice Latte is a coffee drink made with a mix of traditional autumn spice flavors (cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove), steamed milk, espresso, and often sugar, topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice. The beverage is most commonl ...

s 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 t ...

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 b ...

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

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 Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'', 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 fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

'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 Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, creature ...

'', 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.

Exhibitions and publications

Galleries and museums that have held exhibitions of Millikin's artwork include the

Krannert Art Museum The Krannert Art Museum (KAM) is a fine art museum located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, United States. It has of space devoted to all periods of art, dating from ancient Egypt to contemporary photography ...

The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar was a contemporary art institution located in Lakewood, a suburb on the western boundary of Denver, Colorado. Founded by Executive Director Adam Lerner, The Lab at Belmar was a mixed-use residential and co ...

, and San Francisco's

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 permanent ...

.Monsters of Webcomics Virtual Gallery Artists
Millikin has had group exhibitions with

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

and

HR Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

.Ford, Andrew Michael (Oct 17, 2009).
DAMNED II - featuring Marilyn Mason & HR Giger
. ''

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 f ...

'', and in magazines like ''

''. 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 Februa ...

'',"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'' Ne ...

'',Millikin, Eric
How apocalypse will affect sports fans
(December 18, 2012). ''

'' ''

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 junctio ...

'',Millikin, Eric
How apocalypse will affect sports fans
(December 18, 2012). ''

'' ''

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). ''

'' "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, Virgini ...

''.Millikin, Eric
How the count may have been mishandled
(August 21, 2013) ''

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 The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

, 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 greenho ...

, 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 Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

victims, fighting diseases like

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

, 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 headqua ...

. 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 A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...

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.

Critical reaction

Millikin's artwork has won many awards from organizations including the

Association of Alternative Newsmedia The Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) is a trade association of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. It provides services to many generally liberal or progressive weekly newspapers across the United States and in Canada. AA ...

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. newspa ...

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

,"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 ...

,"Mayoral reporting: Free Press wins top honor". (April 1, 2009). ''Detroit Free Press'', p. 5A.

National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is an organization of African-American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provide quality p ...

Online Journalism Awards The Online News Association (ONA), founded in 1999, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Washington D.C., United States. It is the world's largest association of digital journalists, with more than 2,000 members. The majority of ONA ...

, and the

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 Represen ...

was part of the portfolio that won the 2009

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 a ...

'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 Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

with an incipient victim of high-school suicide"Flagg, Gordon (August 2006). "Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists". ''

'', Pg. 23 and ''

'' 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, comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and e ...

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 ''

Tom Spurgeon Thomas Martin Spurgeon (December 16, 1968 – November 13, 2019) was an American writer, historian, critic, and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of ''The Comics Journal'' and his blog ''The Comics Reporter''. ...

named Millikin's work as belonging in the inaugural class of a webcomics hall of fame. ''

The Webcomics Examiner Joe Zabel (born July 7, 1953)Zabel entry
Who's Who of Amer ...

'' 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 The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''The New York Times'' column on webcom ...

, 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 MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

'' 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, whi ...

'' described serializer as "high-art", and the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' considered them to be the avant-garde.O'Brien, Danny (February 26, 2006). "The tooniverse explodes". ''

(London)'', p. 27 Sharwood, Simon. (August 30, 2003
The rebirth of comics: Comics online
''

''(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'' (200 ...

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/ ''

'' 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". ''

'', 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 si ...

and

Webcomics Nation Webcomics Nation was a webcomic hosting and automation service launched on July 29, 2005 by Joey Manley. Unlike Manley's previous webcomic sites, Webcomics Nation was based on user-generated content and relied on online advertisement revenue, wh ...

, 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?". ''

'', 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 Kyra Phillips (born August 8, 1968) is a correspondent for ABC News. Early life and career Phillips was born in Illinois, and grew up in the city of Jacksonville. In the fourth grade, she moved to San Diego, California, where her parents became ...

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 issu ...

, 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%). The ...

Mike Tirico Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's '' Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play an ...

during a 2011

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

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 ''CTNow'' is a free weekly newspaper in central and southwestern Connecticut, published by the ''Hartford Courant''. The previous iteration of CTNow was New Mass. Media, a privately owned weekly newspaper company until 1999, when its owners, inc ...

'' has called Millikin a "borderline sociopath."

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

Early life and education

Notable artworks

Exhibitions and publications

Activism

Critical reaction

See also

References

External links