I reach age 52 in May, and feel I am
coming into the light after passing through a deep, dark tunnel.
I'm not
a sage yet, but I know I’ve survived experiences 9 out of 10
doctors agree would have driven others to alcoholism, opiates or suicide, and
don’t think I haven’t considered all three.
I’ve have had to ‘rebirth’ myself countless times, in work
and life. To live, I’ve handled just about every category of professional
cartooning (if you already know the list, please humor me): Children’s
magazines, adult magazines, adaptations of classics for all ages. Illustration;
painting; comic books; comic strips; animation scripting, storyboard and
direction; record, CD and DVD promotional art; product design; character design;
teaching, essays, and more..
And I am proud of it. I feel I am traveling the paths of
illustrators such as Tony Sarg, Charley Bowers and John Held, Jr., using my skills
to approach not just one, but every genre, outlet and medium. I was, in many
ways, lucky to grow up in the time I did, when it was all possible. Other, more
‘successful’ artists have stayed in the same groove for decades. I feel that my
breadth of experience in art and in life itself has informed my work, expanded
its perspective, and helped it to change and mature.
Now that these past works are assembled and can be examined
on the internet, I say “Cripes, did I do all that?” So do many observers. The
scope of the work is too large and confusing. It’s frustrating when folks see
one phase of my work and decide they’ve seen the whole sh-boom. The SONIC fans unhealthily
fetishize over Robotnik to the detriment of everything else. Others feel the same
about the HUGO comics or my erotic work. People tend to define an
artist through the stage when they first discovered him, or grew up
with. I cannot change this, however much I wring my hands over it. Yes, it’s
frustrating because I feel I’ve grown myself, and feel little nostalgia for the
past. In fact, I’d rather forget it.
It is the film work that played the largest role in reaching
a new vision that I’ve since applied to my comics work. The work that's
benefited the most, I feel, are my twelve years of adapting stories for the anthology series, GRAPHIC CLASSICS. The editor has entrusted me
with genres I never would have selected for myself. On receiving the texts, I honestly
question myself: “What the hell am I gonna do with this?” But his choices have
always been spot-on. I’ve applied new techniques and media, often succeeding in
making 150 year old stories emphatic and vital to myself and the new reader.
This is the work I am proudest of, but it’s unknown to most comic readers.
Classic adaptations often evoke unhappy memories of the stodgy, dusty and
musty. (GRAPHIC CLASSICS sells the best in the scholastic and academic markets,
which are actually more profitable.) But these are no left-to-right high school
pageants told from an emotional distance. They evoke my heart and soul.
I provide a link to a full Arthur Conan Doyle adaptation. My hope is that it will
introduce a new and hopefully enlightening side of my work to the reader.
http://animationresources.org/?p=700
To view the entire GRAPHIC CLASSICS catalog, visit
http://graphicclassics.com
Proudly Yours, MK
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY MILTON KNIGHT
