The Trials and Triumphs of a Late Bloomer
Categories: In the News , Local Interest , Graphic Novels , Staff Picks
Carol Tyler has been a successful cartoonist since the 1980s, when the underground comix creators and their heirs were launching the alternative comics movement. However, for better and for worse, Tyler’s career was slowed to a crawl by family life and day jobs.
The positive side of Tyler’s detour -- apart from bringing her to live in Cincinnati -- is apparent in the rich story material from those domestic years, some of it released to the world just last year in Late Bloomer. This collection has earned Tyler the kind of acclaim she’s seen lavished for decades on her husband, Justin Green, one of the pioneers of the underground comix era. (More about Green in an upcoming post.) The latest rave comes from the pages of the most recent New York Times Sunday Book Review.
Fans of Late Bloomer include the very best comics creators, such as R. Crumb, Jim Woodring, Chris Ware, and Craig Thompson. According to Thompson: “Carol Tyler is a crucial voice for the medium. She’s lived so many roles – bohemian, artist, mother, teacher, Midwestern housewife, family historian – and imbues her work with all the wisdom of her experience. Poetic, her work is ornamented with detail, yet not flowery.”
Fortunately for local comics fans and aspiring artist/writers, Tyler and Green have lent their talents to educational initiatives such as the Library's 2005 programming Comic Revolutions: Underground Comix, Graphic Novels & Manga. Tyler provided a series of workshops at that time and recently conducted a series in several branches, which we hope will become a tradition.
More information about Tyler’s life and work can be found through the following links:
1 Comment
What a great collection of links (and a library card plug) you’ve given us!