| Jon Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 25, 1971 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer |
Notable works | True Swamp |
| Awards | Xeric Foundation grant (1993) |
Jon Lewis (b. July 25, 1971) [1] is an American alternative cartoonist best known for his series True Swamp.
Lewis, of half-Norwegian heritage, grew up in Minnesota. Illness in his late teens prevented him from finishing school; instead, he immersed himself in the emerging minicomics underground of the late 1980s, producing his own self-published work. [2] By 1992, he was living in Seattle, at the time a hotbed of alternative comics. He quickly found a circle of young comic book artists — including Megan Kelso, Tom Hart, Ed Brubaker, David Lasky, and Jason Lutes — drawing and publishing their own work. With them, Lewis aspired to take clichéd or neglected genres of comics and revitalize them with the lessons learned from the first wave of alternative comics. [3]
Lewis' True Swamp is a surreal, philosophical comics series about the lives of talking swamp creatures, blending earthy humor, dream logic, and existential reflection in a vividly strange natural world. The series first appeared in self-published form in 1992. Lewis was awarded a Xeric Foundation grant — "established by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cocreator Peter Laird to help young cartoonists print and distribute independent work" [3] — in the fall of 1993 to self-publish True Swamp; he published three issues in 1994 under his imprint Peristaltic Press. (Peristalsis, the biological term for the wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract — and fluids through other tubular systems in the body — was Lewis playing with the idea of irregular but steady movement forward — a quirky, organic metaphor for how his comics made their way into the world.)
Despite Lewis winning the Xeric Foundation grant, in 1994, Diamond Comic Distributors refused to distribute True Swamp. This decision was part of a broader pattern where Diamond, at the time the dominant U.S. comic book distributor, declined to carry certain independent comics, citing concerns over content and marketability. [4] Despite this setback, Lewis continued to publish True Swamp through other avenues for the next 15+ years, with stories appearing in True Swamp vol. 2, #4–5 (Slave Labor Graphics, Oct. 1994–Feb. 1995), [5] Dark Horse Presents #100-101 (Dark Horse, Aug. 1995), Ghost Ship #1 (Slave Labor, March 1996), True Swamp: Underwoods and Overtime (Alternative Comics, 2000), and True Swamp: Stoneground and Hillbound. In 2011–2012, Uncivilized Books published two issues of a True Swamp series that collected material originally published online from Spring 2010.
Time magazine named True Swamp: Underwoods and Overtime one of 2000's best comic books. [6] [7]
Other series produced by Lewis include Ghost Ship (Slave Labor, 3 issues, 1996) and Spectacles (Alternative Comics, 4 issues, 1997–1998). Ghost Ship, known for its surreal storytelling and dark humor, incorporated characters from True Swamp. Spectacles marked a departure from Lewis' earlier work by focusing on more grounded, human-centric narratives. Delving into themes of identity, culture, and transformation, Spectacles employs a conversational tone and introspective narratives, reflecting Lewis's interest in folklore and his ability to weave mythological elements into contemporary settings. [8]
In 2002–2003, Lewis took over the writing duties of Robin , the Tim Drake title (succeeding Chuck Dixon). [9] . Lewis' run on Robin included storylines like “Broken Home” and “Unmasked,” which explored Tim Drake’s dual life and personal challenges. Lewis' mainstream work was known for strong character voices and psychological angles; some critics at the time found his writing more experimental than typical DC fare, which both intrigued and divided readers. [10] Lewis's run as Robin writer concluded with issue #120. [11]
In 2005, Lewis wrote "Exit Menu", a story for Detective Comics #805 — illustrated by Jeff Parker [12] — which was pulled from the issue before release. [13]
Uncivilized Books has published two collections of Lewis' True Swamp work — True Swamp: Choose Your Poison (2012) and True Swamp: Anywhere But In... (2017).