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Sasha “the rat” Matthews (nickname= Sasha RATthews) | |
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Sasha Matthews | |
Born | [1] New York City | August 24, 2004
Nationality | American |
Notable work |
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Website | http://rumblecomics.com |
Sasha Matthews is a cartoonist, activist, and 10th grader living in New York City.
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in drawing cartoons and/or comics. The term may refer to artists who handle all aspects of the work – including writing the material – or to those who contribute only part of the production. Cartoonists may work in many formats, such as booklets, comic strips, comic books, editorial cartoons, graphic novels, manuals, gag cartoons, illustrations, storyboards, posters, shirts, books, advertisements, greeting cards, magazines, newspapers, and video game packaging.
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct, or intervene in social, political, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society. Forms of activism range from mandate building in the community, petitioning elected officials, running or contributing to a political campaign, preferential patronage of businesses, and demonstrative forms of activism like rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, or hunger strikes.
The City of New York, usually referred to as either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 19,979,477 people in its 2018 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 22,679,948 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.
From early 2017 through early 2018 Matthews worked on a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union. Her idea was to represent everyday people doing what they do in everyday life, but in the iconic form of a superhero. She called this project Everyday Superheroes. In the end she completed 95 commissioned drawings and collected $11,635.83, which she presented to ACLU President Susan Herman at the ACLU headquarters in downtown Manhattan. [2] Along the way Matthews' Everyday Superheroes earned recognition from United States Senator Kamala Harris [3] and was written about by Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, [4] Huffington Post, [5] Ashton Kutcher's A Plus, [6] DNAinfo [7] and West Side Rag. [8] [9] ACLU President Susan Herman went on to commission an Everyday Superhero portrait of herself [10] and another of ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. [11]
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." Officially nonpartisan, the organization has been supported and criticized by liberal and conservative organizations alike. The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and it has over 1,200,000 members and an annual budget of over $100 million. Local affiliates of the ACLU are active in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases when it considers civil liberties to be at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.
Kamala Devi Harris is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from California since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011 and 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 until 2017. She is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election.
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Poehler founded the improv troupe and theater Upright Citizens Brigade, was a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and starred in NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognize creative achievements of teenagers in grades 7-12. In 2018, nearly 350,000 works were submitted for consideration. [12] Matthews had intended to submit her Everyday Superheroes project under the Civic Expression category, for work that "expresses a vision of the society they are working to build, one that exemplifies democratic values and that allows all voices and viewpoints to be heard and respected."
Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education and media company known for publishing, selling, and distributing books and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, and children. Products are distributed to schools and districts, to consumers through the schools via reading clubs and fairs, and through retail stores and online sales.
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1994, identifies teenagers with exceptional creative talent and brings their remarkable work to a national audience through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The Alliance partners with nearly 100 Regional Affiliates across the country to provide creative teens with opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships.
Before she submitted her work, Matthews read the Terms & Conditions and discovered that the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were claiming ownership of kids' copyrights. She highlighted the questionable text and tweeted a question. [13] She didn't receive a sensible response, so she wrote a cartoon about the situation and tweeted it. [14] Still no response, so next Matthews wrote up the experience for an 8th grade homework assignment. This report was then published by web site Boing Boing. [15] As a result, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards announced their intention to revise their Terms before the upcoming 2019 contest. This outcome was written about by Hyperallergic, [16] Danish national newspaper Politiken, [17] AM New York, [18] and Boing Boing. [19]
Boing Boing is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice won the Bloggies for Weblog of the Year, in 2004 and 2005. The editors are Mark Frauenfelder, Cory Doctorow, David Pescovitz, Xeni Jardin and Rob Beschizza, and the publisher is Jason Weisberger.
Hyperallergic is an online arts magazine, based in Brooklyn, NY. Founded by the art critic Hrag Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009, the site describes itself as a "forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking."
Politiken is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independent of the party but maintains a liberal stance. It now runs an online newspaper, politiken.dk. The paper's design has won several international awards, and a number of its journalists have won the Cavling Prize.
Matthews responded to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting with a series of editorial cartoons, which were then written about by web site Hyperallergic. [20] Previously Matthews had responded to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which was written about by web site The Mary Sue. [21]
On February 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Witnesses identified Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student at the school, as the assailant. Cruz fled the scene on foot by blending with other students. He was arrested without incident about an hour later in nearby Coral Springs. He confessed to being the perpetrator, and he was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Police and prosecutors have not offered a motive and are investigating "a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior".
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Protesters were members of the far-right and included self-identified members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, Blue Lives Matter, and various right-wing militias. The marchers chanted racist and antisemitic slogans, carried semi-automatic rifles, Nazi and neo-Nazi symbols, the Valknut, Confederate battle flags, Deus Vult crosses, flags and other symbols of various past and present anti-Muslim and antisemitic groups. Within the Charlottesville area, the rally is often known as A12 or 8/12. The organizers' stated goals included unifying the American white nationalist movement and opposing the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's Lee Park.
Matthews took a stand when a group of conservative Internet trolls began attacking a group of women working at Marvel Comics. [22] Conservative pundit Michelle Malkin wound up publicly siding with Matthews [23] and the whole incident was covered by web site The Mary Sue. [24]
In Internet slang, a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses and normalizing tangential discussion, whether for the troll's amusement or a specific gain.
Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.
Michelle Malkin is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, author and businesswoman. Her weekly syndicated column appears in a number of newspapers and websites. She was a Fox News contributor and has been a guest on MSNBC, C-SPAN, and national radio programs. Malkin has written four books published by Regnery Publishing. She founded the conservative websites Twitchy and Hot Air.
Matthews has authored and self-published four comic books: Everyday Superheroes (2018), [25] Steve Harvey: The Life of Steve Harvey (2016), [25] Pompeii: Lost and Found (2015), [25] and Sitting Bull: A Life Story (2015). [25]
Matthews' comic books have been written about by Tech Times, [26] Bleeding Cool, [27] Book Culture, [28] Fumettologica (Italian), [29] and Women Write About Comics. [30]
Matthews publishes under the name Rumble Comics, a reference to the erupting volcano in Pompeii: Lost and Found. [31]
Between 2017 and 2018 Matthews worked on a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union, creating 95 commissioned drawings and raising $11,635.83 total. She collected 48 of her favorites to make her fourth self-published comic. The comic book version of Everyday Superheroes was introduced at Book Culture alongside cartoonist R. Sikoryak. [32]
Matthews was invited to appeared on NBC's Little Big Shots. For her appearance she wrote a new biographical comic about the host, Steve Harvey.
Her second comic, "Pompeii: Lost and Found," was introduced at a joint book event with New York Times bestselling author George O'Connor of the Olympians series. [33] Pomeii: Lost and Found was recognized by Massimo Osanna, Head of Archaeology at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, for attention to historical and cultural detail.
Her first comic, Sitting Bull: A Life Story was originally published by Boing Boing. [34] Mark Frauenfelder, co-editor of Boing Boing, favorably compared her work to that of a young Robert Crumb.
Microsoft modeled their 2017/2018 holiday campaign on Matthews. Their fictionalized and animated character, also named Sasha, uses her art in support of inclusion and making the world a better place. The commercial transitions to the real Sasha at the end. [35] [36]
In 2017 Matthews appeared on NBC's Little Big Shots (S2 E5) as the show's first author/artist. [37] [38] [39] For her appearance she wrote a new biographical comic about the host, Steve Harvey, using Wikipedia as a reference. Ellen DeGeneres, a co-producer of Little Big Shots, also has a cameo in the comic. The segment was taped July, 2016 at Warner Bros. Studios. [40]
Matthews received a Citation from the New York City Council in May, 2017. [41]
Crain's named Matthews as one of their 20 Under 20 for 2017. [42]
On May 10, 2018 Matthews will be a speaker at the ACLU Conference in Washington, DC. [43]
On June 5, 2018 Matthews was a panelist at the Nasty Women Unite Festival. [44]
On May 1, 2018 Matthews was a presenter at the Clara Lemlich Awards held at the Museum of the City of New York. The awards honor women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s for lifetimes of activism. Matthews will introduce honoree Doreen Wohl, retired Executive Director of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger. [45]
On April 29, 2018 Matthews was a keynote speaker at the Girl Up New York Leadership Summit in New York City. Following her presentation, she sat on a discussion panel with American Civil Liberties Union president Susan Herman. [46] Girl Up is the United Nations Foundation's adolescent girl campaign, which engages girls to take action. [47]
Matthews was invited to speak at a rally at the 2018 Women's March in New York City. She spoke following New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. [48]
On May 1, 2017 Matthews was a presenter at the Clara Lemlich Awards held at the Museum of the City of New York. The awards honor women in their 80s, 90s, and 100s for lifetimes of activism. Matthews introduced honoree Ingrid Frank, a Holocaust survivor who then worked for 75 years for civil rights. [49]
A superhero is a type of heroic stock character, possessing supernatural or superhuman powers, who is dedicated to fighting the evil of their universe, protecting the public, and usually battling super-villains. A female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine, although the word superhero is also commonly used for females. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially in American comic book and films since the 1930s.
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Sabrina Spellman, and Josie and the Pussycats.
Colleen Doran is an American writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and writer Stan Lee entitled Amazing Fantastic Incredible Stan Lee, which became a New York Times bestseller. She adapted and did the art for the short story "Troll Bridge" by Neil Gaiman, which also became a "New York Times" bestseller. Her books have received Eisner, Harvey, and International Horror Guild Awards.
Scott McCloud 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 (2006), all of which also use the medium of comics.
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Miss America is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49, and was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Gabriele for Timely Comics, the 1940s precursor of Marvel, in the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.
Bryan Lee O'Malley is a Canadian cartoonist, best known for the Scott Pilgrim series. He also performs as a musician under the alias Kupek.
Dana Claire Simpson is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the syndicated comic strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn, as well as the long-running web comic Ozy and Millie. Other works created by Simpson include the political commentary cartoon I Drew This and the alternate reality drama comic Raine Dog.
Girlamatic was a webcomic subscription service launched by Joey Manley and Lea Hernandez in March 2003. It was the third online magazine Manley established as part of his Modern Tales family of websites. Girlamatic was created as a place where both female artists and readers could feel comfortable and featured a diverse mix of genres. When the site launched, the most recent webcomic pages and strips were free, and the website's archives were available by subscription. The editorial role was held by Hernandez from 2003 until 2006, when it was taken over by Arcana Jayne-creator Lisa Jonté, one of the site's original artists. In 2009, Girlamatic was relaunched as a free digital magazine, this time edited by Spades-creator Diana McQueen. The archives of the webcomics that ran on Girlamatic remained freely available until the website was discontinued in 2013.
Trina Robbins is an American cartoonist. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first few female artists in that movement. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for and promoting female comics artists. In the 1980s, Robbins became the first woman to draw Wonder Woman comics. She is a member of the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.
Dorothy A. Woolfolk née Dorothy Roubicek was one of the first women in the American comic-book industry. As an editor at DC Comics, one of the two largest companies in the field, during the 1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books, she is credited with helping to create the fictional metal Kryptonite in the Superman mythos.
Raina Telgemeier is an American cartoonist whose works include the autobiographic webcomic Smile , which was published by Scholastic Press's Graphix imprint as a full-color graphic novel in February 2010. Smile, as well as the follow-up Sisters and the fiction graphic novel Drama have all been on The New York Times Best Seller lists. She has also written and illustrated Ghosts and four graphic novels adapted from The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin. A sequel to Telgemeier's Smile and Sisters titled Guts was released in fall 2019.
The portrayal of Women inAmerican comic books have often been the subject of controversy since the medium's beginning. Critics have noted the roles of women as both supporting characters and lead characters are substantially more subjected to gender stereotypes, with femininity and or sexual characteristics having a larger presence in their overall character.
Shamrock is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
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Willow Dawson is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator, whose works include The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea with author Helaine Becker, Hyena in Petticoats: The Story of Suffragette Nellie McClung, Lila and Ecco's Do-It-Yourself Comics Club, 100 Mile House, the graphic novel No Girls Allowed, with author Susan Hughes, and Violet Miranda: Girl Pirate, with author Emily Pohl-Weary. Her works have been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.
Her black and white comics art style is wonderful: bold and full of thought. Dawson also creates painted stand alone illustrations which she turns into prints and sells on her Society6 site. The original art is created using acrylic ink and paint on recycled cardboard. Her illustrations convey a mood of whimsy and playful-uncanny. Her work typically exhibits flowing linework and favours a 50's colour palette.
She is a member of The RAID Studio, The Writers' Union of Canada, Illustration Mundo, and JacketFlap.
Dawson was born in 1975 and grew up in Vancouver, BC. She currently lives in a creaky-old-house-turned-music-school in downtown Toronto.
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Joan Hilty is an American comic book editor, cartoonist and an educator. She has worked in editorial for mainstream publishers DC Comics and Nickelodeon, and worked independently as both a writer-artist and editor. As an editor she has worked with writers and cartoonists such as Neil Gaiman, G. Willow Wilson, Greg Rucka, Gene Luen Yang, Jim Ottaviani, and Kevin Baker.
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