Eric Monster Millikin
Encyclopedia
Eric Millikin, also known as Eric Monster Millikin, is an award-winning American artist and former human anatomy lab embalmer and dissection
ist. He is known for his pioneering work in Internet art
and webcomics, and for his controversial semi-autobiographical artwork with political, romantic
and horror
themes.
Millikin began posting comics and art on the internet using CompuServe in the 1980s, and began publishing on the World Wide Web
as early as the fall of 1995. His artwork has also been published in books, serialized in newspapers, and displayed in art museums. The themes of Millikin's art generally involve his use of the occult
as an artist, in romantic relationships with ghosts and vampires, and in conflicts with various zombies, demons, aliens, and monsters. The artwork is mixed media
, often combining expressionist paintings with found objects. Millikin's works often have political themes, and the text is sometimes written in free verse
. From 2000-2008 the comic was titled Fetus-X after one of the recurring characters.
Millikin is one of the few, and first, webcomic creators successful enough to make a living as an artist. He often collaborates with artist Casey Sorrow.
" designs, going beyond the limited sizes and shapes of conventional printed pages. The American Library Association
's Booklist
describes how Millikin's visual style "crosses Edvard Munch
with an incipient victim of high-school suicide." Millikin's works range from those made almost completely of text (for example "My Little Brother," a first-person tale from the perspective of one conjoined twin in a love triangle) to those that are completely wordless or even abstract. Millikin's artwork is given by Scott McCloud
as an example of using the web to create "an explosion of diverse genres and styles" and is described as "mind-blowing" by Comic Book Resources
.
death and him engaging in star-crossed
love affairs. For example, he is depicted engaged in activities such as being killed by vampire
hunters, being eaten by a dinosaur
, and sawing off his own arm then replacing it with a zombie's. His main love interest is Inga, Princess of Vampires, and he also depicts himself trying to bring Alicia, a fork-throwing poltergeist
cheerleader
and his former girlfriend, back from the dead. He is often depicted accompanied by other supernatural creatures, like Fetus-X, a psychic zombie fetus
floating in a jar of formaldehyde who may or may not be Millikin's missing Siamese twin or his clone from an alternate timeline or dimension.
and Far Side
comics and the video game Gorf
. When he was in elementary school in 1985, Millikin began posting his unauthorized Wizard of Oz
parody comic Witches and Stitches on Compuserve
. Copies of Witches and Stitches are now hard to find because Millikin was threatened with a lawsuit over the comic.
Millikin attended art school at Michigan State University
in their Honors College
. He paid his way through school by working in MSU's human anatomy lab dissecting human cadavers.
anthology Serializer
and in October 2006 he became the editor of Serializer. Under Millikin's editorship Serializer has published his own comics as well as others like A Softer World
, Idiot Box
, and Templar, Arizona
. The Sunday Times describes the work on serializer as "high-art", and the Sydney Morning Herald considers them to be the avant-garde.
Millikin has also been published by the webcomics sites Modern Tales
and Webcomics Nation
. His comics are one of the all-time most popular on Webcomics Nation.
Millikin discussed his webcomics in the book Attitude 3: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists
, by syndicated newspaper editorial cartoonist Ted Rall
. The Webcomics Examiner named Millikin's comics one of the best webcomics, the webcomics blog ComixTalk named it one of the 100 Greatest Webcomics of all time, and The Washington Post
s readers named it one of the top 10 finalists for Best Webcomic of the Past Decade in 2010. It has also been nominated for multiple Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards, 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.
's The State News
. Almost immediately there were problems with censorship, Catholic League protests, and threatened cancellation. After six months, The State News cancelled the comic strip despite support from some readers. Millikin's artwork continues to be published on the web and in many college newspapers, in alternative newspapers such as the Metro Times
, in major daily newspapers like The Detroit News
and Detroit Free Press
, and in magazines like Wired
. The Comics Journal
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."
and The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar
., and in the "Monsters of Webcomics Virtual Gallery" at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum
. His artwork was included, along with Marilyn Manson
and HR Giger's, in the international horror art collection "DAMNED."
] era where presidents are treated as messiahs, and questioning the fatherland’s foreign policies is socially unacceptable, Eric shows how necessary it is to yell at the top of your lungs about the madness of it all."
Millikin has also used his artwork to raise money for causes like helping Hurricane Katrina
victims, fight diseases like muscular dystrophy
, and grant wishes to terminally ill children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation
.
, Society of Professional Journalists
, Investigative Reporters and Editors
and the Society for News Design
. In 2009, his illustrations were part of the Detroit Free Presss Pulitzer Prize
-winning "A Mayor in Crisis" series, which used the secret text messages of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
to reveal the mayor's perjury and obstruction of justice in a police whistle-blower trial. The series resulted in Mayor Kilpatrick being sent to jail.
His front-page artwork in the Detroit Free Press 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[es] the limits of the medium" and CNN's Kyra Phillips
described it as "full front page and in your face". 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'."
Millikin's October 2011 Wizard of Oz themed Detroit Free Press front-page "Lions, Tigers and Bears: Oh my!" illustration (about the Detroit Lions
, Detroit Tigers
and Chicago Bears
) was praised by ESPN
's Mike Tirico
during the the Monday Night Football
half time show.
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". “This particular comic 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 has called Millikin a "borderline sociopath."
(celebrated December 14) 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 costume parties.
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....
ist. He is known for his pioneering work in Internet art
Internet art
Internet art is a form of digital artwork distributed via the Internet. This form of art has circumvented the traditional dominance of the gallery and museum system, delivering aesthetic experiences via the Internet. In many cases, the viewer is drawn into some kind of interaction with the work...
and webcomics, and for his controversial semi-autobiographical artwork with political, romantic
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
themes.
Millikin began posting comics and art on the internet using CompuServe in the 1980s, and began publishing on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
as early as the fall of 1995. His artwork has also been published in books, serialized in newspapers, and displayed in art museums. The themes of Millikin's art generally involve his use of the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
as an artist, in romantic relationships with ghosts and vampires, and in conflicts with various zombies, demons, aliens, and monsters. The artwork is mixed media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
, often combining expressionist paintings with found objects. Millikin's works often have political themes, and the text is sometimes written in free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
. From 2000-2008 the comic was titled Fetus-X after one of the recurring characters.
Millikin is one of the few, and first, webcomic creators successful enough to make a living as an artist. He often collaborates with artist Casey Sorrow.
Artistic style
Millikin's artwork is characterized by brilliantly colored paint brushed and smeared into swirls and spirals. His large-scale artwork takes full advantage of the internet's formal possibilities, and has incorporated animation and winding "infinite canvasInfinite canvas
The infinite canvas is the idea that the size of a digital comics page is theoretically infinite, and that online comics are therefore not limited by conventional page sizes. An artist could conceivably display a complete comics story of indefinite length on a single "page"...
" designs, going beyond the limited sizes and shapes of conventional printed pages. The American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit 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 more than 62,000 members....
's Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
describes how Millikin's visual style "crosses Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
with an incipient victim of high-school suicide." Millikin's works range from those made almost completely of text (for example "My Little Brother," a first-person tale from the perspective of one conjoined twin in a love triangle) to those that are completely wordless or even abstract. Millikin's artwork is given by Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium...
as an example of using the web to create "an explosion of diverse genres and styles" and is described as "mind-blowing" by Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources, also known as 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 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...
.
Recurring themes
Two major recurring themes of Eric Millikin's art are him falling prey to tragicTragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
death and him engaging in star-crossed
Star-crossed
"Star-crossed" or "star-crossed lovers" is a phrase describing a pair of lovers whose relationship is often thwarted by outside forces. The term encompasses other meanings, but originally means the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that the stars are working against the relationship...
love affairs. For example, he is depicted engaged in activities such as being killed by vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
hunters, being eaten by a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
, and sawing off his own arm then replacing it with a zombie's. His main love interest is Inga, Princess of Vampires, and he also depicts himself trying to bring Alicia, a fork-throwing poltergeist
Poltergeist
A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
cheerleader
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
and his former girlfriend, back from the dead. He is often depicted accompanied by other supernatural creatures, like Fetus-X, a psychic zombie fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
floating in a jar of formaldehyde who may or may not be Millikin's missing Siamese twin or his clone from an alternate timeline or dimension.
Early life
Millikin began drawing horror comics by age one-and-a-half, when he made crayon drawings of ghosts terrorizing him during toilet-training. By second grade, he was making teachers profane birthday cards showing his school burning down. As a youth, he was influenced by 1980s X-MenX-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
and Far Side
Far side
The Far Side is a comic strip by Gary LarsonFar Side may also refer to:*Far Side , a 2010 album by Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory*Farside , an alternative rock band*The Pharcyde, an alternative hip hop act...
comics and the video game Gorf
Gorf
Gorf is an arcade game released in 1981 by Midway Mfg., whose name was advertised as an acronym for "Galactic Orbiting Robot Force". It is a multiple-mission fixed shooter with five distinct modes of play, essentially making it five games in one...
. When he was in elementary school in 1985, Millikin began posting his unauthorized Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
parody comic Witches and Stitches on Compuserve
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
. Copies of Witches and Stitches are now hard to find because Millikin was threatened with a lawsuit over the comic.
Millikin attended art school at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
in their Honors College
Michigan State University Honors College
The Michigan State University Honors College was established in 1956 to provide more academic opportunities to students of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan for distinguished students and to emphasize academic challenge and achievement...
. He paid his way through school by working in MSU's human anatomy lab dissecting human cadavers.
Webcomics
Eric Millikin has published webcomics since the fall of 1995. In the fall of 2002, his comics were published as part of the online alternative comicsAlternative comics
Alternative comics defines 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 in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
anthology Serializer
Serializer
serializer.net is a website featuring many free and subscription-based alternative comics created especially for the web. It was launched in October 2002 by Publisher Joey Manley, Editor Tom Hart, and approximately 20 professional cartoonists...
and in October 2006 he became the editor of Serializer. Under Millikin's editorship Serializer has published his own comics as well as others like A Softer World
A Softer World
A Softer World is a thrice weekly webcomic by Canadians Joey Comeau and Emily Horne. It first came online on February 7, 2003. Early comics had been published, intermittently, in zine form. With the launch of the website, the comic has gained wider recognition, most notably when Warren Ellis...
, Idiot Box
Idiot Box (webcomic)
Idiot Box is a political webcomic by Matt Bors. It is currently syndicated by United Features Syndicate. It has 2 collected editions and appears in the webcomic anthology Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists.-Collected editions:...
, and Templar, Arizona
Templar, Arizona
Templar, Arizona is a webcomic written and drawn by Charlie "Spike" Trotman. It was named as by The Webcomics Examiner. Nominated for the 2006 Web Cartoonist's Choice Award in the categories Outstanding New Character Design, Outstanding Environment Design, Outstanding Character Writing,...
. The Sunday Times describes the work on serializer as "high-art", and the Sydney Morning Herald considers them to be the avant-garde.
Millikin has also been published by the webcomics sites Modern Tales
Modern Tales
Modern Tales is a webcomics site launched on March 2, 2002 by Joey Manley, the Modern Tales publisher, and approximately 30 professional cartoonists, such as Dorothy Gambrell, author of the popular webcomic Cat and Girl and James Kochalka, the award-winning creator of Fancy Froglin...
and Webcomics Nation
Webcomics Nation
Webcomics Nation is a webcomic hosting and automation service launched on July 29, 2005 by Joey Manley, publisher of the subscription webcomic site Modern Tales. It is a service designed for online cartoonists. Webcomics Nation is not a spinoff of Modern Tales like Graphic Smash, serializer, and...
. His comics are one of the all-time most popular on Webcomics Nation.
Millikin discussed his webcomics in the book Attitude 3: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists
Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists
The Attitude series of books is a series of anthologies of alternative comics, photos and artists' interviews edited by Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Ted Rall. The books were designed by J. P. Trostle, news editor of EditorialCartoonists.com. Two sequels and three spin-off titles...
, by syndicated newspaper editorial cartoonist Ted Rall
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cartoon conventions. The cartoons appear in approximately 100 newspapers around the United States...
. The Webcomics Examiner named Millikin's comics one of the best webcomics, the webcomics blog ComixTalk named it one of the 100 Greatest Webcomics of all time, and The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
s readers named it one of the top 10 finalists for Best Webcomic of the Past Decade in 2010. It has also been nominated for multiple Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards, including their top honor of "Outstanding Comic". Millikin has been a panelist and guest at webcomic conventions, including the inaugural New England Webcomics Weekend
New England Webcomics Weekend
The New England Webcomics Weekend was a webcomics convention first held March 20–22, 2009 in Easthampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was organized by webcomic artists, including Octopus Pie artist Meredith Gran. A second convention occurred November 6–7, 2010...
, the first convention organized by and focusing on webcomic creators.
Newspapers and magazines
By spring 2000 Millikin was working with artist Casey Sorrow and creating the comics for college newspapers like Michigan State UniversityMichigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
's The State News
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 $5 refundable tax that students pay at each semester's matriculation. Though The State News is supported by a student tax, the faculty and...
. Almost immediately there were problems with censorship, Catholic League protests, and threatened cancellation. After six months, The State News cancelled the comic strip despite support from some readers. Millikin's artwork continues to be published on the web and in many college newspapers, in alternative newspapers such as the Metro Times
Metro Times
The Metro Times is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. Supported entirely by advertising, it is distributed free of charge every Wednesday in newsstands in businesses and libraries around the city and suburbs...
, in major daily newspapers like The Detroit News
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 Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
and Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
, and in magazines like Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
. The Comics Journal
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...
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."
Art galleries
Millikin's artwork is often shown in galleries and museums. He is one of the artists in the "Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics" art exhibition which has travelled to the Krannert Art MuseumKrannert Art Museum
The Krannert Art Museum is a museum of art at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, USA. It is the second-largest museum in Illinois, with of space devoted to all periods of art, from ancient Egyptian to contemporary photography...
and The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar
The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar
The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar was a unique 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 the cultural anchor of the Belmar district, a mixed-use residential and...
., and in the "Monsters of Webcomics Virtual Gallery" at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum
Cartoon Art Museum
The Cartoon Art Museum 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...
. His artwork was included, along with Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
and HR Giger's, in the international horror art collection "DAMNED."
Activism
Millikin is known for his political and social activism, with his artwork often tackling controversial issues. During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, his comics championed Barack Obama and ridiculed John McCain. The Webcomics Examiner has called Millikin's work "one of the sharpest political commentaries available. In [the George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
] era where presidents are treated as messiahs, and questioning the fatherland’s foreign policies is socially unacceptable, Eric shows how necessary it is to yell at the top of your lungs about the madness of it all."
Millikin has also used his artwork to raise money for causes like helping Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
victims, fight diseases like muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...
, and grant wishes to terminally ill children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...
.
Critical reaction
Millikin's artwork has won many awards from organizations including the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, Society of Professional Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
, Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the quality of investigative reporting. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of...
and the Society for News Design
Society for News Design
The Society for News Design is an international organization for professionals working in the news sector of the media industry, specifically those involved with graphic design, illustration, web design and infographics....
. In 2009, his illustrations were part of the Detroit Free Presss Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning "A Mayor in Crisis" series, which used the secret text messages of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal
The Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal is a political-sex scandal emerging from a sexual relationship between Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff Christine Beatty. The revelation of this extra-marital affair was confirmed in text messages exchanged between Kilpatrick...
to reveal the mayor's perjury and obstruction of justice in a police whistle-blower trial. The series resulted in Mayor Kilpatrick being sent to jail.
His front-page artwork in the Detroit Free Press advocating for U.S. government loans as a solution to the automotive industry crisis of 2008–2009
Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2009
The automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010 was a part of a global financial downturn. The crisis affected European and Asian automobile manufacturers, but it was primarily felt in the American automobile manufacturing industry...
was described as a "gutsy move" that "stretch[es] the limits of the medium" and CNN's Kyra Phillips
Kyra Phillips
Kyra Phillips is an American news anchor. She is on the weekday edition of CNN Newsroom.-Early life and career:Phillips was born in North Carolina. She grew up in San Diego and graduated from Helix High School. She received her Bachelor's degree in journalism from University of Southern California...
described it as "full front page and in your face". 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'."
Millikin's October 2011 Wizard of Oz themed Detroit Free Press front-page "Lions, Tigers and Bears: Oh my!" illustration (about the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
, Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
and Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
) was praised by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Mike Tirico
Mike Tirico
Michael Todd Tirico is an announcer for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that...
during the the Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
half time show.
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
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
for what they call his "blasphemous treatment of Jesus". “This particular comic 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 has called Millikin a "borderline sociopath."
Monkey Day
In 2000, Eric Millikin and his frequent collaborator Casey Sorrow created the holiday Monkey DayMonkey Day
Monkey Day is a holiday celebrated internationally on December 14.Hallmark Cards describes it as the "one day when monkey business is actually encouraged." The holiday was started in 2000 by Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin, then artists of the popular comic Fetus-X, and first celebrated by Lansing...
(celebrated December 14) 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 costume parties.