Lee Marrs
Encyclopedia
Lee Marrs is an American comic book
writer, animator
, and one of the first women underground comix
creators. She is best known for her comic book series, The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, which lasted from 1973 to 1978.
s in place of heterosexual figures, as in feature strips in the long-running Gay Comix
.
As one of Mike Friedrich
’s Star*Reach regulars, she expanded her writing and art style to include serious fantasy fiction in Stark’s Quest (1977-79), a study of ESP, politics, and social engineering. From this body of work, "Waters of Requital" (1977) is especially powerful. She created short futuristic graphic tales for Heavy Metal
magazine, Epic Illustrated
and Imagine
magazine.
editor Joe Orlando
by Tex Blaisdell
, an artist she had worked for on Prince Valiant
and Little Orphan Annie
. After a start with DC’s Plop!
, Weird Mystery Tales
, and House of Secrets, she created "Crazy Lady" (1975), a series about growing up female, for Marvel Comics
’ Crazy
magazine. Most of her mainstream comics work, though, was as a writer, in Wonder Woman
Annual 1989, Viking Glory: the Viking Prince (1991), and Zatanna
: Come Together (1993).
She also wrote Dark Horse Comics
’ series Indiana Jones
and the Arms of Gold (1994) and Indiana Jones
and the Iron Phoenix (1995), stories drawn by Leo Duranona. For Blackthorne Publishing
, she created Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
parody.
director. An Emmy Award-winning art director, she has run Lee Marrs Artwork, a digital design and animation company for many years. She worked in 2D digital animation in the early 1980s, Her clients have included Disney/ABC, Apple Computer, IBM, Time Warner Inc., Children's Television Workshop, Nickelodeon, Electronic Arts, and MTV.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer, animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
, and one of the first women underground comix
Underground comix
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books which are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality and violence...
creators. She is best known for her comic book series, The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, which lasted from 1973 to 1978.
Underground comics
Marrs was a frequent contributor to underground comics and one of the “founding mommies” of the Wimmen’s Comix collective. She provided stories for Wet Satin, Manhunt, El Perfecto, and Gates of Heaven. Her parodies often substituted lesbianLesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s in place of heterosexual figures, as in feature strips in the long-running Gay Comix
Gay Comix
Gay Comix was an underground comics series published from 1980–1998. Created by Howard Cruse, Gay Comix featured the work of gay, lesbian, and transsexual artists. Much of the early content was autobiographical, but more diverse themes were explored in later editions...
.
As one of Mike Friedrich
Mike Friedrich
Mike Friedrich is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series Star*Reach, one of the first independent comics...
’s Star*Reach regulars, she expanded her writing and art style to include serious fantasy fiction in Stark’s Quest (1977-79), a study of ESP, politics, and social engineering. From this body of work, "Waters of Requital" (1977) is especially powerful. She created short futuristic graphic tales for Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal (magazine)
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...
magazine, Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. The series lasted for 34 issues, from Spring 1980 to February 1986....
and Imagine
Imagine (AD&D magazine)
Imagine Magazine was a monthly magazine dedicated to the first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and Dungeons and Dragons role playing game systems published by TSR UK Limited.-History:Imagine was published between April 1983 and October 1985...
magazine.
Mainstream comics
Marrs had a mainstream comics career at the same time, one of the few comic book creators to do so. She was introduced to the DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
editor Joe Orlando
Joe Orlando
Joseph Orlando was a prolific illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades...
by Tex Blaisdell
Tex Blaisdell
Philip Eustice Blaisdell , better known as Tex Blaisdell, was an American comic strip artist and comic book editor...
, an artist she had worked for on Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
and Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
. After a start with DC’s Plop!
Plop!
Plop!, "The New Magazine of Weird Humor!", was a comic book anthology published by DC Comics in the mid 1970s. It falls into the horror / humor genre. There were 24 issues in all and the series ran from Sept./Oct. 1973 to Nov./Dec. 1976.-Contents:...
, Weird Mystery Tales
Weird Mystery Tales
Weird Mystery Tales was a mystery anthology from DC Comics, which ran from July/Aug. 1972-November 1975. Like its sister books House of Mystery and The Witching Hour, it was known for its "monstrous stories" with shock endings....
, and House of Secrets, she created "Crazy Lady" (1975), a series about growing up female, for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
’ Crazy
Crazy (magazine)
Crazy Magazine was an illustrated satire and humor magazine, and was published by Marvel Comics from 1973 to 1983 for a total of 94 regular issues...
magazine. Most of her mainstream comics work, though, was as a writer, in Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
Annual 1989, Viking Glory: the Viking Prince (1991), and Zatanna
Zatanna
Zatanna Zatara is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman vol. 1 #4...
: Come Together (1993).
She also wrote Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
’ series Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones comic books
The Indiana Jones franchise has produced a large number of comic books. Marvel Comics initially owned the rights before passing them to Dark Horse Comics in 1990...
and the Arms of Gold (1994) and Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones comic books
The Indiana Jones franchise has produced a large number of comic books. Marvel Comics initially owned the rights before passing them to Dark Horse Comics in 1990...
and the Iron Phoenix (1995), stories drawn by Leo Duranona. For Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing, Inc. was a comic book publisher that flourished from 1986-1989. They were notable for the Blackthorne 3-D Series, their reprint titles of classic comic strips like Dick Tracy, and their licensed products...
, she created Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
parody.
Animation
Marrs has had another career, that of an animationAnimation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
director. An Emmy Award-winning art director, she has run Lee Marrs Artwork, a digital design and animation company for many years. She worked in 2D digital animation in the early 1980s, Her clients have included Disney/ABC, Apple Computer, IBM, Time Warner Inc., Children's Television Workshop, Nickelodeon, Electronic Arts, and MTV.