Comic Artist Doin' It For Herself

Like many school-age children, Chicagoist was definitely one to doodle in our notes. We filled many a sketchbook, inviting our friends to even add their own stuff, which we have to remember to check up on, in case any of those drawrings are eBay-able these days. We even kept random notebooks just because we liked particular sketches, especially at the expense of first-period Econ. As years passed, our illustrative skillz fell by the wayside, which explains why fellow female Sarah Becan is so, so much better than we.

North Sider Becan impresses us with her lengthy résumé. She’s the author of several mini comics, printed in tiny books. She’s been interviewed by Gaper’s and has drawn for Chicago Metroblogs. Her website has full comics, comic samples, and several wonderful, Alphonse Mucha-esque illustrations. Like Mucha, Becan has also lent her talents to businesses, some local, some not-so. She even started a publishing company, Shortpants Press, with friend Jason Robards (no, not that Jason Robards).

Most recently, Becan was interviewed by CBS 2 as part of their coverage for Wizard World, a three-day comic convention taking place this weekend in Rosemont. With other feminine guests including a Playboy model and sundry Suicide Girls, it’s quite nice to see a woman with some actual writing and drawing talent under her belt. In fact, to bolster the female profile at Wizard World, this year they're devoting a section entirely to the ladies, including Corrine Mucha, Cathy Hannah (who's distributed through Shortpants Press), and Charlie "Spike" Trotman. Score!

Another tie-in of note: Nerds at Heart, the societal site for freaks ‘n’ geeks, will be representing as well. They’ve got a promotion going on where you can play games and mingle (but mostly play games) with other like-minded singletons on Thursday; admission to their shindig includes full access to Wizard World itself. Not a bad deal. Talk about knowing your audience…

Artwork used with permission from the author.