Illustrator Lust: Roman Dirge...

Roman Dirge is a comic artist and magician currently living in Los Angeles. Having been told by his tutors at Art School he'd never succeed because they thought his work was too dark and crude, Dirge because a magician until he felt confident to draw again.

His first comic was 'Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl'. I started reading this in my early teens and thought it was so bizarrely disturbing but it worked perfectly. The characters were as demented as the next and I loved the unconventional style of the drawing. 

(Example of some of the oddities found with Lenore)

 This was one of the first strips of Lenore I saw and I remember ranting over it for days! It really reminded me of some the the quirky slapstick comedy found in the old sitcoms that I love and I find it's really rare to find interesting jokes in American comics.

More examples of Lenore comic strips. Again, both show the twisted mannerisms of the Lenore character.

As the comics became more popular with a wider audience, Dirge spread out into animation. By taking some of his favourite story lines or some of the key ones in the series (like 'The Taxidermy' where you are introduced to a new character Mr. Taxidermy), Dirge was able to exhibit his work and wonderful mind to an even bigger audience.

L'il Ballerina- Episode 23

A quick other point to prove Lenore's success is the fact that the comic, animations and characters have been running for almost 18 years!