Robert James Russell

Thrilled to have my comic “Soft Eyes” over at The Florida Review. This one’s all about the wisdom we can learn from animals and the special kind of love our pets give us.

Check out a page below. Click here to read the whole thing.

I have a comic “A Box of Space and Time” in the beautiful new issue of Quarter Press’ journal The Quater(ly) all about my love of movies as escapism from family trauma—featuring Hook, Goonies, Batteries Not Included, The Sandlot, and others.

Check out a preview of the comic below. You can pick up a copy of the issue here.

I have a new comic in Issue 14 of The New Territory. This is the first of my work on their series “Weird News” where I discuss interesting happenings in the lower Midwest. For my first installment, I told the story of the invention of sliced bread in the town of Chillicothe, Missouri.

Check out the comic below, and pick up a copy of Issue 14 here.

I’m thrilled to have my new comic “A Splendid Failure” featured in Collected Rejections‘ “On Rejection” series. This series features writers discussing painful rejections and what they learned from them; given the direction of my work these days, I opted to turn my interview into a comic where I discuss two failed novels and how this pushed me toward graphic memoir.

I have a snippet below, and you can read the full thing here. A big thanks to Valorie Clark for asking me to take part!

I am honored that my comic “Searching”—which first appeared in The Rumpus—was included in the fifth edition of From the Heartland, a textbook used by first-year writing students at the University of Nebraska – Omaha. It’s exciting to be a part of a curriculum and have my very own discussion questions!

If you missed it, check out the comic here.

I‘m thrilled to share that my cover art has been featured on the latest issue of Great Plains Quarterly! This is my first-ever cover & I’m incredibly grateful to the GPQ team for giving me this opportunity.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Great Plains region or just want to check out some stunning work, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the new issue. You can find it online at muse.jhu.edu/issue/50265, or through the University of Nebraska Press.

Honored to have a comic—my first in print!—in Issue 13 of The New Territory. I was asked to make a comic about a place in the Lower Midwest that speaks to me. I chose Toadstool Geological Park, way up in northwestern Nebraska, a place so full of wonder and awe.

(Info on Toadstool.)

Highly recommend picking up a copy of this gorgeous issue yourself.

Howdy, friend! I’m starting a monthly-ish newsletter: HOW TO DRAW _____. (w/ RJR)

Each newsletter will focus on a craft drawing essay and prompt—the first one will focus on DRAWING YOURSELF, the how and why of avatar creation, and what my process has looked like over the years. (Below, a sample of what my own avatars have looked like.)

I’ll also include news and updates, behind-the-scenes looks as I work on my graphic memoir HARD BODY, and other books/movies/music/things I’m currently obsessing over. I hope you’ll consider signing up!

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER HERE.

As I continue to search for meaning in my corporeal form, I’m elated and grateful to have this comic in The Offing about bodily reclamation through tattoos, their history, and how they can help us take back our narratives.

A huge thanks to the amazing Katrina Mohn for working with me on this and the following wonderful folks for allowing me to share their tattoo stories in this comic: Shannon Frost Greenstein, Will McMillan, Eric Boyd, Teo Shannon, Erin Fitzgerald, Sarah Sun, Lauren Opet Deutsche, and Killian Czuba.

Here’s a snippet. Read the whole thing here.

There are no words—although I’ll try—for this news. A dream’s dream’s dream. My graphic memoir HARD BODY will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2024. The book will trace how I’ve navigated body dysmorphia while navigating social expectations of what a body should look like and how that has affected my mental health over the years. I’m thrilled to be working with Yahdon Israel and cannot wait to bring this book to life.