Name: Russell Liang (Yingcong Liang)

Course: EDUC 636-001

Instructor: Latrice Ferguson
Semester: 2022 Spring

Illustrator Study: P. Craig Russell

How does P. Craig Russell create space for queer adolescents in the graphic novel?

Introduction：

P. Craig Russell is a Harvey and Eisner award-winning comics writer, artist, and illustrator. He

began his career in the '70s and was one of the first openly gay mainstream comic artists. Born

on October 30, 1951, Russell made a name for himself on Marvel Comics' Killraven and Doctor

Strange in the 1970s. Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that “McGregor’s finest artistic

collaborator on the series was P. Craig Russell, whose sensitive, elaborate artwork, evocative of

Art Nouveau illustration, gave the landscape of Killraven's America a nostalgic, pastoral feel,

and the Martian architecture the look of futuristic castles.” (Sanderson, 1998)

He made a name for himself in superhero comics but chose to stay on the fringes of commercial

comics. In the early 1980s, he adapted works such as Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone for

Pacific Comics. By 1984, Russell had started Night Music, Russell's irregular anthology of

stories inspired by opera from Eclipse, which was also nominated annually for awards. In the

anthology, he began adaptations of well-known operas such as "The King's Ankus," based on

Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Also, the series included "Salome" adapted from Oscar Wilde's

play of the same name which was the basis for Richard Strauss's opera, and a four-part

adaptation of The Magic Flute, taken from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera.

After his success, he chose to stay on the fringes and do what he loves. He went on to work on

adaptations of the Oscar Wilde fairy tale series and returned to Elric in 1997 to collaborate with

Michael Moorcock on Elric: Stormbringer, co-published by Dark Horse Comics and Topps

Comics. Additionally, he started a partnership with Neil Gaiman. He adapted some of the

author's prose stories into comics. Such as "Sandman: Ramadan", Murder Mysteries, Coraline,

American Gods, and so on. During his half-century career, Russell has worked on the fringes of

the comics mainstream, but his technical prowess and unique aesthetics have allowed him to

retain his artistic credibility, keep raising his profile, and let the mainstream slowly and gradually

shape itself around him.

One of the characteristics of Russell's painting style is the combination of realistic style and

cartoon style: The first time this style was seen in his work was for the story of Cyrano de

Bergerac. By combining realistic characters with cartoonish characters, his work allows readers

to gain insight into characters and backgrounds. For example, in the Batman story, the

Greenhouse, Batman, Poison Ivy, and other protagonists are very realistic, while the crowd is

drawn in a cartoon style. By using the background characters in a cartoon style, he enhances the

reader's sense of identification. In Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, this approach is used more

successfully than in Batman stories because of the fantasy element. In The Birthday of Infanta,

for example, nothing is drawn realistic except for some background. All of the characters are

very animated, which blurs the line between the core concept of "beauty" and "ugly" and also

highlights the dramatic elements of the story. In "The Young King," he drew the protagonist very

realistically, and the others were a bit cartoony. In this way, he brings the characters to life in a

beautifully realistic way that fits better with Wilde's description of him. Furthermore, Russell's

work is full of beauty. He is good at using brilliant colors. In addition, Russell is also known for

drawing the most beautiful men in comics, and he believes that there is a homosexual element in

the concentration of male beauty.

In addition, Russell is also a pioneer in the use of comics to give voice to marginalized groups.

Russell made the first interracial kiss in the Killraven comics back in the 1970s. And in P. Craig

Russell and David Sexton, two openly gay and fairly big creators in the comic industry, co-create

the most delightfully sacrilegious comic in Taboo #8. In the story, Jesus Christ and Lucifer have

a philosophical debate. And the discussion leads them to understand that they have a lot in

common. And then they kiss. And this article is to discuss Russell's use of graphic novels to

create space for queers.

Creating Space Through Images

In Russell's works, he uses comic images to create space for queers in literature. He uses images

to help readers build a deeper understanding of the text by making it easy to understand and

convey information in comics, easily overlooked by using images as suitable information

carriers. In Russell's adaptation of the literary work, visualization suggests the possibility of the

existence of queer elements in the story and creates

space for queer. Usually, in a text-only story, the

author's description of the characters cannot be all-

encompassing, so when only the descriptions in the

text can be read, each person's interpretation and

understanding of the characters are different.

However, Russell takes advantage of the graphic

narrative to create a fuller image of the characters,

guide the readers' understanding, and complement

their imagination. This provides another possibility

for the reader's interpretation - related to queer. In addition, the narrative usually revolves around

the main plot, thus creating a lack of understanding of the surrounding environment or the

subplots. Thus, for the narrative in Russell's adaptation, he combines images with text to present

a complete scene to the reader.

First, Russell uses character appearance or setting to use images to create space for queers in

literature. For example, in Happy Prince, usually, the reader is prone to consider the protagonist

Prince and Swallow as the friendship of friends. Nevertheless, in Russell's adaptation, he shows

the affection between the two males as the emotion of lovers. The swallow is dying when the

snow comes because it cannot bear the cold. Before dying, after the swallow asks to kiss the

hand of the happy prince, who says he must kiss his lips, the text describes the happy prince as

follows: At that moment, a curious crack sounded inside the statue. The Fact is that the leaden

heart had snapped right into two. Russell depicts the Happy Prince's heart in the shape of a ❤

rather than a physical heart. This also hints at the relationship between the two in love. In

addition, various flowers are blooming in heaven in the scene where both finally live in heaven.

Moreover, historian Sarah Prager, author of "Rainbow Revolutionaries," says flowers have been

part of the LBGTQ+ community's coded language for centuries (Brooke, 2020). And such scenes

hint at the possibility of both queer identities. Such techniques are also reflected in Coraline. In

reading the novel, readers are often confused by the lesbian couples, Miss Spink and Miss

Forcible. They are a pair of retired actresses who live in Coraline's apartment. They own many

aging dogs, such as Scotties, Hamish, Angus, and Jock, and the two talk in theatrical terms.

Some readers think they are sisters or best friends who live together because they cannot find

true love. Furthermore, Russell's portrayal better conveyed that the two are lesbian couples. For

example, in the design of their appearance, their appearance, height, and hair color are very

different, so when readers see the two images, they will eliminate the possibility that they are

sisters. In addition, the props used in their stage performance are the pink and purple colors on

the pride flag, further suggesting their identity. The story is about angel Raguel being called upon

to solve a mystery in the Silver City-an angel has been murdered, and he has to find the killer.

The story is about angel Raguel being called upon to solve a mystery in the Silver City-an angel

who has been murdered has to find the killer. In this story, the angels are referred to as he, and

the angels' appearance is visualized as male. Moreover, in the storyline, there is a drama of two

angels falling in love, and there are also images of two angels performing intimate acts.

Furthermore, this expands the reader's imagination when reading literature.

Second, Russell's use of visualization to embody the plausibility of queer elements creates space

for queer in literature. In his comics, Russell emphasizes the normality, the universality of queer

or its characters through the portrayal of characters

or their behavior. Creating space for queer identity

and intimate behavior between people of the same

sex. For example, in Murder Mystery, Raguel, the

avenging angel, eventually discovers the murderer

and sanctions the murderer according to God's will.

However, the image of the sanction is the avenging

angel kissing another angel. Moreover, both angels

have male characteristics. In addition, by drawing

the queer passerby, Russell normalizes the existence of the queer and creates space for the queer.

For example, in Sandman: Death and Venice and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayers-

Presumption, some passersby can be interpreted as queer. Moreover, a pair of men wearing the

same red and black stripes but with different facial features appear. This allows the reader to

default to the appearance of queer characters. Also, in Sandman #50 Ramadan, the king's harem

is depicted with women and a large number of beautiful men. Furthermore, in Clive Barkers Age

of Desires, the protagonist becomes a monster full of sexual desire because he was subjected to

scientific experiments. And after his seizure went to look for a prostitute for sex, and in the

process, he had an accident. When the pimples come to retaliate, the pimpers acquiesce to same-

sex sex, and the painting puts the central conflict on the two parties arguing. These narratives

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make the acquiescence of queer identity and same-sex intimacy reasonable and universal and

bring more understanding and imagination to readers.

Using Images to Provide a Happier Ending for Queer

Reading queer stories for too long has usually meant seeing essentially only stories of loss,

rejection, devastating loneliness, and sad, despairing themes. Alternatively, seeing happiness

only in a limited context (Proctor,

2020). Such a narrative thus

limits queer's imagination of life

and, in reality, their existence.

However, Russell uses comic

images to give the story new

imaginary boundaries. His

depiction of the Happy Prince and

Swallow's ending in The Happy

Prince brings queer an image that

transcends textual description and breaks the boundaries of people's imagination. At the story's

ending, the prince and the swallow are taken into heaven by an angel. In the original text, the

ending is described as: For in my garden of paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and

in my city of gold the happy prince shall praise me. In Russell's adaptation, the scene is

expanded into a more beautiful, harmonious one. The scene has a golden city and gorgeous

 colors for the ending of the queer community to bring beautiful, happy elements to enhance the

reader's impression of the happy ending of homosexuality. The lush woods, blooming flowers,

and a few flying birds bring life to the scene, symbolizing a very different idea from the current

dominant norm of the devastating and desperate end of homosexuality. By transcending textual

depictions, Russell brings a happier ending to homosexuals, challenging the norms of the

moment.

In addition, the contrast between the scenes in Heaven and on earth shows the potential and

possibility of creating a world that is more inclusive of the gay community. It also conveys that

"this world is not enough." For example, in contrast between the scenes in the city and on earth,

the prince and the swallow's conversation is usually at night, the dark scene. Besides, the

conversation between prince and swallow is secret, just as queer often needs to hide their identity

and relationship. On the one hand, Heaven is bright, and the interaction between the two is open.

Besides, the cold and snow on earth also led to both tragedy, while in Heaven, the environment is

sunny and bright. On the other hand, there is the appearance of the same flower on earth and in

Heaven; while on earth, this flower is withered, it is in full bloom. These scenes indicate that our

current world is too much suffering for LGBTQ+ groups, and such a world is not enough for

them but for all of us to have a better and more inclusive world. In a new world, every living

being can live more freely and get a better ending.

In addition, the narrative of gay unhappy endings contributes to the paucity of imagination in

literary production. Writing a "happy ending" was unthinkable, and the authors did not even

 consider it. In so-called realist depictions of gay life, persisted unhappy endings. Moreover,

realism brings authenticity to the fact of death and the description. Thus, this gay man's story

poses a dilemma: writing a gay happy ending can hardly feel natural to the reader or even to the

author. The challenge of writing a gay story is not writing gay history but crafting a

representation that does not "feel false" (Coleman, 2021). Furthermore, Russell mitigates this

problem by using images in his painting of the Happy Prince. By portraying the paradise where

the prince and the swallow are ending, he creates a sense of utopia. By making fantasy scenes,

readers are less likely to question the reality of the ending between the queers and are offered a

possibility of the future. In this world, queers will be eternally happy or at least have that

possibility.

 References

Coleman, J. J. (2021). Restorying with the ancestors: Restorying With the Ancestors: Historically

Rooted Speculative Composing Practices and Alternative Rhetorics of Queer Futurity.

Written Communication, 38(4), 512-543. https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883211028230

Proctor, C. (2020, July 1). A New Hope: The Rise of Soft, Queer Graphic Novels. Booklist,

116(21), S18. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A632532987/BIC?

u=upenn_main&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=be40bc49

Six owers that de ne LGBTQ+ movement in history. (2020, June 23). Flower Power. https://

owerpowerdaily.com/six- owers-that-de ne-lgbtq-movement-in-history/

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