Richard Sala facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Richard Sala |
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| Born | June 2, 1954 Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Died | May 7, 2020 (aged 65) Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Illustrator |
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Notable works
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Invisible Hands The Chuckling Whatsit Evil Eye |
Richard Sala (born June 2, 1954 – died May 7, 2020) was an American cartoonist and illustrator. He was also a comic book creator. His art style was very unique and expressive. His books often mixed mystery, scary stories, and fun, whimsical ideas.
About Richard Sala
Richard Sala was born in Oakland, California in 1954. He grew up in West Chicago, Illinois. Later, he spent his teenage years in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Sala often talked about how his childhood shaped his work. He especially remembered visiting museums and antique shops. He said that reading, comic books, and horror films helped him face his fears.
He studied art in college. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Mills College. After college, he worked as a freelance illustrator. He had actually started illustrating while still in college. In 1984, he published his first comic book, called Night Drive.
From Art School to Comics
Night Drive was more like an art project than a typical comic book. But it opened many doors for Sala. It helped him rediscover his love for comics and monsters.
Important people in the comic world noticed his book. These included Art Spiegelman and Monte Beauchamp. They asked Sala to create more work. This led to his art appearing in two famous comic collections. These were Spiegelman's RAW and Beauchamp's BLAB!.
Colossal Pictures also hired Sala. They wanted him to animate a story from Night Drive. This story was called "Invisible Hands." Sala and director Denis Morella made it into a 12-minute cartoon. It was about a detective with psychic powers. There was also a mysterious criminal and a costume party. The story had Sala's funny and slightly spooky style.
"Invisible Hands" was divided into short chapters. This way, it could be shown like a TV series. It first appeared on MTV's Liquid Television show. This show also launched other famous cartoons. These included Beavis and Butthead and Æon Flux.
Sala's Creative Works
Richard Sala continued to be a very busy illustrator and comic book artist. Two of his books, The Chuckling Whatsit and Mad Night, started as serials. This means they were released in parts over time.
These books are exciting thrillers with complicated plots. They also have a lot of dark humor. The Chuckling Whatsit first appeared in the Zero Zero comic collection. Mad Night stars a girl detective named Judy Drood. It was first published in Sala's comic book series Evil Eye. This series had 12 issues and was published by Fantagraphics Books. Evil Eye ran from 1998 to 2001.
Sala also worked with other famous creators. He collaborated with Lemony Snicket and Steve Niles. He also worked with the music group The Residents. He illustrated a script by Jack Kerouac called Doctor Sax and The Great World Snake. This script, like Sala's own work, used ideas from old adventure stories. It featured things like vampires and mysterious heroes.
In 2014, Sala started a webcomic called Super-Enigmatix. It followed an investigation into a scary super-criminal. In 2016, he began another webcomic, The Bloody Cardinal. This one was also about a mysterious super-criminal. The Bloody Cardinal was later published as a physical book in 2017.
Later Years
Richard Sala passed away on May 7, 2020. He was 65 years old and died from a heart attack.
