Kristin Hogan Illustrates 'Hell's Alphabet Coloring Book'
By Wayne Alan Brenner, June 5, 2013, 10:30am, Under the Covers
It'd be either prescient or jumping-the-gun to say that the Austin-based artist is "in talks with Peter Beagle's people" following the recent screening of The Last Unicorn at the Alamo Drafthouse.
Yes, and we're dealing with fact-based journalism here, so mum's the further word on that until something definite happens in the world of plush toys and media crossovers and such. Otherwise, we might wind up in some sort of Reporters' Hell – and we wouldn't want that, would we?
Actually, looking at the illustrations that Kristin Hogan has rendered for another project, for the Hell's Alphabet Coloring Book that she created with writer Jason Murphy, we might not mind Hell so much: Some of these devilish dudes look like they'd be fun to party with.
Example #1: B is for Baphomet: "The Mistress of Blood. She is often confused with the big guy, Satan, but her rack is much better than his. Baphomet is the queen of STDs. Herpes is her favorite."
Example #2: U is for Ukobach: "The inventor of fireworks. He's an inferior demon who keeps the boiler of Hell burning. He's kind of a bitch and never takes off his Bluetooth earpiece."
Example #3: G is for Glasya Labolas: "The President of Hell. He commands 36 legions of demons and is the Captain of Bloodshed. Fuck yeah. He loves the comedy of Dane Cook."
And so on, from A to Z in proper sequence in the book, of course. With the illustrations a lot more detailed than the typical kiddie-coloring-book fare, but still a very tempting array for your favorite crayons or colored pencils.
Or just for your diabolical reading delight.
Hogan – perhaps best known for 1) the plush squids, chambered nautili, and other toy cephalopods she crafts from fine fabrics and 2) her long-running comic strip Dead Squirrel Girl – was recently featured in the "Grayduck 5K" exhibition at Austin's grayDUCK Gallery. When she's got another public show coming up, we're not sure at this point … but we figured we could point to this coloring book of hers and Murphy's as a worthy repository of her cartooning art, and as just the sort of thing you might use (with a box of sharp Crayolas) to while away a rainy afternoon at home. That is, if you don't mind getting up-close and snarkily personal with 26 different creatures of pure, hellspawned evil …
Or, at least, the totes adorbs drawings of same.
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