Gigi Murakami
Mystery
My name is Gigi Murakami, I’m an award-winning manga artist & illustrator, and content creator at the intersection of horror media, Japanese manga and anime, and alternative and nerd culture. My work overall blends Japanese manga art, vintage grind house poster art, and pulp comic aesthetics, while thematically focusing on the dark, dramatic, fantastical, and often introspective.
Colloquially known as “Queen of Horror Manga,” I have a handful of both traditionally published and self-published works, but am most recognized for my supernatural horror manga, RESENTER, which had a one-shot published with Viz Manga.
I’m currently working as art lead and executive producer with the anime company, NLite, on their sophomore film “WEBE”, operating my membership program, Midnight Cult, online store, Gigimurakami.store, and creating content on my social media.
Some fun, notable achievements:
In 2025, I received the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Emerging Talent Award, presented by Bone creator Jeff Smith and partner Vijaya Iyer. I’ve also worked with numerous brands for social media campaigns, including VIZ, Kodansha, Wacom and more. Another cool thing was being able to be a judge for the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest and facilitate a giveaway between BHFF and Kodansha for lovers of both horror film and manga, like myself.
What was your favorite book as a child?
Probably Corduroy by Dan Freeman. It was actually quite scary for me as a child, but I loved it so much. I think Are You My Mother? by P.D.Eastman is the same for me as well.
What is your favorite food?
I really love Unagi Don–sweet eel over rice! I’m a sucker for fries as well!
Who or what inspires you the most?
I’m highly inspired by mangaka, such as Naoki Urasawa, Junji Ito, Katsuhiro Otomo, and Satoshi Kon. I find all of these creators to be fantastic. Their work has completely blown me away and has pushed me to create better stories.
Available for School Visits:
I’ve mostly been to Art Colleges. I went to the School of Visual Arts a few times, Parsons and the Queens Library. I’m always available to talk to schools and, especially, libraries–libraries were my sanctuary growing up.
Awards and honors:
SPX Ignatz Award 2024 (Nominee)
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Emerging Talent 2025
Harvey Awards 2025 (nominee)
ALA Outstanding Graphic Novel for Children Awards 2026 (Honor)
Creative Process:
My process for making manga / comics involves creating a short outline of the story. From that outline, I’ll use a Japanese writing structure called “Ki Sho Ten Ketsu” to organize the main beats of the story and thats about as much as I’ll do for the writing process. I have hyperphantasia (vivid mental imagery), so I want to get to the draw stage as quickly as possible so I don’t lose the scenes (and hype) that I created during the outlining stage.
Everything in this part of the process is done in Clip Studio Paint. Once the writing is done, I’ll create a few sketches of the main characters and get their designs settled before moving onto storyboarding. I create the dialogue, character blocking, panels, and panel composition all at the same time— just trying to transfer what’s in my head onto the storyboards. During this process, the whole comic is thumbnail size, but is large enough to cleanly add dialogue and everything else I need. Once I finish, I’ll screenshot each of the pages onto my large size, manga work file, and just trace over my initial sketches and finalize.
My process for illustration is roughly the same, minus the story outline.
What do you love to do for fun?
I enjoy watching movies, reading manga, gaming (although, I don’t have so much time to game these days), and traveling.
Location:
Brooklyn, NY
Published books:
The Sinister Sisters and Other Terrifying Tales – Are You Afraid of the Dark? Graphic Novel #2 (Abrams, 2024)
RESENTER (VIZ, 2024)
Hello Darkness #16 (Boom Studios, 2025)
RAZORBLADES (Tiny Onion, 2025)
Paroxysm Vol V (Mysto Press, 2025)
Forthcoming books:
Mediums:
I started my career primarily using traditional tools, but now use mostly digital tools, such as Clip Studio Paint with my 24-inch Wacom screen display for making manga and comics. For illustrations, I move between digital, watercolor, or Copic markers to get the job done.
Specialties:
Advertising, Black & white, Book Covers, Character design, Graphic novel interior art, Horror, Illustration, Inking, Manga, Middle Grade, Mystery, Packaging, Penciling, Sci-fi, Writing, Young Adult
Visit Gigi at:
Published Books
Dusty Higgins
Mystery
Dusty Higgins is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator who began his career working in newspapers as an editorial cartoonist, illustrator, and graphic designer. He’s worked in branding and marketing, as a professor of digital media, and as an animator/director (Star Forest). He fell in love with storytelling at an early age, drawing comics in elementary school, later writing and drawing three different comic strips four days a week for his college newspaper.
Higgins’ debut graphic novel, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, was a 2010 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens from the Young Adult Library Association. Higgins has a Masters of Fine Arts in Animation from Savannah College of Art and Design, although that’s not nearly as impressive as his homemade pizza, cultivated from years of practice. When he’s not creating or cooking, he enjoys spending time with his wife, two children, two dogs, and a Venus fly trap named Vinny.
What do you love to do for fun?
I grew up waterskiing on the lake with my dad, who did so with his dad, and I happily take my children to the lake to sling them across the water as I continue that tradition.
What cool travel spots would you most highly recommend?
The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong is a treasure I’m happy to have been able to visit. The stairway up the mountain to it is lined with a hundreds of uniquely posed golden Buddha statues, and it was an inspiring place to visit.
Available for School Visits:
I enjoy talking with kids and giving them a behind the curtain reveal of what professional artists do, talking about ideation and explaining how artists start with sketches to create a blueprint, and what that work goes through next. Basically explaining to them why that how to draw books starts with circles and squares to make a bear, and how even people like me still do that. I like to bring in examples of work that I’ve done to show how things get made and what they look like in early examples versus and then show them what the final product that they see actually looks like. I’ve done this both with graphic novels as well as animation. I like to end the presentations with a group exercise, usually letting the students help me ideate a character or a short four panel comic, depending on how much time we have.
Visit Dusty at:
Website: https://dustyhiggins.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dusty_higgins
Bluesky: @dustyhiggins.bsky.social
Creative Process:
I once had an older, and wiser, colleague who taught painting describe to me how they would teach students the process of painting using a projected image over time. They began by projecting the image completely out of focus, so that the students would only see blurry shapes. The initial paintings would be abstract forms. But every so often, this professor would tweak the focus, slowly bringing the image into a sharp perspective. Each time, the abstract forms would be rendered to a finer degree, before the students finished their painting. My approach to each project I work on is much the same. I work in digital media, traditional mediums, in motion and static, and even in writing. The method works for all of those mediums, and can even inform a different approach to the medium. Begin simple and broad, then I analyze, refine, and repeat until it’s done.
Awards and honors:
2010 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Young Adult Library Services Association
2015 Junior Library Guild Selection, Junior Library Guild
2017 Junior Library Guild Selection, Junior Library Guild
Specialties:
Action-adventure, Animals, Black & white, Board books, Book Covers, Branding, Character design, Coloring, Concept art, Editorial, Fantasy, Graphic novel interior art, Humor, Illustration, Indie comics, Inking, Lettering, Middle Grade, Mystery, Non-fiction, Penciling, Picture books, Sci-fi, Slice-of-life, Spot art, Storyboarding, Typography, Writing, Young Adult
Who or what inspires you the most?
Nature. One of my go-to things to do when I’m feeling uninspired is to grab some gouache and my art travel bag, and find a nice spot for some plein air painting.
Published books:
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer (SLG Publishing, 2009)
Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater (SLG Publishing, 2010)
Knights of the Living Dead (SLG Publishing 2011)
Turok, Son of Stone Volume 1: Aztlan (Dark Horse 2011)
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer Volume 3: Of Wood and Blood part 1 (SLG Publishing, 2012)
Pinocchio Vampire Slayer of Wood and Blood part 2 (SLG Publishing, 2012)
Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer: Complete Edition (Top Shelf Publishing, 2014)
Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape: Attack of the Alien Horde (Simon and Schuster, 2015)
Valkyrie Beer Delivery (Stela Publishing, 2017)
Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape: Rise of the Robot Army (Simon & Schuster, 2017)
Forthcoming books:
Location:
Bryant, AR
Mediums:
digital, ink, watercolor, gouache
Published Books
The Walsh Brothers
Mystery
The Walsh Brothers (Jim and John) are twins born in Cleveland and raised in the Sunshine State. They are nationally recognized child advocates and authors of The Ballad of Ronan, an urban fantasy comic published by Action Lab in 2020, and as a webcomic (The Stolen Child) in 2025. They are the creators of the Foster Children’s Project, a children’s law office in Palm Beach County, Florida that has been recognized by Congress with the Angels in Adoption award during the Obama administration; studied by the University of Chicago; named the best children’s office in the nation; and cited by the Federal Government when they decided to fund attorneys for children nationwide for the first time. They are founders of True North Child Advocates and co-hosts of the Children’s Law Podcast. Find out more about them at walshbrothersstudio.com.
What was your favorite book as a child?
The Lord of the Rings. One of the first books we read beyond comics. It’s the Beatles of fantasy fiction.
Who cool travel spots would you most highly recommend?
Ireland. It’s a quieter experience maybe than some places that would definitely be grander, like Paris or London. Dublin is a cool city but there are several places in Ireland where you can fly a falcon. It’s really not as expensive as it sounds and it is a once in a lifetime experience to have a falcon fly full speed towards you and land on your wrist. Few things can put you in touch with nature like that experience. Also, Ireland has the biggest scones you will ever find.
Creative Process:
We usually work in coffee shops. We talk out ideas and outline the plot. We usually go solo when we dialogue scenes and get back together and review what the other twin wrote.
Awards and honors:
Available for School Visits:
Location:
Delray Beach, FL
Specialties:
Published books:
The Stolen Child (Webtoon, 2025)
Forthcoming books:
Visit The Walsh Brothers at:
walshbrotherstudio.com
Instagram: the_walsh_brothers
Published Books
Royden Lepp
Mystery
Royden Lepp is a Canadian/American author and illustrator best known for his acclaimed graphic novel series Rust, which was optioned by 20th Century Fox. He is also the creator of the middle grade series Jurassic Jeff from Random House Graphic. With a professional background spanning video-game art direction, picture books, storyboarding, and concept art, Lepp’s work combines cinematic storytelling with a warm, character-driven visual style that has earned him Junior Librarian Guild Selections, Canadian Council of the Art grants, and a dedicated readership across age groups.
Royden lives in the Pacific Northwest of the US, where he continues to create new stories across books and visual media. Outside of his illustration and writing work, he enjoys photography and drone videography.
What was your favorite book as a child?
All of the Dr Seuss books were so wild and delightful when I was young. There were a few X-Men and Spiderman series that had a pretty big impact on my taste in sequential stories.
Who or what inspires you the most?
Music moves me the most. I create playlists for my projects that get me into the mindset, draw out the emotions I need to connect with the characters and ensure I strike the right tone. Sometimes it’s just one song that defines a whole book for me.
Mediums:
My primary medium is Digital.
Specialties:
Action-adventure, Animals, Board books, Book Covers, Character design, Concept art, Editorial, Fantasy, Graphic novel interior art, Humor, Illustration, Indie comics, Manga, Middle Grade, Mystery, Non-fiction, Penciling, Picture books, Sci-fi, Slice-of-life, Spot art, Storyboarding, Writing, Young Adult
Location:
Bothell, WA
Creative Process:
I have a lot of different approaches depending on the type of project, whether it’s writing or illustrating, but I always like to have something visual to go with my work. I like to work very loose and rough before finalizing. I like to create a clear and defined vision for a project so anyone involved can see where it’s going. I like creating something new and fresh but all of my work is inspired by my experiences in life. I work digitally almost exclusively for the sake of speed and efficiency.
Awards and honors:
Junior Librarians Guild Selections for each Jurassic Jeff Volume
Available for School Visits:
If Royden is scheduled to visit your school, you can expect him to address any grade from K-6 for 35-45 minutes talking about visual literacy, art as a career, visual storytelling, and the power of drawing. He will do live drawing on a tablet connected to a screen and engage in an interactive lesson on the key elements of storytelling. Facility and audio/visual requirements are a large TV or projector with an hdmi or usb-c port, and a microphone depending on audience size. Audience cap of 20 kids with one other adult present for crowd control, larger assemblies permitted with larger support. High school level portfolio reviews are also an option.
Published books:
David, Volume 1: Shepherd’s Song (Alias, 2006)
Barnabas Goes Swimming (Harper Collins, 2008)
Barnabas Helps a Friend (Harper Collins, 2008)
God Loves You, Barnabas (Harper Collins, 2008)
Happy Birthday, Barnabas (Harper Collins, 2008)
How to Draw Big Bad Bible Guys (Harper Collins, 2009)
How to Draw Big Bad Bible Beasts (Harper Collins, 2009)
Rust Vol. 1: Visitor in the Field (BOOM! Studios / Archaia, 2011)
Rust Vol. 2: Secrets of the Cell (BOOM! Studios / Archaia, 2012)
Rust Vol. 3: Death of the Rocket Boy (BOOM! Studios / Archaia, 2014)
Rust: The Boy Soldier (prequel) (Archaia, 2016)
Rust Vol. 4: Soul in the Machine (BOOM! Studios / Archaia, 2018)
Jurassic Jeff: Space Invader (Jurassic Jeff Book 1) (Random House Graphic, 2023)
Jurassic Jeff: Race to Warp Speed (Jurassic Jeff Book 2) (Random House Graphic, 2024)
Forthcoming books:
Jurassic Jeff: Phone Home (Jurassic Jeff Book 3) (Random House Graphic, 2026)
The Cedars (Random House Graphic, Fall 2027)
Visit Royden at:
Published Books
Sarah Cathcart Anderson
Mystery
Sarah Cathcart Anderson is an artist, writer and creative director living in the Pacific Northwest. She has spent many years collaborating with big and small brands, ad agencies and non-profits. Sarah is a graduate of Stanford University, with a theater major, and an alum and former instructor in the Art Center College of Design’s Advertising program. As an illustrator she works both digitally and in ink, pencil and watercolor, creating work that explores the magic and absurdity of the everyday world. When she’s not telling stories and making art, Sarah spends her time detangling her son’s wildly long hair, hanging with her dogs, and eating amazing food cooked by her husband, Food Network personality and Today Show regular Mark Anderson of The Grill Dads. Her family is thrilled she does so little cooking herself.
What was your favorite book as a child?
I loved so many! One of them was definitely Alexander and the Magic Mouse. The illustrations and characters were so vivid for me, and I loved the idea of being trapped in a rambling house reading sea stories and drinking tea with talking animals while a storm raged outside for 30 days and 30 nights. I still do.
Who or what inspires you the most?
My kiddo. He’s brilliant and wild and completely unique. He inspires me every day.
Mediums:
watercolor, ink, pencil, digital
Specialties:
Creative Process:
For me, everything starts with some kind of narrative spark: sometimes it begins with an image, sometimes with words, sometimes with an emotion or experience I’m trying to articulate. Then I grab whatever is nearest—scraps of paper, my notes app, an actual sketchbook (if I’m lucky)—and start scribbling. If I’m starting with words, my next step is to get to my computer and expand on the thought, trying to find the form in the narrative. If I’m starting with a visual, I draw some rough sketches on paper or on my tablet and get to know the new idea a bit. Either way, my next move is to really nail down the manuscript and then draw a loose storyboard so I can see how the story moves and breathes. Then I’ll play around with character design and choose a key moment to explore visually in more depth. I try obvious stuff, weird stuff, go down tangents, and then get to work drawing a more refined version on paper. I usually rough in with a light pencil, then come back with watercolor, then colored pencil, and then scan it into my tablet and noodle around with it in Procreate. At that point I’ll probably bounce back and forth between paper and tablet. Whether I’m writing or illustrating, a really important part of my creative process is to stop at different points and step away—when I come back with fresh eyes, I always find I bring something new to the work.
Location:
Boise, ID
Published books:
Forthcoming books:
Awards and honors:
Available for School Visits:
Visit Sarah at:
Tak Toyoshima
Mystery
Tak Toyoshima is the creator/illustrator of Secret Asian Man, a comic strip exploring race relations. It became the first nationally syndicated comic (United Features) with an Asian American lead. He is the art director for MICE (Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo) and teaches comics to middle schoolers on the weekends.
Tak has also won awards for cover design, layout, photo illustration, and info-graphics during his 10+ years as a creative director for Boston’s alternative newspaper The Weekly Dig. He advocated for the use of illustration for covers, working with hundreds of local renowned and up-and-coming artists such as Shepard Fairey, James Jean, and Peter Max, to name a few.
What was your favorite book as a child?
Dr. Slump (series) by Akira Toriyama. As a child I read a lot of comics, both American and Japanese manga. Dr. Slump stands out in my mind for so many reasons. It is hilarious, thoughtful, borderline inappropriate (without being raunchy), features extremely well-designed and interesting characters, but mostly I fell in love with the art style that seemed to flow effortlessly from childish simplicity to technically stunning detail.
Who or what inspires you the most, and why?
I love working with kids. Not necessarily teaching AT them, but learning WITH them.
On Saturdays I teach a comics class for middle school kids to help develop their skills in writing as well as drawing. Their stories always remind me of what is at the core of my love for comics: the challenge of transferring stories in my head to blank pages. It’s important for kids to learn how to communicate and to expose them to comics as a playground where they can develop these skills in an open and non-judgmental way.
Mediums:
pencils, pen and ink, digital, coffee
Specialties:
Action-adventure, Advertising, Animals, Black & white, Board books, Book Covers, Branding, Character design, Coloring, Concept art, Editorial, Fantasy, Graphic novel interior art, Humor, Illustration, Indie comics, Inking, Lettering, Manga, Middle Grade, Mystery, Non-fiction, Packaging, Penciling, Picture books, Sci-fi, Slice-of-life, Spot art, Storyboarding, Typography, Writing, Young Adult
Art Process:
For pure illustration work-for-hire, it’s all about the client. To me the challenge is in finding my voice in the assignment. Usually the end goal is relatively simple. “We need a beer label with these elements. Use green and red.” “We need a spot illustration about the slippery slope of A.I. art. But make it funny.” Countless illustrators and designers can accomplish these goals but what is it that only I can offer? That’s what keeps me up at night.
Now, not all projects are created equal and I am certainly guilty of being less invested in some than others (gotta pay that mortgage!). But at the end of the day if I am putting my name to something I want it to stand alongside the best work. And when it comes to longer-form work like comics series and graphic novels, there are no excuses.
Available for School Visits:
I am currently represented by the American Program Bureau for speaking engagements and have been traveling to present about my comics work since about 2015. Most of my presentations have been at universities (Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Georgetown, Baylor, UNLV, etc.) speaking on my journey in comics talking about Asian representation, the challenges of advocating for a minority voice, and the complexities of race relations in America.
I have presented to younger students as well, from grade school through high school, where I mostly speak of the experience of working in comics and the effort that comes with the “fun” of drawing pictures for a living. Many of these talks include hands-on workshops where kids join in and create comics.
I have also presented at professional conferences for teachers, discussing how comics can be used in school curriculum and how the art form is a powerful tool for students to use for self-expression and critical thinking.
Forthcoming books:
Published books:
The Daily Days (collection of 3 years of nationally syndicated daily comic strips distributed by United Features, 2nd printing 2023)
Make Good Choices (print and online choose-your-own-adventure style book revolving around controversial social justice topics such as abortion, police brutality, critical race theory, gun control, 2023)
Kwok (anti-Asian hate crime fundraiser for local elderly care organization in Boston’s Chinatown, 2021)
RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now (Mariner Books, 2022)
Enough About Me written by Richard Lui (Zondervan Books, 2021)
New Frontiers: the Many Worlds of George Takei (SI Universe Media, 2017)
Gwan Anthology (Forward Comix, 2016)
Artists Against Police Brutality (Rosarium Publishing, 2015)
Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction (Stone Bridge Press, 2012)
Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics (U. of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2008)
Secret Identities: the Asian American Superhero Anthology (The New Press, 2009)
East Main Street (New York University Press, 2005)
Attitude 2: the New Subversive Alternative Cartoonists (NBM, 2004)
Location:
Hanover, MA
Awards and honors:
Visit Tak at:
Published Books
