Gloucester native Tony Millionaire is one of my favorite cartoonists. His work is troubled, archaic and troubling, yet filtered through an innocent lens of AA Milne. He's also one of the only cartoonists that I know of who is a fellow student of Mass Art. His work is so varied in tone that it is staggering. Sock Monkey remains safe and fanciful, the adventures of a fluff-filled plush animal in a world of excitement and fantasy. On the flipside, Maakies is the lewdest cartoon strip that I have ever read.

Filled with characters drinking themselves into a stupor and blowing their brains out, Maakies can be summed up by a single strip in which a character spontaneous hollers at the 'horror of being alive.'

Millionaire's line work is staggering and his ability to recreate scenes from Gloucester is awe-inspiring. Starting as an artist who drew pen and ink vintage houses for a living, he has graduated to a cult icon of the comic book world. What makes Tony Millionaire even more appealing to me is his love of actual superhero comic book characters, such as his stunning Batman story (sample below).

Tony Millionaire's Batman

Today, Millionaire is revered in the pop culture world, his Drinky Crow is a cartoon series for Adult Swim. Plastic replicas of his characters can be purchased in shops or an appropriate shot glass bearing Drinky Crow image. I placed a Sock Monkey doll in my son's room and he adores it. There has seldom been an artist with broader appeal.

Just recently, Tony Millionaire was interviewed on his career and his love of the accordion.

RE: WTF w/Marc Maron:

Cartoonist Tony Millionaire stops by the garage, six-pack in hand, to explain the origins of Drinky Crow, Maakies and his other popular comics. He also talks with Marc about punchlines, swingers and having kids in his 50s. This episode is sponsored by the interactive book The World I Exposed by Dustin F. Griffin, exclusively for iPad, and by Adam and Eve.

Listen to the interview here (with an excessive amount of potty language from Marc Maron)

.... The actual interview occurs about 13 minutes in.
For your daily dose of Tony Millionaire, check out his site: http://www.maakies.com
(Thanks to Greg Moutafis for the tip)

Recommended:

500 Portraits

Drinky Crow's Maakies Treasury

The Art of Tony Millionaire

Tony Millionaires Sock Monkey: Uncle Gabby

Sock Monkey: A Children's Book