Brian Bram (born May 9, 1955, in Chicago), raised in Deerfield, Illinois, played a minor role in the underground comix movement with his contributions to American Splendor, the comic book series written and published by Harvey Pekar and, more recently, with his work with author Jonathan Baylis on his autobiographical comic series, So...Buttons.[1]
Biography
editBram's first paid illustration job was a logo for a local rock band. At 17 he began contributing to Triad, a Chicago-based alternative magazine that published work by Skip Williamson and others. At 18 Bram served briefly as art director for the magazine.
Bram moved to Cleveland in 1975 to major in design and illustration at the Cleveland Institute of Art. According to the Comiclopedia,[2] underground cartoonist Jay Lynch introduced him to Pekar who hired him to illustrate stories in the first issue of American Splendor.
Bram contributed to the first two issues of American Splendor, along with artists Gary Dumm, Greg Budgett, and Robert Crumb. He provided the art for "Remembering Be-Ins" in American Splendor #1 (1976) and "Rollins on Mars," "May 4–5, 1970," and "Zoology" in American Splendor #2 (1977).[3] In 1980 he moved to Rochester, New York, to study film and animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 1983 Bram produced and hosted[4] an all-night movie program (All Night Live) on WUHF (Channel 31; then an independent station; now part of the Fox network). In addition to movies, the program was a forum for local bands including Personal Effects, The Degrads, and Cousin Al and the Relatives.
Since 1987 Bram has been living in Boston, Massachusetts and working as a creative director in the interactive industry.
In 2023, Bram was invited by Jonathan Baylis, author of the independent comic book series, "So...Buttons," to participate in issue #13[5] of that series along with other American Splendor alumni Gary Dumm, Michael T. Gilbert, Dean Haspiel, and Joe Zabel.
Further reading
edit- Comic Books as History, Joseph Witek, 1989, University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 0-8780-5405-7
- Diners of New England, Randy Garbin, 2005, Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-3141-3
- R. Crumb Checklist, Don Fiene, 1981, Bookpeople. ISBN 0-9606-6541-2
- The Catalog of Cool, Gene Sculatti. 1982, Warner Books. ISBN 0-4463-7515-2
References
edit- ^ "So...Buttons #13 artist list". So Buttons. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ^ "Brian Bram". lambiek.net. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
- ^ Bram, Brian. "Brian Bram at the Comic Book DB". Comic Book DB. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- ^ jcepillow (2006-10-24), Degrads "I Saw Bobbie Sobbing in the Lobby", retrieved 2019-03-07
- ^ "So...Buttons #13 artist list". So Buttons. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
External links
edit- "Brian Bram". Comiclopedia. Lambiek.
- Triad Radio air check, 1972
- Complete list of Harvey Pekar's artists
- Bram at Linked In
- Bram interviewing Rochester band The Degrads on his TV show, WUHF-TV31, Rochester, NY 1983 on YouTube
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