Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521244
2 6 P E R S P E C T I V E | M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 4 Chris Kawagiwa Chris Kawagiwa is a SoCal native with experience in the entertainment field as an Illustrator, Graphic Designer, and storyboard artist. His work in the latter spans commercials, music videos and streaming, including Waffles + Mochi on Netflix. In the realm of key art and packaging design, he is a Clio Award-winning Illustrator for Deadpool 2: A (Not Suitable For) Children's Book, which was a dream project getting to use traditional watercolors for some favorite Marvel characters. As a freelance Art Director, he is part of Foundry LA, working on marketing art for titles with Paramount, Disney and others. His work in layout and book design includes Vox Machina Origins for Dark Horse Comics and The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049. Initially discovering an interest in storyboards while getting his illustration degree at Cal State Long Beach, he continues to be inspired by the teachers and talents he met there. As half of a husband-and-wife team-up, Chris also operates under the cuddly moniker of "Kit n' Rivet" exhibiting at events like WonderCon and Comic-Con. He enjoys seeing how these separate mediums of storytelling can influence and elevate each other and enjoys prop making in his free time. THE SUNLESS CIRCUS STARTED AS A SHORT CONTRIBUTION TO A COMICS ANTHOLOGY ABOUT A ROBOT BOY WHO DREAMS OF RUNNING AWAY FROM THE CIRCUS TO BECOME AN ACCOUNTANT. ENCOURAGED/COERCED INTO MAKING THE STORY BY FELLOW UNION MEMBER, RALPH MIRANDA, IT HAS SLOWLY EXPANDED OVER YEARS TO SEVERAL ISSUES OF GROWING LENGTH AND COMPLEXITY. THE PREMISE IS PART MYSTICAL PINOCCHIO STORY AND ALTERNATE HISTORY AMERICANA WITH A SPRINKLE OF SCI-FI ELEMENTS. THE STORIES OF CHARACTERS WORKING "BEHIND THE CURTAIN," THEIR ASPIRATIONS AND DREAMS, INTERWEAVING IN GRAND SCHEMES TO CREATE BELIEVABLE WORLDS OF MAGIC, ARE A CONSISTENT SOURCE OF INSPIRATION. Visit adg.org/perspective to view the comic panels in full screen.