Carol Tyler, the acclaimed creator of the graphic trilogy You’ll Never Know, will speak at Johns Hopkins on Monday, April 16, about her 30-year sojourn in the world of comics, from her roots in the “underground” era to her recent series of family memoirs. The illustrated talk starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Arellano Theatre, Levering Hall, on the Homewood campus at 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. Admission is free and open to the public.
Throughout her career, Tyler’s work has always been honest, personal and idiosyncratic, in both style and subject matter. Her recent opus, You’ll Never Know, is a three-volume examination of her parents’ lives during World War II, and the collateral damage the war has continued to inflict on her family and herself. Tyler writes and draws with heart and with a sharp eye for details. Her style is full of textures and shadows; her books have the look and feel of old family albums. With You’ll Never Know, Tyler joins the ranks of distinguished graphic memoirists like Alison Bechdel (Fun Home) and Art Spiegelman (Maus).
Tyler’s work has appeared in Twisted Sisters, Weirdo, Wimmen’s Comix and LA Weekly, among many other publications. She has received numerous awards ranging from Last Gasp’s inaugural Dori Seda Memorial Award for Best New Female Cartoonist in 1988 to the Slate Book Review/Center for Cartoon Studies Cartoonist Studio Prize for her book Soldier’s Heart in 2016.
She has received numerous awards ranging from Last Gasp’s inaugural Dori Seda Memorial Award for Best New Female Cartoonist in 1988 to the Slate Book Review/Center for Cartoon Studies Cartoonist Studio Prize for her book Soldier’s Heart in 2016.
Her newest book, Fab4 Mania, subtitled “A Beatles Obsession and the Concert of a Lifetime,” will be published by Fantagraphics in June.
Tyler resides in Cincinnati where she teaches at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. She is also a Residency artist in the Arts Learning Program of the Ohio Arts Council.
Carol Tyler’s appearance is co-sponsored by the Center for Visual Arts and Homewood Arts Programs. Visitor parking on campus is available in the South Garage, 3101 Wyman Park Drive.
