Mario Gully

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Mario Gully
BornAnderson, Indiana, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Penciller, Artist, Inker, Editor, Publisher
Pseudonym(s)O.M.G.
Notable works
Ant
http://www.myspace.com/mariogully

Mario Gully (/ˈɡʌli/), also known professionally as O.M.G., is an American comic book writer-artist, who created the comic book series Ant.

Ant was first picked up by Arcana Studio[1] and later moved to Image Comics where it would deal with more adult themes. The comic book would move again to Big City Comics where three further issues were published. Gully later moved from the independent pool of comics to go on and draw for Marvel Comics from 2007 to 2009. In the 2010s, he reverted to freelancing.[2]

Work[edit]

Ant (2004–2007)[edit]

Ant is a comic book series that was created by Mario Gully. Ant is a story about a girl who understands the adult world faster than other kids. When she gets bullied by her schoolmates, she decides to create an imaginary world on drawing paper and create a superhero, the Ant. According to Gully,

I invented Ant in jail in 1996. I was convicted of robbery and sentenced to one year and probation. The event was a turning point in my life. I used to draw portraits and hot chicks on envelopes for commissary. One day around day #6 of 358, I was depressed about where my choices in life put me. I was looking out the barred window and a single ant crawled in from the outside of my window seal. I said to myself 'Man, I wish I were an ant! Then I could crawl right out of this place and start my life all over!' Well, I couldn't pull that one off, so I decided to make a homemade comic book about it. It got around and I had a little audience with my cellmates. Really built up my confidence about drawing. That's when I realized that one day I could be a comic book artist. I sent out my first submission from the county jail. I hope one day my story can be an inspiration to anybody out there who has a dream.[1]

After prison, he studied by himself and worked with co-writer Matt Nixon for the Ant comic series. Gully successfully published Ant through Arcana Studio. Ant featured variant covers by J. Scott Campbell and Joe Benitez. After the success, Ant was moved into Image Comics.[1]

Gully had a problem with inappropriate content in issue #8 of Ant. Issue #8 contains profanity and nudity that made people upset. Gully responded that he was trying to introduce rough characters, but he went further than he expected to. Because of that, he decided to go through the issues and edit some of the problems. Also, Gully would make sure that the problem would not happen again in the future.[3]

While he was in Image Comics, the company announced that Ant had been canceled because of the mutual painting style. Mario had no choice but to move to another publisher, Big City Comics. After the move, he published Ant new series, Ant: Unleashed and worked on Marvel's projects.[1]

In 2012, Mario sold his character Ant to Savage Dragon creator and Image comics founder Erik Larsen. Mario's final Ant cover appeared on a variant cover for Ant vol. 4 #12, which was published on June 9, 2021.

Treasure Island (2007–2008)[edit]

Gully drawn Marvel Illustrated: Treasure Island adapted by writer Roy Thomas.[4]

Kidnapped (2009)[edit]

Gully teamed up with Roy Thomas again, and published a new comic book called Marvel Illustrated: Kidnapped. Kidnapped is a 19th-century adventure novel that Thomas brought into a comic book series.[5]

Freelancing (2010s)[edit]

Dirty Bones (2014)
Gully launched a new comic book series on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site. The new comic book, Dirty Bones, was written and illustrated by Gully and colored by Thomas Mason. The story is about a dog who is caught up in the world of organized crime and forbidden love. Gully's crowdfund goal had aimed at $50,000. He said "This is my first big project since I created Ant." However, the funding failed with $17,532 and 145 backers.[6]

Original Mario Gully's very first Sketchbook (2017)
Gully's project, Original Mario Gully's very first Sketchbook, was successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding site. Gully, his agent, and Thomas Riviere launched this project after many requests from people. The crowdfunding project includes commissions and signed prints; it is Gully's first book that contains sketch drawings. For this funding goal, he aimed at $3,000 and it was successful with $5,002 and 152 backers.[7]

Bibliography[edit]

Comics work includes:

  • Ant #1–4 (script and art, Arcana Studio, February–October 2004)
  • Ant #1–7 (script and art, Image Comics, August 2005 – June 2006, tpb Ant: Reality Bites collects Ant #1–4, 120 pages, April 2006, ISBN 1-58240-580-8)
  • Ant: Unleashed #1–6 (script and art, Big City Comics, December 2007 – May 2008)
  • Totem #1–7 (pencils, with writer Jeff Kaufman, Big City Comics, 2007–2008)
  • Marvel Illustrated: Treasure Island (pencils, with writer Roy Thomas, 6-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, August 2007 – January 2008)
  • Marvel Adventures: Hulk #6 (pencils, with writer Paul Benjamin, Marvel Comics, February 2008)
  • "World Tour" (pencils, with Mike Raicht, in Exiles: Days of Then and Now, Marvel Comics, March 2008)
  • Marvel Illustrated: Kidnapped (pencils, with writer Roy Thomas, 5-issue limited series, Marvel Comics, January–May 2009)
  • Army of Darkness #24 (art, with writer Mike Raicht, Dynamite Entertainment, July 2009)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Kean, Benjamin Ong Pang (4 Oct 2007). "MARIO GULLY ON THE RETURN OF ANT". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  2. ^ Rich Johnston. "Mario Gully's Work Is Still Sexually Suspect But, Damn, It's A Lot Better Than It Used To Be". Bleeding Cool. 21 Feb. 2014.
  3. ^ Kean, Benjamin Ong Pang (23 Aug 2006). "ANT EXTREME: GULLY APOLOGIZES". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
  4. ^ Thomas, Roy (2009). Treasure Island. Gully, Mario. New York: Marvel. ISBN 978-0785125952. OCLC 502257960.
  5. ^ "CCI: Thomas and Gully Get "Kidnapped"". CBR. 2008-07-25. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  6. ^ "ANT Creator Launches 'Dirty Bones' - Malta Comic Con". Malta Comic Con. 2014-02-21. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  7. ^ "Jazma Online Forum - Mario Gully's first sketchbook to launch this Jan". forums.jazmaonline.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2017-12-05.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Interviews

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