Blaise Larmee

Personal life

Larmee was born in New York City to the artist Kevin Larmee and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is a graduate of Colorado College and a former fellow at CCS. His time at CCS resulted in a public apology.

Reception

Larmee's work tends to alienate viewers insofar as it is considered an extension of his critical writing and desire to understand the boundaries of critical art. Sean T. Collins called Larmee's comics "beautiful, thoughtful, and unique enough to get by on their own" but lamented Larmee's "deeply unlikable internet persona." In a review of Young Lions, Dan Nadel wrote,

It is also, most obviously, the work of a young man (born in 1985) trying to understand the mythologies he’s interpreted for himself. That is the second, and for me, most intriguing narrative here, and one inseparable from Larmee’s writing on art and comics."

Writing for The Comics Journal, Rob Clough noted, "It is difficult to separate Larmee’s theories from his actual work," and called Larmee "an artist obsessed with the underpinnings of art and a hyperacute awareness of an artist’s relationship with both one’s peers and the culture at large."

Young Lions

In 2009 Larmee was included alongside fellow cartoonist Jason Overby in Abstract Comics: The Anthology (Fantagraphics). Leading up to the book's release, the two founded the blog Comets Comets, which became known for polemic essays and an embrace of troll culture. Larmee's writing for this blog established the atmosphere in which Young Lions was received.

In April 2010 Larmee's first book, Young Lions, was published. The book garnered a Xeric grant and an Ignatz nomination for Promising New Talent. In the book's sole blurb, David Heatley wrote, "Blaise Larmee is making thoughtful, refreshing, beautiful comics that you can drink with your eyes." While reviews of the book tended to be positive, the subject of the author himself was polarizing. Larmee repeatedly described his creative process as "sarcastic" and agreed that "public discourse is inseparable from the book itself."

In 2011 The Canada Border Services Agency seized copies of Young Lions in Buffalo, NY on suspicion of obscenity. After reviewing the book, the agency declared Young Lions to be legally obscene and banned its importation into Canada.

Gaze Books

Within months of releasing Young Lions, Larmee founded the publishing company Gaze Books and announced The Whale by Aidan Koch as its first publication. Larmee founded the webcomic 2001 and the tumblr Altcomics the same year.

2dcloud

In 2014 2dcloud published Comets Comets. In 2015 Larmee joined 2dcloud as marketing director, started Altcomics Magazine, and released 3 Books. Oliver Ristau, writing for art, called 3 Books a "pornographic comic that elevates itself to art." Dan Nadel, writing for The Comics Journal, called 3 Books "a book about the persona" and lamented, "new comics 'personalities' like Blaise Larmee seek out attention in a way previous generations of cartoonists did not."

Comets Comets was included in The Best American Comics 2015. At a panel in support of the book Larmee asked,

What is this space that i'm producing in? What is this work that i'm doing? What's the context? Because it's not quite one thing or the other. It's kind of this weird in between. That's comics. That's still the closest thing.

In 2016 Mirror Mirror was released. R. Orion Martin, writing for Hyperallergic, called Larmee "a natural choice to edit the first issue". Larmee's title changed from marketing director to creative director as he took a more active role in production. In a review of Mirror Mirror, Joe McCulloch noted, "even among art comics, these are not populist works."

Selected Work Available Online