Leigh Dragoon
American
Leigh Dragoon (born May 6, 1976 in Plattsburgh, New York) is an American comic-book writer and illustrator. Dragoon's work first appeared in Girlamatic, publisher of her urban fantasy webcomic 'By the Wayside', which won the Kim Yale Award for Best New Female Talent in 2006. In 2009 she wrote the script for the three-volume HarperCollins/Tokyopop manga series based on Frewin Jones's young adult fantasy series 'The Faerie Path'. She also contributed to the 'Fraggle Rock Vol. 1' graphic novel published by Archaia Studios Press in 2010. In 2011 she adapted the script for Richelle Mead's 'Vampire Academy' graphic novel and, more recently, continued her collaboration with Mead and illustrator Emma Vieceli to produce a graphic adaptation of the 'Vampire Academy' sequel 'Frostbite'. She currently resides in Sacramento, California.
Author's Comment
Q: What were your inspirations growing up that led you to become an illustrator? A: Elfquest, Elfquest, Elfquest. Oh my god. I could not get enough 'Elfquest'. Probably 'Little Lulu' as well, which I still love, and a big dash of Phil Foglio's 'Mythadventures'. Then I saw 'The Little Mermaid' in the theatre when I was 13 and it blew me away. Just absolutely blew out all the circuits in my brain. I'd never seen anything like it before. I decided I wanted to be an animator. I actually went to college for animation, where I quickly figured out I didn't really want to be an animator. Professionally I ended up doing web design and human factors work, which I love. I feel like my day job uses parts of my brain that aren't too involved in the creative process, which is great, and doesn't wipe me out creatively so I still have energy to work on comics and writing when I get home.