| Mario Gully | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anderson, Indiana, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| 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]
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.
Gully drawn Marvel Illustrated: Treasure Island adapted by writer Roy Thomas.[4]
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]
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]