Nina Matsumoto (born 18 November 1984)^[1] is a Japanese-Canadian cartoonist, also known as "space coyote", and most known for creating the comic book series Yōkaiden for Del Rey Manga. She created the webcomic Saturnalia, and has worked as a penciller on Simpsons Comics and The Last Airbender Prequel: Zuko's Story graphic novel.^[2] She is also the artist and co-creator of Sparks!, a graphic novel series for Scholastic Books.

Biography

Matsumoto first came to the attention of the comic industry through her widely distributed artwork Simpsonzu, a manga stylized parody artwork of The Simpsons cast.^[3] After the image was picked up by digg,^[4] it became one of the most popular deviations ever submitted to DeviantArt^[5] and caught the attention of Bongo Comics, as well as editor Dallas Middaugh of Del Rey Manga and The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening.^[6][7] Middaugh read Matsumoto's long-running webcomic Saturnalia and then invited her to submit a proposal which became the graphic novel Yōkaiden.^[8] She created another viral work in 2020, Mr. Peanut Devouring His Son, which parodied Francisco Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son and referenced an advertising campaign in which Planters killed off their mascot.^[9]