SPX Spotlight 2015: Molly Ostertag

It's another entry in Panel Patter's SPX SPOTLIGHT series! We've been highlighting creators, publishers, and comics related to SPX since the site opened in 2008, but 2015 marks our fifth year of extensive coverage that is unlike what you'll find elsewhere! It's a great way to create your own personal guide for the show onSeptember 19th and 20th, 2015, in Bethesda, Maryland. Don't miss it! You can find all our SPX SPOTLIGHT posts here.

Have you read Strong Female Protagonist? No? Go do that. Yes? Go see Molly Ostertag at SPX!

Molly Ostertag is a New York based artist with a serious sense of style. She has a number of ongoing webcomics, has some great stand alone illustrations, and rocks a genuinely likeable internet presence.

So, I'm about to gush praise on Strong Female Protagonist, a webcomic that Ostertag has been working on for the past three years. You can totally skip this and go read it for yourself. It's great. Then you can buy a hard copy. And tell your friends how awesome it is. And post about her on your twitter. And just fall in love with her.

Strong Female Protagonist is my favorite thing that Ostertag has done. It's a little funny, a little honest, a lot good. In it, she and her creative partner Brennan Lee Mulligan think through what it would be like to lose your faith in what you think is right, to have your friend group radically shift, and to try and live outside of the limelight once it has been on you for a while. Ostertag does a great job of capturing the traditional superhero and then confronting it with reality. Just read it. You'll thank me. 

As if that weren't enough, her stand alone illustrations are to die for. They use bold lines and beautiful color transitions. She illustrates everything from original ideas to things she saw and wanted to play with. Ostertag has a very playful collection and she is able to convey a story in one panel. 

Basically, Molly Ostertag is a bit of a goddess. You can go see her at SPX. If you do, tweet us! You can see the Panel Patter crew foam at the mouth with jealousy. [Except for Guy, Rob K., and Whit, who will all be there! Lucky ducks! -RobM]

Can't make SPX? Molly Ostertag's website is here.