Graphic novelist author and illustrator, Rich Koslowski, told the story of his dream to work in the comic business at our Nov. 27, 2025 meeting and his presentation was as exciting and entertaining as any comic book.
Rich knew early on that he wanted to be a comic book artist. At 7 years old, he remembers his excitement of buying a comic book from the magazine rack at his dad’s PDQ store. Rich could have taken the easy path to take over the family grocery store business but his creativity was pulling him in another direction.
Rich started his comic career developing and marketing his own comics. This involved traveling to 15-20 shows per year: setting up booths with his own books that were then sold to distributors. Next he worked in an animation studio. Here, he proposed to do storyboards for Sonic the Hedgehog, breaking that character into the comic book world. He then moved on to work on the famous Archie comic series illustrating over 10,000 pages to date!
Rich realized that his ultimate goal was to take his own ideas to the publisher, Top Shelf Productions. He wanted to tell his own stories. For his first publication, “Three Fingers,” Rich received validation from Top Shelf because they didn’t change a single word of his submission. Rich followed with “The King,” an offbeat tale of Elvis. Rich’s books are unusual and satirical.
Rich dreamt of a bold new concept, likening superheroes’ careers to baseball’s tiered farm system. After pitching it to a major player in the industry, Rich learned the tough lesson that it’s difficult to protect ideas. He did come out on top and you can now find his second “F.A.R.M. System” book out now. Rich did all the lettering, inking and illustration taking full ownership of the entire creative process. He has also recently illustrated, all by hand, a new kid-friendly graphic novel, “Flash Gordon Adventures! Vol. 2.”
Besides authoring and inking his graphic novels, Rich shares his knowledge with students at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) as an Illustration professor.
