Cartoonist Abby Denson

Cool Tokyo Guide

Cool Tokyo Guide is a fully-illustrated travel guide to Tokyo featuring handy tips and the fun adventures of Abby with her husband Matt Loux, friend Yuuko Koyama, and Kitty Sweet Tooth! You can read a chapter preview here on Spiralbound now.Winner of a Bronze IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award) in the Travel Guide category!

Check out my Cool Japan Guide blog!

“…a delightful and educational excursion through Japan’s capital city and its surrounding areas. ­VERDICT Anyone with even a passing interest in visiting ­Tokyo someday would do well to seek out this title. It contains valuable information for those unfamiliar with the city as well as a few nuggets even the seasoned Japanophile will find useful.”– School Library Journal

*“Fun and quirky but thorough and effective efforts.Cool Tokyo Guide might not look like a traditional guidebook, but for many travelers—actual or armchair—it will become a favorite.”– “Starred Review” Foreword Magazine

*“This informative guide touches on exactly the sorts of things a Western traveler needs to know, from getting passes to the Ghibli museum months in advance to visiting fun discount stores to how asking where the toilet is—and then how to use it once you are there! There are helpful phrases to learn; important social cues to recognize; tips on where to visit, along with addresses and websites; guides to visiting hot baths; and more. The overall result is a love song to a city and an inspiration for prospective visitors. – “Starred Review” Booklist

“Thoroughly accessible to readers of all ages and backgrounds, Cool Tokyo Guide: Adventures in the City of Kawaii Fashion, Train Sushi and Godzilla is a travel guide in the format of a full-color graphic novel.” ―Midwest Book Review

Uniquely Japan

Lavishly decorated manhole covers, pink polka-dotted backhoes, toilets with warmable seats, blow dryers (and other bells and whistles). It's just another day in Japan, where the futuristic and zany stands side-by-side with the rooted and the venerable, and there's a festival going on somewhere almost every day of the year.

In Uniquely Japan, Abby Denson—author of Cool Japan Guide and Cool Tokyo Guide—uses her own personal drawings and photos to highlight the things that make Japan truly different from every other place on the planet. From the ramen and sushi we've all come to love to the fantastic creatures who now star in their own video games and anime, the comic artist takes you on a romp through Japan's distinctive popular and traditional culture.

“An energetic and genuinely enthusiastic look at Japanese culture for a younger audience.” - UK Anime Network

“As a newbie to Japan, this book really did help me learn more about the culture and give me ideas of places and things I want to see during my time here.” - Stars and Stripes

Kitty Sweet Tooth

Kitty Sweet Tooth is a cute cat who loves traveling, B-Movies, and sweets! She appears in Cool Tokyo Guide and Cool Japan Guide. I created a new book series with the amazing artist Utomaru called Kitty Sweet Tooth for First Second. Read about it here. The first book’s release date is April 6th 2021! You can Pre-order now! Amazon and indie shops. Sample pages are here!

“A sugar-sweet burst of sunshine for new readers.”

-Kirkus

"Utomaru’s bold line art and vibrant illustrations fill each page with lively, magical scenes; eagle-eyed readers will spot hidden details. ...A sweet treat of a story that’s sure to satisfy chapter book readers."—School Library Journal

“Denson’s sweet adventure will please movie and dessert lovers alike. Bold line art and vivid colors by Utomaru enhance this candy-coated comedy.”

-Publisher’s Weekly

Click here to watch the book trailer!

Click here to view a conversation with Abby and editor Robyn Chapman about Kitty Sweet Tooth!

Cool Japan Guide

Cool Japan Guide is Abby's first travel guide about Japan, published in 2015 by Tuttle Publishing. It covers Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Fukuoka, and more! Follow Abby on adventures with Matt, Yuuko, and Kitty Sweet Tooth as they enjoy Japan!

Check out my Cool Japan Guide blog!

“Comic book artist and food blogger Denson (Dolltopia) fills this hip and handy travel guide with her expertise as a frequent visitor to Japan and her bright and vibrant illustrations.”

-Publishers Weekly - January 2015

“Each chapter opens with a well-conceived list of Japanese vocabulary words and the back matter offers a directory of suggested sightseeing locations as well as web-based travel resources. A useful title for teens daydreaming about traveling to Japan.”

-Booklist - February 2015

“It’s a quirky book, with cultural explanations and travel tips, mostly for the novice but also for the more seasoned visitor, all done in stunning manga style.”

-ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - full radio interview from 2/14/15 in link

“In her quirky graphic novel Cool Japan Guide, comic book writer Abby Denson takes us on a “personal tour of Japan” and teaches us the finer points of local etiquette. For cartoonist Abby Denson, a trip to Japan meant an education in cultural customs, which she illustrated to charming effect in her new guidebook”

- Conde Nast Traveler March 2015

City Sweet Tooth

Abby's cartoon dessert art!City Sweet Tooth is the cartoon dessert blog Abby created in 2008. This is a collection of comics and illustrations from the blog. New posts will be here!

Web Comics

Dolltopia

Dolltopia has garnered an International Manga Award and a Moonbeam Children's Book Award.

From the moment Kitty, a ballerina doll, is assembled in the Doll Factory, she questions her existence. She ends up in a suburban home where a little girl plays domestic games with her and Soccer Scotty, a male doll happy with the status quo. The restless Kitty escapes, along the way meeting Army Jim, a military action figure. He’s heading for Dolltopia, where dolls have created their own society, separate from humans.

Dolltopia is available at Amazon and digitally from Northwest Press here!

“A revolutionary book about literally breaking free of the molds others try to put us into. I love it, and my kids love it!”
-Kyle Baker, author of Why I Hate Saturn

“Dolltopia is a fairy-like tale about what dolls might be up to when no one’s looking. I’d like to think Abby Denson’s punky little dolls are really out there somewhere – playing music, styling their own hair, coping with life’s crises, and rejecting the straight world.”
-Martin Millar author of Lonely Werewolf Girl

“…a fabulous and adorable adventure!” -Poppy Z. Brite, author of Liquor

“I love Abby Denson’s Dolltopia for many reasons. Dolltopia reminds me of John Water’s Desperate Living, except with dolls! Like Denson, I believe that Barbies should be liberated from their cookie cutter lives and given the opportunity to pick whatever outfits they want! I also love her drawing style and wonderfully campy sense of humor. After reading Dolltopia, I’m going to set all of my dolls free!”
- Lauren Weinstein creator of Goddess of War, Inside Vineyland, Girl Stories

“Watch out! Abby Denson draws in a childlike style, but those Dolltopia dolls of hers are way hipper than Barbie! Dolltopia made me smile with a story that rings too true for comfort.”- Howard Cruse, Creator of Stuck Rubber Baby and Wendel

Ink Drawings

Ink drawings I do. Often of cats! I use a brush and sumi ink.

Licensed Comics

Abby has scripted for Monster High Comics, Powerpuff Girls Comics,Amazing Spider-Man Family, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and many more!

TITAN COMICS:

Monster High: Free Comic Book Day special

MARVEL COMICS:

Amazing Spider-Man Family #3, #4, #6,Marvel Divas – Holiday Heat!, Girl Comics #3

DC Comics:

-Cartoon Network Block Party #24, 29, 30, 46!
-Cartoon Network Action Pack # 1
-Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi #2

-POWERPUFF GIRLS COMICS:
#2,4,10,12,15,16,DOUBLE WHAMMY, 21, 26, 29, 37 (All rock and roll, all Abby issue), 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 61 and collected books Go, Girls, Go! and Titans of Townsville!

ARCHIE COMICS
-Josie and The Pussycats story in Archie & Friends # 84 and #85
-SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH
My stories with the awesome art team of Holly Golightly and Al Nickerson! Issues: 44, 46, 47, 49, 50,54, 55

MISCELLANEOUS:
Simpsons (written with Jesse McCann) #69, click for collected book it’s in, Simpsons Comics Jam-Packed Jamboree!
Bart Simpson Comics (written with Jesse McCann) #12, click for collected book it’s in, Big Bratty Book of Bart Simpson !
Scooby Doo #73
Various Rocket Power and As Told By Ginger stories in Nickelodeon Magazine.

Illustrations

Tough Love

Originally serialized in XY Magazine.Purchase the e-book here.

Inspired by shounen-ai manga-melodramatic Japanese comics by girls about gay boys-Tough Love is a teen romance and coming-out story about a shy boy named Brian. More realistic than Japanese manga, this story centers on the relationships Brian develops with the boy he likes, Chris, and Julie, the girl who befriends him. Serious issues like gay bashing, suicide, and coming to terms with one’s own sexual identity are depicted with an honest, gentle touch. Socially relevant, fun, immediately accessible, and a bit of a soap opera, Tough Love helps gay teenagers to be more comfortable with themselves and less troubled, especially when they’re feeling alone and misunderstood.

“Tough Love keeps a universal subject fresh with
clean, appealing artwork and characters guaranteed to
touch even the coldest heart.” – Poppy Z. Brite

“Abby Denson’s teen romance has the simplicity and
heart of a secret love note on lined composition
paper.” – Howard Cruse

“Abby Denson is a pioneer . . . doing something that
few others have even thought of doing.” -Animerica magazine

“Tough Love is an important addition to adolescent
coming-out stories.” – Library Journal

“Denson’s jagged illustration evokes a punk rock
aesthetic that harkens back to the anti-establishment
sentiment of adolescence. ”
-Publisher’s Weekly

Self-published Comics

These are comics I created with Yuuko Koyama as collaborations. We have been friends and comic collaborators for over 20 years!