ABOUT MY WORK

Background / Contact

Dominic Umile writes critically about comics and graphic novels for The Chicago Reader, The Comics Journal, and PopMatters, where he is a contributing editor. He covered new music for years at Remix magazine, Orlando Weekly, The Brooklyn Rail, Miami New Times, Rockpile, Phoenix New Times, XLR8R, and more. Dominic was a freelance editor for Chord magazine and a researcher on 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die (Workman, 2008), a book from former Philadelphia Inquirer music editor/NPR contributor Tom Moon. In 2013, Dominic was alarmed and honored to find he’d been named one of Comics Bulletin’s favorite critics, and his work has been cited online at The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The New Yorker, Boing Boing, and elsewhere. He hails from a Philadelphia suburb but now lives in Brooklyn, New York.


CONTACT: dominic.umile@gmail.com | READ: Portfolio | FOLLOW: @dominicumile | CONNECT: LinkedIn
 
PORTFOLIO
COMING SOON
 
 
BLOG
THE NOTEBOOK
 
APR 16
2014

Jess Ruliffson’s ‘Invisible Wounds’

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , , ,
0

In late 2013, comics artist and writer Jess Ruliffson finalized some work from an ongoing journalism project that’s based on intimate discussions with veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The subjects of her Invisible Wounds recount internal struggles they’ve faced since leaving the military. Ruliffson published an affecting assortment of profiles as a […]

View More >
APR 12
2014

Clickable

posted by | label : , , , , ,
0

Stuff I’ve read, listened to, written about, shared on Twitter, etc. Enjoy. COMICS I wrote about Veil, a new Greg Rucka series from Dark Horse, and a psychedelic work of sci-fi/horror with Biblical undercurrents called Genesis — post here. Paul Di Filippo looks at Darwyn Cooke’s Parker: Slayground, the newest adaptation of the Richard Stark […]

View More >
APR 09
2014

‘Veil,’ ‘Genesis’

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Miles from the reach of the power-hungry upper class families, espionage plots, or Gotham City Police Department office interiors that have populated his well-known comics — thus far, anyway — Greg Rucka’s Veil is dark and really strange. The only dialogue in the first issue of the new Dark Horse series takes place between three people, […]

View More >
MAR 24
2014

Symbolia, Susie Cagle, Dan Archer, Olivier Kugler, Victory Journal

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

After some delays on the production end, the 53-page “Space” issue of comics journalism tablet magazine Symbolia hit inboxes at the end of February. The theme is space this time around, particularly our relationship with outer space. Journalist/illustrator Roxanne Palmer explores black holes for the lead-off feature, and cites an experiment at China’s Nanjing University […]

View More >
MAR 19
2014

Sam Henderson’s ‘Scene But Not Heard’

posted by | label : , , , , , , ,
0

Even as Scene But Not Heard is confined to rigid set of what’s usually 16 panels per page in this 6” X 9” book, Sam Henderson’s hilarious strip swirls and sputters uncontrollably, percolating with riotous energy and wordless pandemonium. The 128-page collection mines back issues of Nickelodeon Magazine, to which the New York-based cartoonist began […]

View More >
MAR 17
2014

Clickable

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , ,
0

Links for your pleasure. Criticism on comics, film, and music worth checking out. COMICS A blog post from the ACLU on comics, graphic novels that represent civil rights struggles in the U.S. I wrote about March last year for The Chicago Reader. Anne Elizabeth Moore on Julio’s Day, which “goes beyond the literary.” Even as […]

View More >
MAR 08
2014

Brendan Leach at Narratively

posted by | label : , , , , ,
0

Comics creator Brendan Leach is doing some stuff for Narratively, an online publication that produces impossibly beautiful visuals and deep longform storytelling. This story about a murder in New Orleans in 1913 looks fascinating — love the rendering of the tale’s centerpiece, a frighteningly close range gunshot, an understandably cowering bartender, the flames and red […]

View More >
MAR 05
2014

Duppy ’78

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Warring gangs squabble for territory in Duppy ’78, a new hallucinatory whirlwind of sometimes gory, drug trade-fueled violence and Jamaican ghost-story horror from UK publisher Com.X. Writer Casey Seijas sets this Caribbean yarn in the summer of 1978, a time when the island’s state of considerable political unrest yielded a very public death of civilians […]

View More >
FEB 21
2014

Clickable

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , ,
0

Weekend reads here. Dive in. MUSIC Unknown sounds, stories of India’s 1960s rock bands.  My 2011 PopMatters piece on psyche-funk compilation Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga!: Seminar: Aesthetic Expressions of Psychedelic Funk Music 1970-1983. This band Temples seems worth your time — enthusiasts of 1960s pop and psyche stuff. If you climbed into a friend’s car to […]

View More >
FEB 21
2014

‘Sheltered,’ ‘Slayground’ (Repost)

posted by | label : , , , , , , , , ,
0

The focus of the Image winter-noir comic series Sheltered, the first five issues of which were collected in December 2013, is on a group of people that fill days by preparing, as if a universal collapse of civil society/the world is around the corner. It’s not as vague as it appears — creators Ed Brisson […]

View More >
Visit Blog
 
RESUME
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
 
AN OVERVIEW OF MY
EDITORIAL SKILLS
  • CREATIVE WRITING
     
  • EDITING
     
  • CRITICAL THINKING
     
  • RESEARCH
     
  • COPYWRITING
     
  • WEB EDITING
     
  • CONTENT MANAGEMENT
     
 
FREELANCE EXPERIENCE
WRITING
  • 2003
    -
    CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
    PopMatters

    Writing features, blog posts, and critical essays on comic books, graphic novels, music, and more. (My archived work)

  • 2013
    -
    CONTRIBUTING WRITER
    The Comics Journal (Fantagraphics)

    Writing long-form critical essays on comic books and graphic novels for TCJ's online component.

  • 2008
    -
    CONTRIBUTING WRITER
    Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine

    Writing feature articles and capsule recommendations on toys, pet care, children’s DVDs, and children’s music for Web, tablet device content, and print.

  • 2005
    -
    2009
    CONTRIBUTING WRITER
    Remix Magazine

    Contributed production-focused music criticism and in-depth artist feature stories. Wrote profiles and reported stories that offered discussions on studio methodology and songwriting with artists, DJs, and producers.

  • 2005
    -
    2008
    CONTRIBUTING WRITER
    Orlando Weekly

    Contributed long-form music criticism and capsules, wrote concert previews and artist feature pieces.

FULL-TIME / FREELANCE EXPERIENCE
EDITING & RESEARCH
  • 2013
    -
    SENIOR PROJECT EDITOR
    Scholastic

    Collaborating with project management, editorial, and graphic design staff in the development of custom K-12 education/marketing programs on a consultant basis. Advising program coordinators on copywriting and adherence to house style guidelines. Providing project management support. Writing and editing promotional print and digital content (ad and tout copy, email blasts, HTML, Web editing) for ongoing multiple projects.

  • 2007
    -
    2013
    ASSOCIATE EDITOR
    Scholastic

    Researching, writing, and editing lesson plans, Web content, and promotional email blasts for multiple K–12 education programs. Developing and editing digital ad and tout copy. Ensuring adherence to editorial policy/house style guidelines. Posting new content and updating microsites (HTML, digital copywriting, Web editing). Collaborating with art directors and graphic artists for production and trafficking of print layouts and Web design. Project management support and client relationship maintenance.

  • 2007
    -
    2007
    CONSULTING EDITOR/RESEARCHER
    Thomson Financial

    Copyedited interview transcripts, administered database updates, and provided research support.

  • 2007
    -
    2007
    FREELANCE ASSISTANT EDITOR
    Chord Magazine

    Edited features and record reviews. Fact-checked and proofread articles. Wrote artist/producer profiles.

  • 2006
    -
    2007
    RESEARCH ASSISTANT
    Thomson Reuters

    Conducted research for business analysts, provided Excel-driven data maintenance, and edited data for accuracy, grammar usage, and spelling.

  • 2005
    -
    2006
    COPY EDITOR
    Moody's Economy.com

    Edited content for clarity and accuracy for daily and weekly deadlines. Fact-checked commentary and integrated text changes to blogs and long-form analysis (print and Web editing).

  • 2005
    -
    2005
    RESEARCHER
    Workman Publishing

    Conducted research for music journalist Tom Moon (NPR, The Philadelphia Inquirer) on 2008 book '1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.'