Derek Laufman

9 / September / 2024

Derek Laufman has been a professional comic artist and illustrator for 25 years and resides in London, Ontario Canada. He studied classical animation at Sheridan College, and for several years now Derek has been drawing and creating his own comics and graphic novels including Ruinworld, Bot-9, The Witch of Wickerson and his newest series Crimson Fall. Derek is also a freelance illustrator who has worked with Marvel, DC, DreamWorks, TOPPS, Hasbro and Mattel. He is the designer of Marvel’s SuperHero Adventure line as well as DC’s Super Friends.

The Beginning of Derek’s Artistic Journey

Derek grew up a few hours outside of Toronto and from a young age he loved to draw and was a very big fan of comics. At age 13, he was dead set on a career as a comic artist and he went on to study classical animation at Sheridan College in his early twenties. After graduating he worked as a graphic designer for a few years to try and pay down student loans and then found a job as an artist in a video game studio in London, Ontario.

Social Media Launched Derek’s Comics Career

Instagram and Twitter were still fairly new and Derek’s social media had started to really take off for him around this time. He had adopted a unique “Chibi” style that started to catch the eye of people when he would post fanart on social media. The popularity of these drawings kick started what would be a very active freelancing career. An art director for MARVEL had contacted him to design their toddler forward branding SUPER HERO ADVENTURES based off of those drawings, so he spent a few years developing that brand for them. It was a dream come true to be working with Marvel. During this time, he also developed DC Comics toddler branding along with multiple toy design jobs for Hasbro and Mattel.

Derek’s Comics Attracted Hollywood Attention

In 2017 he started to develop his first comic series RuinWorld which was picked up and published by BOOM Studios. The series caught the eye of some animation studios and the series was shopped around to all the major networks. Although it didn’t get picked up it was very encouraging to have his first book be given that level of Hollywood attention. Derek’s passion for comics had been officially restored. He has since gone on to self-publish 3 more books, The Witch of Wickerson, BOT-9 and his latest series Crimson Fall.

Legal Services: Derek Laufman + Edwards Creative Law

Edwards Creative Law’s entertainment lawyer Michael Duboff has been an integral partner as Derek has navigated some tough contracts and garnered advice on various projects over the past few years. As Derek said, “It’s comforting knowing smart, capable and caring professionals have my back as I navigate the ever-evolving entertainment industry.”

Source: Derek Laufman

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* This blog is for general informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. Please contact Edwards Creative Law or another lawyer, if you wish to apply these concepts to your specific circumstances.