Mary Cagle

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For the pastor, see Mary Lee Cagle.

Mary Cagle
Born (1989-12-01) 1 December 1989 (age 34)[1][2]
NationalityAmerican
Pseudonym(s)Cube Watermelon
http://www.marycagle.com/

Mary Cagle, also known as Cube Watermelon, is an American webcomic artist known for creating Kiwi Blitz, Let's Speak English, and Sleepless Domain.

Personal life[edit]

Cagle was raised in Corpus Christi, Texas and developed a strong interest in Japanese pop-culture, including both older and more modern anime and video games. In 2013, Cagle graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design[3] and became an English teacher at an elementary school in Kurihara, Japan.[4] Cagle is asexual.[5][6][7]

Works[edit]

Kiwi Blitz[edit]

In 2009, Cagle started the action/comedy webcomic Kiwi Blitz. Its plot follows a couple of teenagers attempting to fight crime in the pseudo-near future. Kiwi Blitz draws many of its influences from anime, featuring Americanized Japanese mecha designs.[4] Brian Cronin of Comic Book Resources described the set-up of Kiwi Blitz as a "strong concept" that should be able to sustain itself for a long time. Praising the "interesting" cast, Cronin noted that Cagle is willing to "mix things up" so that story doesn't become stale.[8] Lauren Davis of io9 listed Kiwi Blitz among her top ten superhero webcomics.[9] The comic has been on hiatus since September 2021.[10]

Let's Speak English[edit]

In November 2013, Cagle began illustrating her experiences of being an English teacher in Japan in the form of slice-of-life snippets. The webcomic, titled Let's Speak English, shows Cagle dealing with subjects such as Japanese pop-culture, toilets, thin walls, and the language barrier.[4] It has been compared to the Japanese manga Yotsuba&! due to their shared slice-of-life elements.[11] The comic concluded in 2016, with Mary moving back to America and ending her teaching job.[12]

Sleepless Domain[edit]

Cagle started the webcomic Sleepless Domain in 2015. The story, set in a city that is invaded by malicious monsters on a nightly basis, features a group of magical girls and their interpersonal issues. Kotaku Australia described Sleepless Domain as a tragic story about the "loss of fellowship".[13] The comic has been noted for its LGBTQ+ themes by the website INTO more.[14] Hachette began publishing a French-language physical release of the comic in 2018.[15] In 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced a print and ebook release of the comic.[16] In 2022, Brian Cronin of Comic Book Resources ranked Sleepless Domain as 83rd in their Top 100 comics of 2022, praising the comics "strong character work" and "nice art by Cagle".[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cagle, Mary [@cubewatermelon] (1 December 2010). "Livestream again! Join me as I finish this page and ring in my 21st birthday :< http://bit.ly/cifE3R" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Cagle, Mary [@cubewatermelon] (30 November 2013). "Eeheehee thank you so much for the birthday wishes! (My bday is the 1st, which it is over here already)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Let's Speak English – Prologue 1 – Off We Go!". marycagle.com.
  4. ^ a b c Cruz, Larry (29 August 2014). "'Let's Speak English': One Cartoonist's Adventures in Teaching". Comic Book Resources.
  5. ^ Cagle, Mary [@cubewatermelon] (18 October 2014). "Over the past year I've discovered that I'm probably asexual, which in retrospect explains a lot about my work and taste in media" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Cagle, Mary [@cubewatermelon] (19 July 2015). "@ModestNarcissus Yeah I'm asexual soooo >_>" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Cagle, Mary [@cubewatermelon] (3 June 2019). "This the season" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Cronin, Brian (16 May 2011). "A Month of Webcomics – Kiwi Blitz". Comic Book Resources.
  9. ^ Davis, Lauren (1 September 2014). "10 Superhero Webcomics You Should Be Reading". io9.
  10. ^ "Status of the Comic (and my life)". kiwiblitz.com. 5 September 2021.
  11. ^ ""Let's Speak English" Is the Cute, Everyday Chronicle of an American in Japan". theabsolutemag.com.
  12. ^ "#134 – Slow Motion". marycagle.com. 14 September 2016.
  13. ^ Davis, Lauren (9 October 2016). "What Happens To A Magical Girl After She Loses Her Team?". Kotaku Australia.
  14. ^ "10 Fabulous LGBTQ+ Magical Girl Comics for Queer Readers". INTO More. 3 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Robinson, une nouvelle collection de bandes dessinées en partenariat avec Hiveworks". hachette.fr (in French). Hachette Livre. 25 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Seven Seas and Hiveworks Comics Join Forces to Bring Webcomics to Bookstores". Seven Seas Entertainment. 21 December 2020.
  17. ^ "CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2022". Comic Book Resources. 1 January 2023.

External links[edit]

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