Denis Caron is an illustrator, comic artist, and product designer. He was born on April 10th 1985, in Van Nuys, California and graduated with a degree in Psychology in 2007 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Though he has never had any formal artistic training, he has still built a career within the creative arts.
While in college Denis started his first webcomic, Reeder Rabbit, about two rabbits under the pseudonym Joenis (a mix of his first and middle name, Denis/Joseph) Norac (his last name backwards). The comic was initially based on funny instant message conversations between himself and his friend Austin Reeder, the series’ co-creator. The comic ran from 2005 until 2007 when it ended due to creative differences between the creators. Reeder Rabbit has made at least one appearance in all his personal work since.
He co-founded a webcomic collective with his friend Ali Showkati called The Noir Project (aka TNP Press) in 2006 featuring comics such as Nerf This, My Cardboard Life, Robbie and Bobby, Beardfluff, Rob The Bot, Reeder Rabbit and his own projects including Unconscious Ink [ui] and Anhedonia Blue. The collective disbanded 2011.
Webcomics, KICKSTARTERS & The Convention Years
In 2010, under his own name, Denis started a new webcomic called L.A.W.L.S. (Large Air Whales Like Silence) about a boy on a journey to bludgeon air whales. In December of 2011, L.A.W.L.S. Volume 1 - Choking on Air was successfully funded on Kickstarter and released at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2012. In December of 2011, while Denis worked on the production of the book, he started a two other comics to fill in while taking time off of L.A.W.L.S.; a spin off, slice of life comic based on the the story’s characters called ALT. and a word of the day, clip art comic, called Words of Interest. All three comics are currently on hiatus.
He began exhibiting at conventions and various art shows in 2009 under the names ArtisticDOOM, TNP Press, L.A.W.L.S. and finally decided to create a brand revolving around his art, comics, and designs in 2012, called Corvink. From 2012 to 2019, Denis continued to exhibit under this name at some of the biggest conventions on the west coast, including San Diego Comic-Con International, Emerald City Comicon, Phoenix Comicon and several others.
In the early part of 2012, Denis was approached by Ali Showkati to work on another project with him; Destined Legends, a card game that Ali and his brother Shawn had been developing. Denis joined the team of Ali’s gaming company, Decobot, to assist in the development of the game’s mechanics and find artists that were best suited for the project. In November of 2012, the Destined Legends Battle Set, was funded on Kickstarter and made its debut at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2013 at the Decobot booth.
Toy Design & Collaboration
In 2014, Denis developed his first plush toy concept for Corvink called "Elements." He launched a Kickstarter in 2015 for the first element, Fire, which was funded on March 20th. Having reached 406% of his intial goal, he was able to expand the line to all 4 elements; Fire, Water, Air & Earth. The elements were later rebranded to be under a new product line called the Plush Elements.
Because of the success of the Plush Elements, Denis was hired by the band Coheed and Cambria to produce a plush toy of their iconic dragonfly and collaborated with Throwboy to design their new Candy Heart series, as well as assist on other projects like their Pepsi co-branded pillows.
In addition to consulting for Throwboy for their convention booths, Denis co-created and co-stared on a podcast with the company’s founder, Roberto Hoyos, called That Thing You Made. The show ran from 2018 to 2019. He has also been a guest on the Spoiler Country podcast reviewing movies and talking about comics.
During this time Denis also worked with Cassandra Reeder, The Geeky Chef, illustrating for her 3 cookbooks published by Race Point Publishing; The Geeky Chef, The Geeky Chef Strikes Back, and The Geeky Chef Drinks.
Corvink, Raven Stitch, and Beyond
Operating under the Corvink banner provided Denis the opportunity to work with Sweet! Hollywood to produce co-branded chocolate bars, participate in the Monsters and Dames charity art book for Emerald City Comicon, and have the chance to meet and discuss the creative process with some of his favorite creators, such as Joss Whedon. Corvink provided him an outlet to explore and hone his skills in merchandising; creating top selling product lines such as Sweet Tits Muffin Co. and Classhole University BS Diplomas.
As of 2022, Denis decided to shift Corvink away from retail sales, assigning it instead as the parent company for all of Denis’ creative projects. In July of 2023, Corvink made a final convention appearance at San Diego Comic-Con international. The e-commerce part of the Corvink website, was deactivated, switching to a general hub/news site for Corvink related projects.
Moving forward in 2024 he started developing his plush toy line into its own company under the brand name Raven Stitch. Expanding it to include additional product lines, including limited edition art prints of the Elements and converting his raven enamel pin, from Corvink, into an official Raven Stitch product. He also began focusing on a more personal approach to his art, continuing to do conventions (now under his own name only) starting with San Diego Comic-Con, in Artist Alley. In August of 2024, he returned to retail, selling his art prints, plush toys, accessories, and everything that once was under the Corvink name, under his own name.