Liana Kangas

Liana Kangas draws worlds you want to get lost in — and some you definitely don’t. The award-winning artist has built a career on genre-blending visuals that can shift from the cosmic grandeur of She Said Destroy to the punk rock mayhem of TRVE KVLT without missing a beat. With credits spanning Star Wars, Star Trek, Godzilla, and virtually every major publisher in comics, Kangas has established themselves as one of the medium’s most versatile and distinctive visual storytellers.

Creator-Owned Vision

Kangas’s most personal work comes through their creator-owned projects, where their distinctive style — bold lines, expressive characters, and a knack for blending genres — truly shines. She Said Destroy from Vault Comics, co-created with writer Joe Corallo, is a fantasy sci-fi space opera that follows the Morrigan, a goddess navigating a world where mythology and technology collide. The series was praised by The Beat for its “stunning visuals” and complex world-building, establishing Kangas as a creator capable of building entire universes from scratch.

Their collaboration with Scott Bryan Wilson on TRVE KVLT from IDW Publishing showcased Kangas’s range in dark comedy — a satirical take on cult culture and small-town America that The Mary Sue named among the best comics of 2022. The series demonstrated Kangas’s ability to balance humor with genuine emotional stakes, creating characters that feel real even in the most absurd circumstances.

The Hugo Long-Listed Know Your Station from BOOM! Studios, co-created with Sarah Gailey, further cemented Kangas’s reputation for ambitious, genre-defying work. As Screen Rant noted in their review, the series “mixes sci-fi & noir to address class warfare” with Kangas’s distinctive visual storytelling driving every twist.

Franchise Work and Industry Recognition

Beyond creator-owned work, Kangas has become a go-to artist for major franchises. Their contributions to Star Wars Adventures for Dark Horse Comics, including the High Republic Annual, demonstrated their ability to work within established universes while bringing their own artistic voice. Their work on Star Trek for IDW Publishing and contributions to the Eisner Award-winning Godzilla 70th Anniversary Anthology further showcased their versatility.

Perhaps most impressively, Kangas created illustrations for HBO MAX’s Fantasmas, created by Julio Torres, which won a Peabody Award. This crossover into television demonstrated how their distinctive visual style translates across mediums, making them one of the few comic artists to work in both comics and award-winning television.

The Anthology Specialist

Kangas’s ability to deliver polished, distinctive work in short formats has made them one of the most sought-after anthology contributors in comics. Their work appears in collections from A Wave Blue World (including All We Ever Wanted, Embodied, Dead Beats, and Sharp Wit and the Company of Women), Image Comics (Where We Live, Razorblades), 2000AD, and Archie Comics’ horror line. Their cover art, connecting all five issues of Black’s Myth: The Key to His Heart for AHOY Comics, demonstrated their ability to create cohesive visual narratives across multiple issues.

As they told The Beat about their approach to genre storytelling: “I’ve always loved werewolves, but I never thought I’d be working on a werewolf comic series… It’s exciting to show a little more of these characters.” That enthusiasm for genre storytelling, combined with their technical skill and creative ambition, makes Kangas one of indie comics’ most exciting visual voices.

Perfect for fans of cosmic fantasy, genre-blending storytelling, and anyone who appreciates artists who can make every page feel like a window into another world.