Dash Shaw 'Unclothed' Graphic Novel Gets Web Series on IFC

Graphic novelist Dash Shaw is taking his first animated series to IFC.com. Shaw’s ventures will IFC will be a 5-episode web series based his upcoming graphic novel, The Unclothed Man, set to launch in mid November of 2009. The series will tell the story of a man involved with an anti-droid organization and will accompany the published novel with the same story line and characters.

The wonder boy artist (Shaw is just 26) is probably best known for his graphic novel Bottomless Belly Button, which scored Publishers Weekly best graphic novel of 2008. The pairing of Shaw and IFC seems to fit IFC’s mantra perfectly–“to create genre-bending content that indulges the alternative culture obsessions of our influential audience.” Reading a bit more about the plot line for The Unclothed Man, both comic book nerds and the graphic novel curious can rejoice. The series will feature a hero by the name of Rebel X-6. Rebel X-6 is working hard to bring change to his generation in the 35th century A.D.

In Rebel X-6’s world, an artist guild that opposes the use of droids in art class hires Rebel X-6. The artists believe living people should model for life drawings. Rebel X-6’s mission is to conquer a ban on drawing real humans by tricking students into drawing him. After all, model droids appear life-like but do not laugh, cry, swear or exhibit other human shortcomings, making them so much easier to deal with.

In addition to his rich drawings and wild imagination, Shaw keeps and extensive blog of his work revealing things he drew and worked as a teen, and things he has been working on lately. With his understanding of reaching out to fans through an online medium, Shaw is certainly poised to bring comics and graphic novels to the forefront of web television.