Cartoonist, anime con organizer, pop culture archeologist and occasional lecturer Dave Merrill lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With partner Shaindle Minuk, they launched the website Mister Kitty (www.misterkitty.org) in 2005, featuring original comics, found audio, and the popular humor feature “Stupid Comics.” Dave’s web-published comics include JESUS CHRIST CONQUERS THE MARTIANS, THE OZONE COMMANDOS GO TO HELL, and ZERO FIGHTER, currently serialized weekly.

Though an occasional contributor to the print magazine OTAKU USA, Dave regularly writes about classic Japanese animation at his blog, Let’s Anime, which is found at www.letsanime.blogspot.com.

Dave Merrill’s involvement with Japanese animation fandom dates from an early age. In his teens he was involved in several national anime organizations including the C/FO, the EDC, and Anime Hasshin. In 1995, the first Anime Weekend Atlanta was held; Dave Merrill was chairman and president. This convention is the Southeast’s premier Japanese animation event. As Chairman Emeritus Dave continues his involvement with AWA in hosting several popular events including “Japanese Anime Hell”. Dave is also involved with the Toronto anime convention Anime North.

In the mid-1990′s, Dave also worked on the Eternity Comics Gigantor adaption and wrote articles for the Starblazers comic published by Studio Go and Voyager Entertainment. Dave began writing an anime column for a local entertainment web site in 1998; by 2000 this column was appearing on the Anime Jump web site along with Dave’s reviews of current and classic anime titles. His work has also appeared on the Starblazers.com website.

Dave’s work with the independent filmmaking group Corn Pone Flicks has included appearing in the films A Star Dipwads Christmas, Men in Black, Corn Dog Seven, The Phone, Pong, and many others. His parody subtitle scripts for Grandizer Versus Great Mazinger and Mazinger Z Versus Devilman have brought laughter to thousands.

Dave Merrill is also the originator of the “Japanese Anime Hell” event now seen at many anime conventions. This blend of found video, parody commericals and productions, educational films, bad dubbing, and general audio/visual strangeness is a standing-room only event at conventions across the country.

Along with Cheap Disposable Entertainment, 2002 saw the publication of Juku – A Comics Album; a 244 page book of comics by Ed Hill, Bruce Lewis, Dan Baker, Shaindle Minuk, and Dave. Dave’s comics work has also appeared in the 2004 book Drunk Tank, a collection published by the annual Fluke minicomics festival, and numerous self-published comics.

In the film Otaku Unite, Dave appeared several times and was only drunk in a few of the scenes. His collection of anime fanzines of the 70s and 80s was used extensively in the film.