Gary Panter, groundbreaking graphic novelist and a three-time Emmy Award winner for his art direction and set design on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” will be visiting the Department of Art within the School of Fine Arts at Missouri Western State University April 9-11. There will be a free public event, “A Conversation with Gary Panter,” at 7 p.m. Friday, April 11 in the Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall 101.

“I think it’s fair to say this is the most high-profile artist we’ve ever had visit campus,” said Geo Sipp, professor of art and director of the Potter Gallery at Missouri Western. “Gary Panter is a legendary figure in the world of underground comics, printmaking and painting. I think anyone interested in art will want to hear what he has to say, and our students will benefit greatly from his expertise.”

Panter studied painting at East Texas State University and moved to Los Angeles in 1977. He worked on multiple fronts, including painting, design, comics and commercial imagery. In the late 1970s he exhibited his first major suite of paintings and drew posters and fliers for punk rock bands like the Germs and the Screamers. He also began a long association with the various incarnations of Pee-Wee Herman, as well as creating the early adventures of his punk/nuclear/hillbilly alter ego, Jimbo. In 1980, he published “The Rozz-Tox Manifesto,” an influential document that directed his generation to infiltrate the mainstream with underground ideas and culture.

In the 1980s, Panter painted prolifically. He also designed the sets and puppets for “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” illustrated record covers for the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and maintained an active comics output through his own mini-comics and his contributions to Raw magazine and other anthologies.

Returning to comics in the early 1990s, Panter drew seven issues of a “Jimbo” comic book. He then began deliving into light shows, staging elaborate psychedelic performances in his studio space. More recently, he has collaborated with Joshua White to mount lightshows in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

In 2006-2007, Panter was a featured artist in the touring exhibition, “Masters of American Comics.” His paintings and drawings have recently been exhibited at Dunn and Brown in Dallas and Clementine Gallery in New York. In 2008, he was the subject of a one-man show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut and in 2011 he had a solo exhibition at the Galerie Martel in Paris.

His books include a comprehensive monograph, “Gary Panter,” and four graphic novels: “Jimbo in Purgatory,” “Jimbo’s Inferno,” “Cola Madness” and “Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise.”

Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.