Photo by: Catherine Todd at WhereYartworks.com

​Carlos Mendieta is a New Orleans-based artist, comic creator and former video game animator.  Born and raised in Miami, FL, he has lived and worked in New Orleans for  10 years creating art and exhibiting in group shows around New Orleans.  His work can be found in private collections around the world from New Orleans to Australia, including on display as part of the permanent collection of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center here in New Orleans.  

During his 25 year career as a senior animator, he worked at some of the most notable publishers/studios in the games industry such as: Nintendo/Retro Studios, Microsoft/InXile Entertainment, 2K and Mob Entertainment to name a few.  He's shipped 20+ games over the course of his career including the Metroid Prime Trilogy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Mario Kart 7, Contra: Operation Galuga, NBA2K23-25 and Poppy Playtime Chapter 4.  

As of 2026, he has left the games industry to focus on writing and drawing his own  creator-owned comics and graphic novels under his 'a.wake' imprint.  His first release, "Counter Culture" #1, was successfully crowd-funded through Kickstarter and fully funded in less than an 60 minutes, eventually quadrupling its funding goal.  He is currently working on his first original graphic novel, a weekly online strip, a remastered/remixed, definitive collected edition of all of the published and unpublished "Counter Culture" material as well as an anthology of short stories along with other New Orleans-based comic book creators.  

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