In the News-John Hambrock

Art of Hoosier Cartoonists Goes on Display in Wisconsin

The Kenosha Public Museum of Kenosha, Wisconsin, is hosting an art exhibit called “More Than Funny: Cartoons and Comics From the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning.” The exhibit will run through Saturday, September 29, 2012, and includes work by Indiana cartoonists John Hambrock, Dave Coverly, and Michael Jantze, among others. A blog called "KenoWi" carried the story of the exhibit and of Mr. Hambrock in "John Hambrock at the Kenosha Public Museum," a posting of September 9.

John Hambrock, creator of the daily comic strip The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and like Dave Coverly (Speed Bump), attended Indiana University. Mr. Hambrock received a degree from the Ringling School of Art and Design. (Cartoonist and fine artist Rob Harrell, creator of Big Top, also went to the Ringling School.) Before becoming an artist, Mr. Hambrock aspired to a career in marine biology, which happens to have been the vocation of SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenberg. In any case, marine biology's loss is cartooning's gain. (Mark O'Hare, one more in a seemingly endless list of Hoosier cartoonists, has also worked on SpongeBob.) In addition to drawing a syndicated comic strip, John Hambrock works in advertising. Among his clients is Keebler, maker of cookies and crackers. (If I can squeeze in just one more parenthetical statement and one more Indiana connection, the Keebler Elves were co-created by advertising executive William Harty, an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame.) Check out the blog posting, and if you live close enough to Kenosha, check out the exhibit, too.

Copyright 2012, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Michael Jantze

Michael Jantze Fills In on the Comic Strip Cul de Sac

In the category of better late than never news, Michael Jantze, creator of the well regarded comic strip The Norm, was one of six cartoonists to fill in on Richard Thompson's award winning Cul de Sac for five weeks earlier this year. Mr. Jantze was first among the six to try his hand on Cul de Sac, with an initial offering on Monday, February 20, 2012. Children's book author Mo Willems, Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), Corey Pandolph (Elderberries), and Ken Fisher (Tom the Dancing Bug) each took his turn during March and April while Richard Thompson underwent treatment for Parkinson's disease. I'm happy to report that he is now back on the job. You can see Richard Thompson's blog, Cul de Sac, by clicking here.

Michael Jantze is a Hoosier by the slenderest of threads. Born in Middletown, New York, the cartoonist grew up in Normal, Illinois, and attended Goshen College in Indiana for a spell. He received his degree from California State University-Northridge and worked in New Orleans and at Industrial Light and Magic in California. His comic strip The Norm went into syndication in 1996. Mr. Jantze now lives, works, and teaches in Savannah, Georgia. You can find his website here.

Finally, to read the original article about fill-in cartoonists, see "'Cul de Sac' Guest Artists Move in Monday: On Hiatus, Thompson Asks 6 Top Cartoonists to Take a Shot at His Strip" by Michael Cavna on his Washington Post blog, Comic Riffs (Feb. 17, 2012), here.

Copyright 2012, 2024 Terence E. Hanley