Jeff Kinney: Wise Words from Wimpy Kid Writer

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Jen Vaughn

Today, cartoonist and household name Jeff Kinney stopped by The Center for Cartoon Studies to talk about his empire built upon one unusual book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

The main character, a doofy ‘cad’ named Greg character comes from a long-line of cartooning and work during Kinney’s off time. He began his cartooning career in college with the strip called Igdoof with some successful newspaper coverage and a little encouragement from Lincoln Peirce (creator of strip comic, Big Nate).  Life continued for an fully-employed Kinney, drawing in his off time and slowly filling a 70 page sketchbook with ideas for Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Title added by Schulz Library for additional (if not funny) emphasis

Kinney references Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers and about putting in the time for what you love. His sketchbook is proof! The first page contains some of the later characters and Kinney talks about how he could fill up 3-4 pages a night. Flash forward months later, as his handwriting began to shrink and his pages looked like the right hand page below, taking 3-4 NIGHTS to finish a page. His 70 pages of ideas turned into 1,300 Wimpy Kid pages of comics first featured on Funbrain.


After Abrams published Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kinney began his book tour and learned (not that he needed it) about humility. At first, no one showed up to his book signings. Lovely book sellers would sit with him and always made the same two comments: “The weather is too nice for people to stay indoors” and “The weather is too lousy for people to drive.” Once, Kinney gave his entire Diary presentation to one lone girl who claimed to “love slumber parties.” In an attempt to connect, Kinney said he did too…realizing under different circumstances he could get in a lot of trouble. Then one day, he walked into a sweltering bookstore PACKED with 600 kids. Excited, he watched the first girl in line vomit from heat and nervousness. He was on his way.

Kinney touches on two other graduates from his alma mater, Aaron McGruder of Boondocks and Frank Cho of Liberty Meadows

Once Hollywood came a-calling, Kinney realized that he hated collaboration. Luckily, because he had another job, he was able to say “no” in certain circumstances. At the virtual world called Poptropica, Kinney helps create worlds for kids to adventure in and even got his old friend Lincoln Peirce into the mix. He was able to pay him back from his past kindness.

Kinney ended his talk with fantastic advice on prioritizing your days so you don’t miss out on your own life. For more than half of 2011, Kinney spend 15 hours a day drawing at his computer to send the drawings to the movie people, promotion people and more. He figured out after five years (he laughs) that he needs 350 gags for a Wimpy Kid book and with that goal in mind, he can spend more time with his family and make more books for audiences around the world! Time to hit the books or diary in this case.

-Jen Vaughn

Cartoonist Librarian

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Recommended Reading: Paul Pope Edition

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Katie Moody

Every so often our distinguished guests will have both the time and interest to check out the Schulz Library collection, and we are happy to oblige! Last week visiting artists Paul Pope and Sam Hiti were keen to peruse the books up here in our temporary location, and here are a few of the titles that Pope singled out:

Add 'em to your listRunning the gamut from mainstream to manga to instructional

Perhaps most notable among these four is Mr. Arashi’s Amazing Freak Show, by horror master Suehiro Maruo, as the book also ranks among CCS faculty member Steve Bissette‘s favorite manga.

Though to be fair, Steve has a lot of horror manga favorites

It might be difficult to track down a copy of The Complete Book of Cartooning by SIU Professor Emeritus John Adkins Richardson outside of AbeBooks, but Robin: Year One will prove less of a challenge. The latter was illustrated by Javier Pulido and Marcos Martin, and Pope digs their art style– which he described as a mashup of Mazzucchelli and Rude, two of his own favorites. (Finally, I’ll cop to adding Octobriana as more of a curiosity familiar to the man than a true recommendation, as our noble institution has an affinity for invented histories.)

Happy reading, and let us know what you think!

Katie Moody

CCS Librarian

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Paul Pope and Sam Hiti

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Jen Vaughn

Last Thursday, long time friends Paul Pope and Sam Hiti visited The Center for Cartoon Studies. They talked not about their long line of comics and publisher histories but on the drive behind their comic creative successes and how they have managed to be working cartoonists for decades.

A panel from Hiti’s Death-Day

While Hiti is married with children, Pope is in a long term relationship with a performance artist and has a freer schedule. Pope said that life is all comics to him, one aspect of his life affects another. Hiti’s work schedule allows him to work during the day in his studio, whether on his long ancient civilization history series for Lerner or comics, and his family life is completely separate.

Pope working in the CCS lab with student Romey Bensen

What both creators agree on is reading a variety of books, and enjoying all the creative works of other people, be it plays, movies, or novels. And that comics is a lot of work, feast and famine. They send each other articles and pages or thumbnails of their current work. “For Your Eyes Only” is their old joke but the two operate for each other as sounding boards, despite working with different genres of comics. They encouraged students to have someone like in their lives, just as Steve Bissette always preaches. Your classmates will be your editorial family, use them and help them.

Pope’s White River Junction inks

Do you have a creative work buddy?

-Jen Vaughn

CCS Librarian

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Visiting Artist Jamboree!

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Jen Vaughn

This Spring semester at The Center for Cartoon Studies is chock full of amazing cartoonists, spellbinding story-tellers and groundbreaking designers. In a town where you know everyone on the street, it is quite a blast to turn around one afternoon and see Jules Feiffer or Carol Tyler buying a coffee.

January starts off with a BANG as Paul Pope and Sam Hiti head up north. Pope’s comic, Battling Boy, is to be serialized by First Second. Hiti’s works are numerous like the beautiful Death-Day and many educational ancient civilization history books by Lerner.

In almost a complete 180 degrees, the next week will feature children’s book authors and illustrators, DB Johnson and John Stadler. Now that The Cats of Mrs. Calamari is out, we are definitely wondering what Stadler is up to meow.

The emperor of Wimpy Kids everywhere, Jeff Kinney, will show up and wow the students with his expertise on series as well as writing his most recent edition: Cabin Fever. If there is anyone who could possibly understand this mindset, it is the hard-working CCS students drawing with their five hours of winter sunlight. The illustrious Albert Ohams, editor of the comics section of the Nigerian newspaper The Sun, is also due to visit.

Local CCS alum and constant creator, Joe Lambert, will bring down the house just in time for Peter Burr, cartoonist and performance artist of Hooliganship, to whip the town back into shape. Burr visited the school back in 2008 with his Cartun Exprez tour featuring interactive animation and manic musicianship.

Later in the semester is the battle of the creative couples. Marc Bell and Amy Lockhart boast a variety of skills and fantastic stories. Lockhart is currently working on a new animated film called “Dizzler in: Maskheraid.”

Babysitter’s Club cartoonist Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will discuss everything from comics creation to teaching comics. One of the many wonders of the Schulz Library is having several of their self-published mini-comics in our zine collection before publishers picked them up. Raina’s most recent book, Smile, is about her battle within her own mouth while Dave’s Astronaut Academy is a series of short stories about school in space build upon each other; and it tastes a bit like Sideway Stories from Wayside School but with a panda!

Cartoonist and journalist Josh Neufeld will touch on his many works: New Orleans, A.D.; The Influencing Machine and A Few Perfect Hours (a Xeric winner!).

Lewis Hyde’s name might not be as well known as these other to the students but his works on creativity and vision are famous: The Gift and Common As Air. As a cultural critic and essayist, Hyde’s lecture will be a bit different but just as anticipated.

The Visiting Artist lineup is fantastic and one of the best ever! Don’t recognize one? Well, the time has come to visit your local bookstore, comic book shop or library!

-Jen Vaughn

CCS Librarian

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Joe Lambert’s Big Year

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Jen Vaughn

2011 was a great year for cartoonist and CCS ’08 alum Joseph Lambert. His new book I Will Bite You from Secret Acres won the sacred brick Ignatz award at the Small Press Expo last September (two to be exact, for Outstanding Artist and Collection!).

I Will Bite You was featured on the Drawn Blog as one of designer and cartoonist John Martz’s favorite books of 2011.

HOWEVER, January has started off with a bang. Stories from I Will Bite You are featured in the next Stripburger collection. His new graphic novel featuring not only Helen Keller but the struggles of her mentor, teacher and friend Annie Sullivan is coming out this March from Hyperion and The Center for Cartoon Studies. 2012 is going to blow 2011 out of the ink water!

Coming up at the Center for Cartoon Studies Gallery, Lambert’s art will grace the wall along with cartoonist and faculty member Jon Chad, whose book Leo Geo is set to come out from Roaring Brook Press the same month as Annie Sullivan. The previews of the book are breath-taking, Lambert’s already masterful handle on color guides and commands the story.

Some interiors of I Will Bite You

The Schulz Library is very happy to be a home base for Joe and looks forward to his upcoming releases. You can purchase I Will Bite You from the Secret Acres store run by Barry and Leon AND pre-order Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller from Amazon today.

-Jen Vaughn

CCS Librarian

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Graphic Novels to Buy with those Gift Cards

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Jen Vaughn

In the aftermath of the holidays, we’re all working off all those tasty treats and looking forward to 2012. Snowball fights and knitting circles, or barbeques and suntanning for those in warmer climates. More than likely, you or one of your nieces, nephews or kids received a gift card to the book store (or Amazon). You trust your kids to buy good books but here is the Schulz Library Quick Reference List for great graphic novels that came out in 2011 or you might have missed.

Fish You Were Here, #4 in the Guinea Pig series by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue.

This series is an affordable book for mystery-loving kids. Under $10 and full of jokes suitable for all ages (like Shrek), I see this book being read aloud by parents to their children all the time. Does your kid want or have a pet? This is a very pleasing series of mysteries taking place in a pet store staring Sasspants the Guinea P.I. and Hamisher the Hamster.

Americus by M.K. Reed and Jonathan Hill

For every person who has ever fought to keep a book in their library, Americus stars a young boy name Neal doing just that. What if you had been denied the liberty of reading that last book in the Harry Potter, Twilight or Hunger Games series? Librarians, lovers of science-fiction and kid power will enjoy this beautifully drawn graphic novel and Neal’s fight to keep is favorite sci-fi series available in his library.

Chi’s Sweet Home by Konami Kanata

This book was once referred to by publisher as “Just a manga all about a kitten.” That’s all I needed to hear to read it and Kanata’s clean watercolor drawings make this series worth reading over and over and over. Chi is an orphan, like most modern heroes, who finds a home with a married couple and their child. The irresistibly cute drawings of Chi maneuvering around his world might be a bit saccharine for some but the hilarious reactions of his owners are something any pet or child owner can identify with.

Vietnamerica by G.B. Tran

G.B. Tran weaves one full story about his family’s struggle moving from Vietnam to America, as you might suspect from the title. G.B. completes his family circle by returning to Vietnam to learn more about his family’s history, feelings and himself. This sprawling colorful book is a must-have and must-read.

The Klondike by Zach Worton

In love with the Wild West or money? Those might initially attract you to The Klondike by Zach Worton, but you will stay for the episodic, layered story telling. Worton’s are panels so full of beauty and ink that you can practically hear music in a fit of synesthesia. It is the perfect blend of Canadian-American history and gold-panning instructional comics.

Evolution by Jay Hosler, Kevin Cannon & Zander Cannon

These three kings of non-fiction comics combine in a rather hefty comic book about Darwin’s writings. The alien scientist from a previous Cannon collaboration on genetics, Stuff of Life, reappears in this fun graphic novel. Definitely for those readers who love science but do not have to be biologists by day to enjoy it.

Skyscrapers of the Midwest by Joshua Cotter

The anthropomorphized cast of Skyscrapers of the Midwest take you through a pained childhood made wonderful by their imaginations and high-jenks. Cotter’s graphic novel has even been adapted to the stage.

The Hidden by Richard Sala

You can’t start the new year with out the end of times. Sala’s new book features his recognizable palette and quirky, gothic font in an adult tale about. The post-apocalyptic tale starts with a man waking up to find that everything has gone wrong; sorta a Rip Van Screwed. Great for those who enjoy zombie movies and dystopian books like 1984 or The Hunger Games.

Jet Scott (Vol. 1 or 2)

With inventions like the “Anti-Gravitator” and children named “Brainbox”, this science fiction collection is an amazing combination of mystery, pseudo-science and fun. But don’t be fooled by silly names, part of this strip’s success is that it takes itself seriously. Drawn expertly by Jerry Robinson (who recently passed away and is known for inventing Batman’s the Joker) and written by Sheldon Stark, these collections are bound to be loved by the older readers in your life and young sci-fi enthusiasts.

-Jen Vaughn

CCS Librarian

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Max de Radiguès for Angoulême!

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Jen Vaughn

Every year, one town is taken over in France for the sake of comics. This town is Angoulême with a population over 40,000 people. The International Festival of Bande Dessinee (often just called Angoulême by Americans) is huge and draws cartoonists, scholars and readers from around the world.

Max de Radiguès and Joe Lambert in Alec Longstreth’s apartment

Our 2009 fellow, Max de Radiguès, was recently honored by the Angoulême committee. His work, Meanwhile in White River Junction, was picked as part of the Official Selection List for the 2012 Festival. From this distinguished list; which includes work by Cyril Pedrosa, Craig Thompson, Dan Clowes, Maximilian Le Roy and Blutch, the Festival will pick several winners for different categories like Best Newcomer, Daring Creation and Best Series.

Max created Meanwhile in White River Junction, of course, while living in the WRJ. His weekly comic Meanwhile… was published in France a few weeks after he would essentially live it and put pen to paper. His enthusiasm for comics and camaraderie were infectious; Max spent a lot of his time back in Belgium working with a comic collective called L’Employé du Moi.

Covering all things American from the semi-rural life in Vermont to making friends in a small, tight-knit community, Max effortlessly pens engaging comics and vignettes. Check out a copy for yourself, as long as you read French, and look out for Max de Radiguès this January 26th-29th, 2012 in Angoulême, France.

-Jen Vaughn

CCS Librarian

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New Books Galore

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Katie Moody

An inaction shot of our trusty– and duly labeled– “new arrivals” cart

One of the hazards of being both a comics enthusiast and a comics librarian is that your reading list soon becomes taller than you are. Check out some of the marvelous titles to be found among the recent donations we’ve received:

Not bad, right?

It’s always interesting to see the mix of brand-spanking-new titles, new editions of enduring material, and more seasoned releases that are just now filling holes in our collection. Long-running series can be difficult to track down in their entirety, but a handful have been freshly repackaged and republished for our ease of consumption: the enormous Alec hardcover by Eddie Campbell (from Top Shelf), the fat Queen & Country volumes by Greg Rucka and various (from Oni Press), and the Hopeless Savages “greatest hits” collection by Jen Van Meter and various (also from Oni). What a treat for we hungry comics readers! I’m hoping to get my mitts on a copy of the new Milk and Cheese collection– from Evan Dorkin (and Dark Horse)– sometime soon as well.

There are a number of heavy hitters on the production-values front, to boot: The ACME Novelty Library #16 by Chris Ware (self-published, distributed by Drawn & Quarterly), Strange Suspense and The Three Paradoxes by Steve Ditko and Paul Hornschemeier, respectively (from Fantagraphics), a lovely Tezuka volume from Vertical, Jim McCann and Janet Lee‘s Return of the Dapper Men from Archaia, that ludicrously swank Luke Skywalker tome from Dark Horse, the previously featured collections of Mark Schultz‘s work from Flesk Publications, and– in addition to Alec– handsome hardcovers of both Blankets (by Craig Thompson) and Lost Girls (by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie) from Top Shelf.

I would love to highlight both the second Finder library volume by Carla Speed McNeil (from Dark Horse) and Nursery Rhyme Comics by various (from First Second) as well, but they have been such hot-ticket reads among the CCS student body that they are currently checked out. Which I suppose makes for quite a collective recommendation for both of those titles!

On the prose side of things, there are three fantastic McSweeney’s volumes that have doubled our count of the celebrated quarterly. But that, dear reader, is a post for another day.

Katie Moody

Librarian, the Center for Cartoon Studies

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How To Draw Reprinted!

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Jen Vaughn

The Center of Cartoon Studies is known for its great student-to-teacher ratio, a stupendous lab to take ideas from sketchbooks to finished books (with almost ANY binding solution), and the works created with Hyperion like Amelia, Satchel Paige and Houdini. And a little How To Booklet…

Photo by Kate Moody

In addition to handing out applications on tours for the school and at conventions, we hand out a How to Draw booklet drawn by Kevin Huizenga. The interesting part of the book is that it does talk about the school and town but is more like a memoir for the time period. A living time capsule about White River Junction and how cartoonists make comics now (from screen printing to computer clean up).

Recently, we ran out of our first print run.  10,000 copies found their way into the hands of eager children, people who love zines and occasionally crumpled at the bottom of a bag. A second print run was needed, as the school is contacted by libraries and schools all over the country for more of those ‘How To’ books. You can read it all online or look for it at a comic convention near you!

And another type of perspective:

-Jen Vaughn

Librarian, The Center for Cartoon Studies

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This Just In: Mark Schultz in the Schulz

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Katie Moody

Schultz talks about the early days of his trademark series

Dinosaur-drawing dynamo Mark Schultz visited CCS for a guest lecture last Thursday, and it was a treat to hear about his career thus far. Not only has the man won multiple Eisner and Harvey awards (among others), but his skill set is so varied that he moves fluidly between illustration, sequential art, and writing– either for himself or for others. Schultz is also one of the few comics professionals to work in both comic books and newspaper strips, so while he’s best known for writing and illustrating his acclaimed, creator-owned series Xenozoic Tales, he also “plays the keyboard” scripting King Features’s long-running Prince Valiant strip, which is illustrated by Gary Gianni. (If the connection between dystopian dino sci-fi and King Arthur’s Camelot escapes you, know that the strip’s creator, Hal Foster, was an enormous influence on Schultz.)

A taste of what he’s been up to lately, from the upcoming Storms at Sea

Schultz was a gracious guest and generous with his time and expertise, giving an inking demo earlier in the day and hauling along a smorgasbord of original art and publications from over the years to show us. (He also introduced us to the existence of Wolff carbon pencils, which he’s been using to illustrate his upcoming novella, Storms at Sea. They allow deeper blacks and less shine than straight graphite, but are not as messy as charcoal.) His most recent works– including sketchbooks– have been released by Flesk Publications, and their production values are excellent. The 352-page Xenozoic collection in particular is a beaut, and features new scans of the original art.

The latest publications in question. Look delicious, no?

So imagine this part-time librarian’s delight on hearing that Schultz wanted to donate that collection, the two most recent volumes of Mark Schultz: Various Drawings, and the sold-out hardcover edition of Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic to the Schulz! What marvelous assets to the library and gifts to the CCS student body, present and future. I’m looking forward to reading both Schultz’s essay on Williamson– who was another principal influence on him, alongside Foster– and the introduction by longtime favorite Sergio Aragones. (If you’re likewise interested and your local library does not oblige, a softcover edition of the book is still available here.) The art collected in those sketchbooks is pretty jaw-dropping, with excellent scans, and many finished pieces are published alongside their early roughs. Say yes to process!

Such as this lovely preliminary study to the above, found in Various Drawings vol. 4

It’s illuminating to hear a creator’s perspective on their own work and doings in the industry, as everybody’s path through this curious profession is different, and likewise instructive to see what changes they made and the groundwork they laid down over the course of making individual pieces. This kind of thing really rings my bell, so I was glad to get better acquainted with Schultz’s art and approach. (If you’re craving further details, a great interview with him can be found here.) And one of these months I hope to carve out the time to read The Stuff of Life, a nonfiction graphic novel on genetics from Hill & Wang that he wrote and Kevin and Zander Cannon illustrated a couple years back! (The only trouble with working at a funnybook library is the lopsided ratio of quality comics to one’s spare time, folks.)

Our sincere thanks go out to Mr. Schultz for his superb gifts to the library. It’s always neat to see an author’s name on the “donated by” seals that appear in many books throughout the collection, and we’re pleased to add these titles to the ranks.

Katie Moody

Librarian, the Center for Cartoon Studies

If they were juice, they’d be labeled “With Extra Pulp”

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