Jeffrey Brown (cartoonist)

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Jeffrey Brown
File:Z jeffrey brown8304556.JPG
Born July 1975 (age 48)
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Nationality American
Area(s) Cartoonist
Notable works
Clumsy
Unlikely
Bighead
Incredible Change-Bots
A Matter Of Life
Darth Vader and Son
Star Wars: Jedi Academy
Awards Ignatz Award, 2003
Eisner Award, 2013, 2014
http://www.jeffreybrowncomics.com

Jeffrey Brown (born July 1975)[1] is a cartoonist born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Biography

After growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Brown moved to Chicago in 2000 to pursue an MFA at the School of the Art Institute. By the time he finished his studies, Brown had abandoned painting and started drawing comics seriously. His first self-published book, Clumsy, appeared seemingly out of nowhere to grab attention from both cartoonists and comics fans. Brown specializes in personal and intimate works detailing moments in relationships. He writes and draws his comics in sketchbooks, and his drawing style mirrors the strain and awkwardness of the situations he depicts. Brown lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer and their two sons.

Established as a sensitive chronicler of bittersweet young-adult romance and nonsensical superhero parody, Brown's current direction remains split between autobiographical material, examining the minutae of everyday life, whatever humorous fiction he feels in the mood for, and a wide range of fiction subjects in his series Sulk. Brown has also created two series of books set in the Star Wars expanded universe (Under the "Legends" & "Infinities" brands).

Comic works

File:Jeffrey Brown.jpg
Jeffrey Brown at Heroes Con 20.

Brown's most popular works include Clumsy (the story of a long-distance relationship), Unlikely (the story of how Brown lost his virginity), and AEIOU (Any Easy Intimacy (Over Us)), comprising the so-called "Girlfriend Trilogy", and its epilogue, Every Girl is the End of the World For Me. More recently his autobiographical work has included Little Things and the memoirs Funny Misshapen Body and A Matter Of Life. His humorous works include Bighead (a super-hero parody), I Am Going To Be Small, Cat Getting Out Of A Bag, Kids Are Weird, and the graphic novel series Incredible Change-Bots.

His work has been featured in MOME Summer 2005 Vol. 1, as well as Drawn and Quarterly Showcase, McSweeney's #13, and The Best American Comics 2007. He was also featured in local newspapers such as the Chicago Reader and NewCity.

Brown's "To Phoenix I'm Sorry I Missed You" was published in the Spring 2008 issue of The Florida Review.

Brown has written and drawn seven books set in the Star Wars expanded universe. Brown has produced four humorous takes on Darth Vader as a hapless father to young Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia: Darth Vader and Son, Vader's Little Princess, Goodnight, Darth Vader, and Darth Vader and Friends. Brown has also created three volumes in his Jedi Academy series, which are young-adult novels done in the mixed cartooning and diary style of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, set in the Star Wars Universe.

Critical and commercial reception

He won an Ignatz Award in 2003 in the category of Outstanding Mini-Comic, for I Am Going To Be Small.[2]

James Kochalka has called Brown's Clumsy his "favorite graphic novel ever."[3]

Clumsy was originally self-published and was later published by Top Shelf Productions and as of 2007 an estimated 20,000 copies have been printed, according to an interview with Brown in The Comics Journal.[4]

Brown won back-to-back Eisner Awards for Best Humor Publication, for Darth Vader And Son (2013)[5] and Vader's Little Princess (2014).[6]

Other work

Brown directed the animated music video for Death Cab for Cutie's "Your Heart is an Empty Room".[7]

He has contributed to NPR's This American Life.[8]

He was featured in the 2009 documentary Drawing Between The Lines by Bruce Parsons.[9]

He illustrated the movie poster for the 2010 feature-length documentary Rabbit Fever.[10]

He co-wrote the 2012 feature film, Save the Date, with Egan Reich and Michael Mohan. The film stars Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Martin Starr, Geoffrey Arend, and Mark Webber, directed by Mohan. [11][12]

Bibliography

Books

Standalone Books

  • Clumsy (2002)
  • Unlikely (2003)
  • Bighead (2004)
  • Miniature Sulk (2005)
  • AEIOU or Any Easy Intimacy (2005)
  • Every Girl Is The End Of The World For Me (2006) (included in Undeleted Scenes)
  • I Am Going To Be Small (2006)
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  • Incredible Change-Bots (2007)
  • Little Things (2008)
  • Sulk Vol. 1 - Bighead and Friends (2008)
  • Sulk Vol. 2 - Deadly Awesome (2008)
  • Funny Misshapen Body (2009)
  • Sulk Vol. 3 - The Kind Of Strength That Comes From Madness (2009)
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  • Incredible Change-Bots Two (2011)
  • A Matter Of Life (2012)
  • Kids Are Weird (2014)
  • Incredible Change-Bots Two-Point-Something-Something (2014)

Star Wars: Darth Vader and Son (series)

Star Wars: Jedi Academy (series)

  • Star Wars: Jedi Academy (2013)
  • Star Wars Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan (2014)
  • Star Wars Jedi Academy: The Phantom Bully

Star Wars Jedi Academy: The Force Sleeps

Comics

  • Be A Man (included in Undeleted Scenes)
  • Conversations #2 (with James Kochalka)
  • Feeble Attempts

Significant anthology contributions

References

External links