Jeffrey Brown
| Jeffrey Brown | |
|---|---|
 Jeffrey Brown at Heroes Con 20. |
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| Born | 1975 (age 36–37) Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
| Notable works | Bighead Clumsy |
| Awards | Ignatz Award, 2003 |
| Official website | |
Jeffrey Brown (born 1975) is a comic book writer and artist born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
After growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a 25-year-old Jeffrey Brown moved to Chicago in 2000 to pursue an MFA at the School of the Art Institute. By the time he finished his studies, he 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. He specializes in personal and intimate works detailing moments in relationships. He writes and draws his comics in sketchbooks, and his drawing is often out of proportion or incorrect in a way that mirrors that strain and awkwardness of the situations he depicts. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer and their son.
Established as a sensitive chronicler of bittersweet adolescent romance and nonsense superhero parody, Brown's current direction remains split between more autobiography examining the minutae of everyday life and whatever humorous fiction he feels in the mood for, and a wide range of fiction subjects in his new series Sulk.
[edit] Comic works
Brown's most popular works include Clumsy (the story of a long-distance relationship), Unlikely (the story of how Brown lost his virginity), AEIOU, and Every Girl is the End of the World For Me, comprising the so-called "Girlfriend Trilogy" and its epilogue. More recently his autobiographical work has included Little Things and the memoir Funny Misshapen Body. His humorous works include Bighead (a super-hero parody), I Am Going To Be Small, Cat Getting Out Of A Bag and 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.
[edit] 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.[1]
James Kochalka has called Brown's Clumsy his "favorite graphic novel ever."[2]
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.[3]
[edit] Other work
Brown directed the animated music video for Death Cab for Cutie's "Your Heart is an Empty Room".[4]
He has contributed to NPR's This American Life.[5]
He was featured in the 2009 documentary Drawing Between The Lines by Bruce Parsons.[6]
He illustrated the movie poster for the 2010 feature-length documentary Rabbit Fever.[7]
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. [8][9]
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] 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)
- I Am Going To Be Small (2006)
- Cat Getting Out of a Bag (2007)
- 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)
- Undeleted Scenes (2010)
- Incredible Change-Bots Two (2011)
- A Matter Of Life (2012)
- Star Wars: Darth Vader & Son (2012)
[edit] Comics
- Be A Man
- Conversations #2 (with James Kochalka)
- Feeble Attempts
[edit] Significant anthology contributions
- MOME Vol. 1-6
- Drawn and Quarterly Showcase Vol. 2
- Kramers Ergot Vol. 4
- The Escapist Vol. 3
- McSweeney's #13
- Best American Comics 2007
- Yale Anthology of Graphic Fiction Vol. 1-2
- Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #15
- Strange Tales #3
- Side B from Poseur Ink
[edit] References
- ^ 2003 Ignatz Award Recipients, SPX website. Accessed Dec. 27, 2008.
- ^ Quoted on Clumsy page at Top Shelf website. Accessed Dec. 27, 2008.
- ^ Stump, Greg. Comics Journal interview, Comics Journal #287 (Dec. 3, 2007). Accessed Dec. 27, 2008.
- ^ "News: Nick and Directions’ director Jeffrey Brown Signing in Minneapolis," Death Cab for Cutie website (Apr. 17, 2006). Accessed Dec. 27, 2008.
- ^ "237: Regime Change," This American Life website (Apr. 18, 2003). Accessed Dec. 27, 2008.
- ^ "Catalog > Jeffrey Brown'" Top Shelf Productions website. Accessed Dec. 3, 2009
- ^ Matheson, Whitney (2009-08-05). "Cool Movie Alert: Rabbit Fever". USA Today. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/popcandy/post/2009/08/cool-movie-alert-rabbit-fever/1. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
- ^ "Sundance 2012," Jeffrey Brown website (Nov. 30, 2011). Accessed Dec. 8, 2012.
- ^ "Save The Date," Official website (Nov. 30, 2011). Accessed Dec. 8, 2012.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Top Shelf Comix - Jeffrey Brown's publisher.
- The Holy Consumption of Chicago - Regularly updated with work by Jeffrey as well as John Hankiewicz, Paul Hornschemeier and Anders Nilsen.
- Crudely Drawn Naked People - A blog attempting to review all of Jeffrey Brown's published work. (On hiatus since September, 2008)
- Hand-written interview with Jeffrey Brown' - A 2-page interview from ifpthendirt.
- Audio Interview at Crown Commission April 2006 interview.
- Radio Interview with The Panel July 2006 interview.
- Drawing Between the Lines A short documentary created in 2006 about Jeffrey Brown and his work.
- Audio Interview February 2007 interview on the Around Comics Podcast
- Comic book artist Jeffrey Brown: More than meets the eye November 2007 interview with the New York Daily News.
- Comic artist Jeffrey Brown is back with Little Things April 2008 interview with the New York Daily News.
- Jeffrey Brown at the Internet Movie Database (1)
- Jeffrey Brown at the Internet Movie Database (2)
