After growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Brown moved to Chicago in 2000 to pursue an MFA at the School of the Art Institute.[2] By the time he finished his studies, Brown had abandoned painting and started drawing comics seriously.
Career
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. His first self-published book, Clumsy (2002), appeared seemingly out of nowhere to grab attention from cartoonists and comics fans, alike. Brown wrote and drew Clumsy while at the School of the Art Institute.[3]
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 minutiae 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).
In 2012, Brown told USA Today that Mark Alan Stamaty's picture book Small in the Saddle influenced his own career and about subsequently meeting its author; Brown's girlfriend (and later his wife) had helped him find a copy.[4]
Personal life
Brown lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer, a former Marvel Comics business development executive, and their two sons.[5][6]
Brown's most popular works — Clumsy (2002; the story of a long-distance relationship), Unlikely (the story of how Brown lost his virginity), and AEIOU (Any Easy Intimacy (Over Us)) — comprise 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 memoirsFunny 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 & 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.[citation needed]
Brown's "To Phoenix I'm Sorry I Missed You" was published in the Spring 2008 issue of The Florida Review.[citation needed]
Brown has written and drawn seven books set in the Star Wars expanded universe. These include 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 — and three volumes in the Jedi Academy series, which are young-adult novels done in the mixed cartooning and diary style of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.[citation needed]
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.[7]
James Kochalka has called Brown's Clumsy his "favorite graphic novel ever."[8]Clumsy (2002) was originally self-published and was later published by Top Shelf Productions; as of 2007, an estimated 20,000 copies have been printed, according to an interview with Brown in The Comics Journal.[9]
Brown won back-to-back Eisner Awards for Best Humor Publication, for Darth Vader And Son (2013)[10] and Vader's Little Princess (2014).[11]
^Christopher, Rob (2011-04-05). "Jeffrey Brown On His Incredible Change-Bots And More". The Chicagoist. Archived from the original on 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
^"40 Under 40 - Jeffrey Brown". Crain's Chicago Business. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
^Smith, Zack (30 October 2012). "Cartoonist talks about his favorite children's book". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
^"Jeffrey Brown gets painfully honest". Chicago Tribune. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
^"The Crazy Life of the 'Darth Vader and Son' Cartoonist". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
^"2003 Ignatz Award Recipients". SPXPO.com. 2003. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
^"Clumsy". Top Shelf Comix. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
^Stump, Greg (December 3, 2007). "Interview with Jeff Brown". Comics Journal #287. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
^"2014 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Winners". Comic-Con.org. 2014.
^"Episode 237: Regime Change". This American Life. April 18, 2003. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
^"News: Nick and Directions' director Jeffrey Brown Signing in Minneapolis". Death Cab for Cutie. April 17, 2006. Retrieved December 27, 2008.[permanent dead link]
^"Catalog > Jeffrey Brown". Top Shelf Productions. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
^Parsons, Bruce (2009). Drawing Between the Lines.
^Matheson, Whitney (2009-08-05). "Cool Movie Alert: Rabbit Fever". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
^"Sundance 2012". JeffreyBrownComics. November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
^"Official website". Save The Date. November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeffrey Brown (cartoonist).
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[permanent dead link] 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.