James Sturm
Encyclopedia
James Sturm is an American
cartoonist
, Xeric Award-winner, and co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies
in White River Junction, Vermont
. Sturm is also the founder of The National Association of Comics Art Educators (NACAE); an organization committed to helping facilitate the teaching of comics in higher education.
. While at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, Sturm was pulled back into comics by a chance encounter with a neighbor’s box of underground comics and a copy of Mark Alan Stamaty
's Macdoodle Street. In 1988, one year after graduating from UW–Madison, Sturm self-published Down and Out Dawg, a book collecting his college newspaper strips, and Commix, an anthology that featured some of the first works of Chris Ware
and Scott Dikkers
. In 1990, Sturm was hired as a production assistant on Art Spiegelman
’s groundbreaking RAW magazine, and subsequently was published in the second and fourth issues of the Drawn & Quarterly anthology magazine.
1991 was extremely busy for Sturm as he received a Master of Fine Arts
from the School of Visual Arts
in New York, moved to Seattle and co-founded the alternative newsweekly, The Stranger
. Meanwhile, Fantagraphics published his first comic book The Cereal Killings #1. During the next five years James juggled jobs as art director of The Stranger, publisher of his own Bear Bones Press, and work on his own comics, like The Revival, published in 1996. In 1997, Sturm became a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design
, in Savannah
, Georgia
.
In 1998, Drawn & Quarterly published the story Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight, the second in Sturm's trilogy of American historical fiction
pieces. Two years later came the last installment of the trilogy, the best-selling and award-winning graphic novel The Golem's Mighty Swing. This book went on to be printed in three languages, earned praise from such publications as The Sunday Observer, Entertainment Weekly
, and The Washington Post Book World, and was chosen as the Best Graphic Novel of 2000 by Time. In 2004, Drawn & Quarterly collected Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight and The Revival as a deluxe comic book titled Above & Below. In October 2007, the trilogy was collected in a volume entitled James Sturm's America: God, Gold, and Golems.
In the 1970s, James saw an interview with Stan Lee
on Wonderama
, a show on WPIX-TV, and the next day he went out and bought a Fantastic Four
Marvel
comic book. In 2003, James got the chance to write Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules
, a four-issue series (later released as a trade paperback) featuring characters based on the Fantastic Four and published by Marvel Comics. Unstable Molecules went on to win an Eisner Award for “Best Limited Series.”
In 2004, Sturm and Michelle Ollie founded the Center for Cartoon Studies
, with its first classes offered in the fall of 2005.
On April 7, 2010, Sturm announced he was "quitting the Internet
" and, ironically, will write and draw about it for Slate Magazine
Sturm, his wife, and their two daughters live in White River Junction, Vermont.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, Xeric Award-winner, and co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies
Center for Cartoon Studies
The Center for Cartoon Studies is a two year institution focusing on sequential art, specifically Comics and Graphic Novels, Located in the village of White River Junction, in the town of Hartford, Vermont, the Center offers a Master of Fine Arts degree, both one and two-year certificate...
in White River Junction, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. Sturm is also the founder of The National Association of Comics Art Educators (NACAE); an organization committed to helping facilitate the teaching of comics in higher education.
Biography
Sturm became a big fan of comics as a child, starting with PeanutsPeanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
. While at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, Sturm was pulled back into comics by a chance encounter with a neighbor’s box of underground comics and a copy of Mark Alan Stamaty
Mark Alan Stamaty
Mark Alan Stamaty is an American cartoonist and children's book writer and illustrator. During the 1980s and 1990s, Stamaty's work appeared regularly in the Village Voice...
's Macdoodle Street. In 1988, one year after graduating from UW–Madison, Sturm self-published Down and Out Dawg, a book collecting his college newspaper strips, and Commix, an anthology that featured some of the first works of Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
and Scott Dikkers
Scott Dikkers
Scott Dikkers is a United States comedy writer and filmmaker. He was the founding editor of The Onion, and the leading creative force behind the publication's rise from a local college newspaper to an internationally acclaimed humor brand name...
. In 1990, Sturm was hired as a production assistant on Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
’s groundbreaking RAW magazine, and subsequently was published in the second and fourth issues of the Drawn & Quarterly anthology magazine.
1991 was extremely busy for Sturm as he received a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York, moved to Seattle and co-founded the alternative newsweekly, The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
. Meanwhile, Fantagraphics published his first comic book The Cereal Killings #1. During the next five years James juggled jobs as art director of The Stranger, publisher of his own Bear Bones Press, and work on his own comics, like The Revival, published in 1996. In 1997, Sturm became a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design
SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, is a private, accredited and degree-granting university with locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France.-History:...
, in Savannah
Savannah
Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
In 1998, Drawn & Quarterly published the story Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight, the second in Sturm's trilogy of American historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
pieces. Two years later came the last installment of the trilogy, the best-selling and award-winning graphic novel The Golem's Mighty Swing. This book went on to be printed in three languages, earned praise from such publications as The Sunday Observer, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, and The Washington Post Book World, and was chosen as the Best Graphic Novel of 2000 by Time. In 2004, Drawn & Quarterly collected Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight and The Revival as a deluxe comic book titled Above & Below. In October 2007, the trilogy was collected in a volume entitled James Sturm's America: God, Gold, and Golems.
In the 1970s, James saw an interview with Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
on Wonderama
Wonderama
Wonderama was a long-running children's television program that appeared on the Metromedia-owned stations from 1955 to 1986, with WNEW-TV in New York City being its originating station....
, a show on WPIX-TV, and the next day he went out and bought a Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
comic book. In 2003, James got the chance to write Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules
Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules
Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules is a four-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. The series imagines that the creators of the Fantastic Four were inspired by people encountered in their own lives during the late 1950s and provides a backstory for those analogues.- Plot:Dr...
, a four-issue series (later released as a trade paperback) featuring characters based on the Fantastic Four and published by Marvel Comics. Unstable Molecules went on to win an Eisner Award for “Best Limited Series.”
In 2004, Sturm and Michelle Ollie founded the Center for Cartoon Studies
Center for Cartoon Studies
The Center for Cartoon Studies is a two year institution focusing on sequential art, specifically Comics and Graphic Novels, Located in the village of White River Junction, in the town of Hartford, Vermont, the Center offers a Master of Fine Arts degree, both one and two-year certificate...
, with its first classes offered in the fall of 2005.
On April 7, 2010, Sturm announced he was "quitting the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
" and, ironically, will write and draw about it for Slate Magazine
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
Sturm, his wife, and their two daughters live in White River Junction, Vermont.
Awards
- 2004: Won "Best Limited Series" Eisner AwardEisner AwardThe Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
, for Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules, with Guy Davis
External links
- James Sturm at the Center for Cartoon Studies
- James Sturm at LambiekLambiekLambiek is a comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded in 1968 by Kees Kousemaker .It has held exhibitions of art by comic creators, including Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Erik Kriek, André Franquin, Tanino Liberatore and Chris Ware...
Comiclopedia - Read Yourself Raw profile
- Drawing on Life, JewishJournal review of The Golem's Mighty Swing
- Jeet Heer's examination of the CCS, originally published in Boston Globe Ideas
Interviews
- Booklist Online interview
- Entering James Sturm's America, NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
, March 15, 2007 - Excerpt from The Comics Journal interview