Budd Root (born 1958 in Heidelberg, Germany) is an American cartoonist, and creator of the independent

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

'' Cavewoman'', published by Root's company Basement Comics/ Amryl Entertainment. Root is one of the premiere contemporary " good girl" artists, with an art style similar to

Art Adams Arthur Adams (born April 5, 1963) is an American comics artist, comic book artist and writer. He first broke into the American comic book industry with the 1985 Marvel Comics miniseries ''Longshot (Marvel Comics), Longshot''. His subsequent inte ...

Biography

Root was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

. Thanks to his grandfather, comics were a major influence during his youth.Root bio at Lambiek.net Comiclopedia.
Accessed September 15, 2008. Joining the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, Root worked in supply, achieving the rank of corporal. During his time in the service, the Marine Corps' graphic arts department utilized his art skills for drawing tanks and airplanes for internal presentations.Carter, R.J
"Interview: Budd Root: Rooting Around the Basement with Cavewoman," The Trades (January 1, 2002).
Accessed September 15, 2008. In 1993, after leaving the Marines, Root attempted to get into the comics industry. After repeatedly being rejected by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

and the mainstream companies, Root happened to meet author James Robert Smith at Smith's comic book store. Smith gave Root his first paid work, illustrating "James Gang" and "Johnny Thirteen" stories in ''James Gang'' #1, published by

London Night Studios Razor is a fictional character from the London Night Studios series ''Razor''. She was introduced in ''Razor'' #1 in October 1992, by writer/creator Everette Hartsoe. Fictional character biography Initially a victim of both of her father and her ...

. The one issue of ''James Gang'' sold poorly; so poorly, in fact, that Root was paid in

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

collectible cards from Smith's comic book store. Nonetheless, that first taste of getting published proved irresistible to Root and he was hooked on comics. Pooling money with his wife Leslie, he formed Basement Comics and self-published the first issue of ''Cavewoman'' in 1993. The book has proven to be extremely successful, spanning many issues, specials, and one-shots; and has since gone on to be published by

Caliber Press Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of America ...

and

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...

, in addition to Basement Comics.

Awards

Root's one-shot ''Cavewoman: Jungle Tales'', was nominated for a 1999

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping ...

for Outstanding Story.

Notes

References

Root bio at Lambiek.net Comiclopedia
*

External links

Basement Comics siteAmryl EntertainmentCavewoman & Budd Root message board forum
*Carter, R.J
"Interview: Budd Root: Rooting Around the Basement with Cavewoman," The Trades (January 1, 2002).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Budd 1958 births Living people American comics artists American comics writers Artists from North Carolina