Dave Coverly (born 1964) is the creator of the single-panel comic ''

Speed Bump Speed bumps (also called traffic thresholds, speed breakers or sleeping policemen) are the common name for a class of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Varia ...

''. He grew up in

Plainwell, Michigan Plainwell is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census. Plainwell is located on M-89 just east of its junction with US 131. The city of Otsego is about to the west. The city of ...

, USA, and graduated from

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(EMU) in Ypsilanti with a degree in philosophy. At EMU, he worked for the student newspaper, the ''

Eastern Echo ''The Eastern Echo'' is the independent student newspaper of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The paper is funded through advertising revenue. The paper is published on Mondays during the fall and winter semesters. Although E ...

''. He went on to get a master's degree in English from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. Coverly took a year off from graduate school, and during that time he was an art director for a public relations firm and an editorial cartoonist for the ''Battle Creek Enquirer''. He returned to Indiana in 1990 and became the editorial cartoonist for ''

The Herald-Times ''The Herald-Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Bloomington, Indiana and surrounding areas. The newspaper won the Blue Ribbon Daily award in 1975, 1984 2007, and 2014, naming it the best daily newspaper in the state of Indiana in those years. ...

'' in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

. His work appeared in '' Esquire'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

''. After

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

picked up his untitled cartoon panel in 1994, it was given the title ''Speed Bump'' and, a year later, it was running in more than 90 papers. In 1995, Coverly left ''The Herald-Times'' to concentrate on ''Speed Bump''. Dave and Chris Coverly live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with their children, Alayna and Simone.

Awards

He has been recognized for his work with the National Cartoonists Society Greeting Card Award for 1997 and another nomination for the same award for 1998, plus their Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1994 and 2002, with additional nominations for 2000 and 2001. Coverly received their Reuben Award in 2008.Jones, Al. "Speed Bump" creator and Plainwell High School grad Dave Coverly named cartoonist of the year", ''Kalamazoo Gazette'', May 27, 2010.
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Bibliography

Speed Bump Cartoon Collections

* ''Caution Speed Bump: Collection of Cartoon Skidmarks'' (June 2000) * ''Speed Bump: Cartoons for Idea People'' (September 2004) * ''Just One %$#@ Speed Bump After Another... More cartoons'' (December 2005) * ''Dogs are People, Too: A Collection of Cartoons to Make Your Tail Wag'' (February 2014) *''Laughter is the Best Medicine'' (March 2014) *''Cats Are People, Too: A Collection of Cat Cartoons to Curl up With'' (April 2020) *''Speed Bump: A 25th Anniversary Collection (May 2020)''

Speed Bump and Slingshot Misadventures (children's book series)

*''Night of the Living Worms'' (June 2015) *''Night of the Living Shadows'' (October 2016) *''Night of the Living Zombie Bugs'' (October 2017)

Illustrator

*''Sue MacDonald Had a Book'' by Jim Tobin (July 2009) *''The Very Inappropriate Word'' by Jim Tobin (August 2013) *''How to Care for Your T-Rex'' by Ken Baker (April 2019)

References

External links

National Cartoonists Society

''Speed Bump'' official web site

NCS Awards
1964 births Living people American comic strip cartoonists Eastern Michigan University alumni Artists from Ann Arbor, Michigan People from Ypsilanti, Michigan Reuben Award winners Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Plainwell, Michigan {{US-cartoonist-stub