James Sturm
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James Sturm (born 1965) is an American
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
and co-founder of the
Center for Cartoon Studies The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is a two-year institution focusing on sequential art, specifically comics and graphic novelsWhite River Junction White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest co ...
,
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. 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 grew up in
Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...
, and later attended the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
. In 1988, one year after graduating, he 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 Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...
and
Scott Dikkers Scott Dikkers (born March 1, 1965) is an American comedy writer, speaker and entrepreneur. He was a founding editor of ''The Onion'', and is the publication's longest-serving editor-in-chief, holding the position from 1988–1999, 2005–2008, and ...
. In 1990, Sturm was hired as a production assistant on
Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...
's ''
RAW Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
'' magazine, and subsequently was published in the second and fourth issues of the ''
Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, ...
'' anthology magazine. In 1991, Sturm received a
Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
from the
School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...
in New York.Wolfe, Kristin L. "Spotlight New England: James Sturm," ''Visual Arts Journal: School of Visual Arts Magazine'' (Spring 2018), p. 43. He then moved to
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington, and co-founded the
alternative newsweekly An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...
, '' The Stranger''. Meanwhile,
Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...
published his first comic book ''The Cereal Killings'' #1. During the next five years Sturm 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) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Unit ...
, in
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. In 1998, Drawn & Quarterly published the story '' Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight'', the second in Sturm's trilogy of American
historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
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 ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', and ''The
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
Book World'', and was chosen as the Best Graphic Novel of 2000 by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. 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 2003, Sturm wrote the
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 ...
four-issue
miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
'' Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules'', featuring characters based on the Fantastic Four. It won an
Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
for Best Limited Series. In 2004, Sturm and Michelle Ollie founded the
Center for Cartoon Studies The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is a two-year institution focusing on sequential art, specifically comics and graphic novelsInternet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
for the website ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
''.


Awards

*2004:
Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
"Best Limited Series" for ''Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules'', with Guy Davis *1996
Xeric Award The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years List of Xeric grant winners, awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit ...
Xerix Awards 1996
/ref>


Bibliography

(writer and artist unless otherwise noted) * "Friday Night," ''
Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, ...
'' #2 (
Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, ...
, October 1990) * "Signs of the Times," ''Drawn & Quarterly'' #3 (Drawn & Quarterly, January 1991) * "Ring," ''Drawn & Quarterly'' #4 (Drawn & Quarterly, March 1991) * "The Lion and the Mouse," ''Aesop's Fables'' #2 (
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...
, Fall 1991)James Sturm
at the
Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...
*''The Cereal Killings'' #1–8 (Fantagraphics Books, March 1992–September 1995) *''The Revival'' ( Bear Bones Press, 1996) *''The Golem's Mighty Swing'' (Drawn & Quarterly, July 2001) * (script and layouts only) ''Startling Stories: Fantastic Four - Unstable Molecules'' #1–4 (
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 ...
, March–June 2003) *''Above and Below: Two Stories of the American Frontier'' (Drawn & Quarterly, Autumn 2004) * (script only) ''Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow'' ( Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2007) * ''Market Day'' (Drawn & Quarterly, 2010) * ''Off Season'' (Drawn & Quarterly, 2019)


''Adventures in Cartooning'' series

*''Adventures in Cartooning'' with Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost (2009)
First Second First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It als ...
*''Adventures in Cartooning Activity Book'' Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost (2010) First Second *''Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special'' with Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost (2012) First Second *''Adventures in Cartooning: Characters in Action'' with Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost (2013) First Second *''Sleepless Knight'' with Andrew Arnold & Alexis Frederick-Frost (2015) First Second *''Gryphons Aren't So Great'' with Andrew Arnold & Alexis Frederick-Frost (2015) First Second * ''Ogres Awake!'' with Andrew Arnold & Alexis Frederick-Frost (
First Second First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It als ...
, 2016)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, James 1965 births Alternative cartoonists Living people School of Visual Arts alumni The Stranger (newspaper) people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni