Kathryn Moira Beaton (born 8 September 1983) is a Canadian

comics artist 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 g ...

best known as the creator of the

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

Hark! A Vagrant ''Hark! A Vagrant'' is a webcomic published by Canadian artist Kate Beaton between 2007 and 2018. It discussed historical and literary topics in a comedic tone and was drawn in black and white. Recurring themes ''Hark! A Vagrant'' is best k ...

'', which ran from 2007 to 2018. Her other major works include the children's books '' The Princess and the Pony'' and ''King Baby'', published in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The former was made into an

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

series called '' Pinecone & Pony'' released in 2022 on which Beaton worked as an executive producer. Also in 2022, Beaton released a memoir in graphic novel form, '' Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands'', about her experience working in the Alberta oil sands. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' named ''Ducks'' one of their top ten books of the year.

Early life

Of Scottish descent, Beaton grew up with her three sisters in

Mabou Mabou is an unincorporated settlement in the Municipality of the County of Inverness on the west coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. The population in 2011 was 1,207 residents. It is the site of The Red Shoe pub, the An Drochaid ...

on the isle of

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. She went to a small school for K–12, only having 23 people in her class. She graduated from

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not par ...

in 2005 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in history and anthropology. Beaton began drawing comics for the university newspaper, ''The Argosy'', during her third and fourth years at school. After college, she worked as an administrative assistant in the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Career

After graduating from Mount Allison in 2005 Beaton worked at an oil sands mining project in

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significan ...

to pay off her student loans. In 2007, while still working at the Maritime Museum of BC, Beaton decided to publish some of her history-inspired comics on the

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

. She posted comics to a new

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

, katebeaton.com, and to a

LiveJournal LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, a ...

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...

. In December of that year, she published the first of two popular batches of history-themed comic strips, whose subjects were ones suggested by at least twenty of her readers. Beaton published her webcomic, ''

'', from 2007 to 2018. She moved her work from LiveJournal to her new website, also titled ''Hark! A Vagrant'', in May 2008. Its subjects included

historical figure A historical figure is a significant person in history. The significance of such figures in human progress has been debated. Some think they play a crucial role, while others say they have little impact on the broad currents of thought and social ...

s, such as

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

and

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the An ...

, or

fictional characters In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

from

Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, an ...

. In several comics, Beaton caricatured herself, past and present. All were drawn by Beaton using MS Paint during her breaks at work. Beaton has a simple artistic style, with particular attention to detail paid to her characters' facial expressions; her skill at comic pacing has also been noted. ''Hark! A Vagrant'' won the 2011

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 Online Comic. Beaton's work has been profiled in ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'', ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian pers ...

'', and

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

. "The Origin of Man", her comic celebrating

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

's 200th birthday, was showcased by

MySpace Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986 in comics, 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 in comics, 2000 cancellation. The second incarna ...

in March 2009. In June 2009, she released a book titled ''Never Learn Anything from History''. Several of her cartoons have been published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''.

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, a ...

released her second book, also titled ''Hark! A Vagrant'', in September 2011. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine named it one of the top ten fiction books of the year, with

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), ''The Magician King'' (2011), and ''The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology ...

calling it "the wittiest book of the year." Beaton's self-published ''Never Learn Anything from History'' won the 2009 Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent. ''Hark! A Vagrant'' won the 2011

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

for Best Online Comics Work, having been nominated the previous year, and was also nominated for

Joe Shuster Award The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (or Joe Shuster Awards) are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadians. The awards, ...

s in 2009 and 2010. Beaton followed up her 2011 Harvey win by taking home three Harveys in 2012, for Humor, Online Work, and Best Cartoonist. She is a former member of Pizza Island, a cartoonist's studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn which was formed by herself and cartoonists

Lisa Hanawalt Lisa Hanawalt (born June 19, 1983) is an American illustrator, writer, and cartoonist. She has published comic series, as well as three books of illustrations. She worked as the production designer and a producer of the Netflix animated series ' ...

, Domitille Collardey,

Sarah Glidden Sarah Glidden (born in 1980) is an American cartoonist known for her nonfiction comics and graphic novels. Biography Glidden was born in Massachusetts, to a family of Jewish background. Glidden studied painting at Boston University. She began ...

Meredith Gran ''Octopus Pie'' is a webcomic written and drawn by Meredith Gran, and coloured by Valerie Halla and Sloane Leong. It focuses on the misadventures of two 20-something women living in Brooklyn, New York. It was updated every Monday, Wednesday and ...

, and

Julia Wertz Julia Wertz (born December 29, 1982) is an American cartoonist, writer and urban explorer. Cartooning career Wertz was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She made her name with a comic strip titled ''The Fart Party'', which Atomic Books anthol ...

. Beaton has contributed to

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in ...

' ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their debuts in ''Strange Tales''. It was a showcase for the science ...

'' anthology. In 2014, Beaton uploaded the five-part webcomic ''Ducks'', which presents a more serious and complex story based on Beaton's experiences working at a remote mining site in Canada. ''Step Aside, Pops'', a collection of her ''Hark! A Vagrant'' comics, topped ''The New York Times'' graphic novel bestseller list in October 2015. In a 2015 poll, Beaton ranked fourteenth among the top all-time female comics artists. Beaton's first children's book, '' The Princess and the Pony'', was released in 2015. In 2016, she published the picture book ''King Baby''. In October 2018, Beaton ended the ongoing serialization of her webcomic, saying, "I feel like this is a project that has run its course." In 2022, an animated TV series based on Kate Beaton's ''The Princess and the Pony'', called '' Pinecone & Pony'', was released on the streaming service

, with Beaton serving as executive producer. In September 2022, Beaton released a memoir in graphic novel form called '' Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands'', which documented her experience working in the energy extraction industry for Alberta oil sands before she became a cartoonist. It expanded on her earlier 2014 webcomic ''Ducks''.

Personal life

She is married to Morgan Murray, a writer whose debut novel ''Dirty Birds'' was published in 2020. She has two children. After living in New York and Toronto, Beaton now lives in Nova Scotia with her family.

Awards

, - , 2009 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' , Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent , , , - , 2009 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' ,

s , , , - , 2010 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' ,

for Best Online Comics Work , , , - , 2010 , ''Never Learn Anything From History'' , Doug Wright Award for The Pigskin Peters Award , , , - , 2011 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' ,

for Outstanding Online Comic , , , - , 2012 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' ,

for Best Online Comics Work , , , - , 2012 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' ,

Special Award for Humor in Comics , , , - , 2012 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' ,

for Best Cartoonist , , , - , 2012 , ''Hark! A Vagrant'' , Doug Wright Award for Best Book , , , - , 2016 , ''Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection'' ,

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are List of Eisner Award winners, prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Acad ...

for Best Humor Publication , , , - , 2016 , ''The Princess and The Pony'' , CBC Children's Choice Book Award: Illustrator , , , - , 2016 , ''The Princess and The Pony'' , E.B. White Read-Aloud Book Award: Picture Book , , , - , 2016 , ''King Baby'' , NAPPA Awards , , , - , 2016 , ''Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection'' , Doug Wright Award for Best Book , ,

Bibliography

Comic collections

* ''Never Learn Anything From History'' (2009) * ''Hark! A Vagrant'' (Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2011, ) * ''Step Aside, Pops'' (Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2015, )

Children's books

* '' The Princess and the Pony'' (New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2015, ) * ''King Baby'' (New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2016, )

Non-fiction

* '' Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands'' (Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2022, )

References

External links

''Hark! A Vagrant''
Comics by K. Beaton * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, Kate 1983 births Living people Alternative cartoonists Artists from Nova Scotia Canadian cartoonists Canadian children's writers Canadian comics writers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian female comics artists Canadian humorists Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian webcomic creators Canadian women cartoonists Canadian women children's writers Doug Wright Award winners for Best Emerging Talent Female comics writers Harvey Award winners Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Anthology or Collection Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Online Comic Mount Allison University alumni The New Yorker cartoonists Women humorists