Sam Henderson (born October 18, 1969) 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 ...

, writer, and expert on American comedy history. He is best known for his ongoing comic book series ''Magic Whistle''. He was a contributor to the animated television series ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'' and '' Camp Lazlo''. Henderson has contributed work to ''

Duplex Planet Illustrated ''The Duplex Planet'' is a zine edited and published by David Greenberger since 1979. It contains transcriptions of his interviews with elderly residents of senior centers and "meal sites" in the Massachusetts area. For many years, the zine focuse ...

'', '' Zero Zero'', '' 9-11: Artists Respond, Volume One'', ''Mega-

Pyton ''Pyton'' was a Norwegian comic book series which was produced by the company Gevion, and afterwards Bladkompaniet, between the years 1986 until 1996. An anthology magazine with no major main character, its style of humor focused mostly on satir ...

'', ''

Maakies ''Maakies'' is a comic strip by Tony Millionaire. It began publication in February 1994 in the ''New York Press''. It has previously run in many American alternative newsweeklies including '' The Stranger'', ''LA Weekly'' and ''Only''. It has a ...

'', ''

Nib-Lit ''Nib-Lit'' is a weekly comics journal edited by Mykl Sivak and published both independently in an electronic format as well as running as a two-page section in ''Southern News'', the student newspaper of Southern Connecticut State University. The j ...

'', ''

Legal Action Comics ''Legal Action Comics'' is a series of comics anthologies edited by illustrator Danny Hellman which features work from many alternative comics artists. The first volume in the series was published in 2001,Hellman, Danny, editor. (2001). ''Legal Ac ...

'', and the animated shorts compilation '' God Hates Cartoons''. He has also been a past participant in Robert Sikoryak's ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'' multimedia slideshow series.

Biography

Henderson was born in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

. He attended

Boiceville, New York Boiceville is a hamlet in the town of Olive, Ulster County, New York, United States. Located at the intersection of New York State Route 28 and New York State Route 28A, Boiceville is within Catskill State Park. Boiceville was named for Lemuel Boi ...

's Onteora High School, graduating in 1987, and 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 City, where he graduated in 1991. Henderson has been self-publishing xeroxed

minicomic A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105& ...

s since 1980. In the mid-to-late 1980s he drew and published a comic called ''Captain Spaz'' with his friend Bobby Weiss. The series ended in 1988 as he was busy in college. In college, he drew a series of

minicomics A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105&n ...

featuring a character known as Monroe Simmons. In 1993 he began self-publishing his best-known title, ''The Magic Whistle'', now published by

Alternative Comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

. Also in 1993 he began the wordless comic strip ''Scene but Not Heard'', starring a pink man and a red bear, in ''

Nickelodeon Magazine ''Nickelodeon Magazine'' is a defunct American children's magazine inspired by the children's television network Nickelodeon. Its first incarnation appeared in 1990 and was distributed at participating Pizza Hut restaurants; the version of the ma ...

''. It was the magazine's longest-running comic strip. A collection was released in 2013. In its review of ''Magic Whistle: Bigger, Larger and Bigger!'' the ''San Antonio Express-News'' wrote that Henderson's "crude, blobby little scratchings are some of the funniest junk being turned out." Henderson was nominated for the

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 were ...

's Special Award for Humor every year from 1999 to 2004. Henderson also served on the

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 ...

jury in 2001. Henderson also worked on the third season of ''

'' as a writer and storyboard director. He teamed up with

Jay Lender Jay Lender (born June 14, 1969 in New Haven, Connecticut, United States) is an American television writer, storyboard artist and director. He is a former writer and storyboard director for ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Previous to his work on ''Spon ...

on all episodes except "

The Camping Episode The third season of the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', created by Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from October 5, 2001, to October 11, 2004, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the ...

," on which Lender and

Dan Povenmire Daniel Kingsley Povenmire ( ; born September 18, 1963) is an American animator, writer, director, producer, and voice actor. With Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Povenmire co-created the Disney animated series ''Phineas and Ferb'' and '' Milo Murphy's Law' ...

served as storyboard directors. In 2003, Henderson's writing and storyboard directing work on ''

'' earned him a nomination for Best Animated Program (for programming less than one hour) in the 55th

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. In 2005, Henderson worked as writer and storyboard director of "Parents Day," a season-two episode of '' Camp Lazlo''. Henderson currently lives in his hometown of Woodstock, New York.

Awards

* 1997 (nomination)

for Outstanding Minicomic for ''Magic Whistle'' #9 * 1999 (nomination)

Special Award for Humor * 2000 (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor * 2001: ** (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor ** (nomination) Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series for ''Magic Whistle'' * 2002: ** (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor ** (nomination) Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series for ''Magic Whistle'' * 2003: ** (nomination)

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series. In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which ...

for ''

'' ** (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor * 2004 (nomination) Harvey Award Special Award for Humor

Bibliography

* ''Magic Whistle: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger!'' (''Magic Whistle'' #9) (Alternative Comics, 2004) "MAGIC WHISTLE: Bigger, Larger, and Bigger!"
''Publishers Weekly'' (April 26, 2004). * ''Humor Can Be Funny'' (

, 2005) * (illustrator) ''Well Defined: Vocabulary in Rhyme'', by

Michael Salinger Michael Salinger (born March 2, 1962) is an American poet, performer, and educator living in Northeast Ohio. He is one of the earliest participants in the National Poetry Slam, former board member oforganization's summer writing and performance ...

(Boyd's Mills Press, 2009) * ''Scene But Not Heard'' (Alternative Comics, 2013) * ''Magic Whistle 3.2'' (Alternative Comics, 2016)

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* Barrett, Michael (August 15, 2004). "'Peanuts' among winners for comic industry's top award". ''San Antonio Express-News'', p. 2J.

External links

*
Sam Henderson & Magic Whistle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Sam People from Woodstock, New York School of Visual Arts alumni Alternative cartoonists Living people 1969 births American storyboard artists